Dark Adamant

Latest: The first Haunted Storm cover from jessia; Pullman's BBC Radio 3 Belief Interview.

DA is 5 years old, and still gets visitors. It was originally set up to distribute the giant Alethiometer poster, which depicts the Alethiometer from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and describes how to read it.

A niche in the HDM community has always been the lack of knowledge about Philip Pullman's lesser-known work, including Galatea and The Haunted Storm, Pullman's two earliest pieces of published fiction. They're both now out of print, but you can read a little about them below.

There's also audio of Pullman's appearance on The South Bank Show, in which he discusses the world of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), his inspiration for the trilogy, art and religion.

In another audio file, Philip Pullman and the composer John Eliot Gardiner discuss Bach and HDM - from BBC Radio 4's Front Row.

Finally, there are a couple of articles (including his Guardian piece on religious hatred and a BBC Belief interview transcript) and some obscure PP-related links.

If you have any additional information about Galatea or The Haunted Storm and you wish to share, please get in touch!

Enjoy!

- Nick (darkadamant at gmail dot com)

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The Alethiometer poster was ganked from publicity talk Philip Pullman did at the Guildhall, Winchester, on November 9th 2000. It's beautiful, this is the largest and most detailed image available, and it comes complete with labels and instructions on how to read it. The poster was given away for free, and everyone should get to see it.

After searching in early 2001, I found nobody had put it online (Random House's official site included), so I have. You could once buy your own from the National Theatre's website for £5. They might still have some if you contact them.

A smaller version, for slower connections.

The reverse of the poster describes the history of the Alethiometer, and how to read it.

I retouched the scan in PSP to hide crease lines. You're free to put the image on your site if you want (an email and linkback would be appreciated). The Alethiometer image itself is © 1995/6 David Scutt. I believe the text is © Philip Pullman.

I wrote an adult novel called Galatea, which was published in 1978-a book I can't categorise, because it isn't really fantasy or science-fiction, but it certainly isn't realistic. Nobody else was sure about it either; most reviewers were puzzled or indifferent, though some found things to praise. I'm still proud of it.

- "I have a feeling this all belongs to me"

Postmodern, thick with magic realism, and profoundly weird, Galatea follows musician and narrator Martin Browning on a quest to find his wife Catherine. On his journey, Martin encounters businessmen, zombies, electric whores and, most mysteriously of all, the sexual, androgynous, angelic messenger Galatea. He eventually finds himself in south America and the Anderson Valley, where a new city is being constructed, and reality is being stretched...

First published in 1978 and now out of print, Galatea was Philip Pullman's second novel (his first was The Haunted Storm). Galatea is ridiculously rare in the UK; it can sell for a lot of money.

It has been released in the USA, and PP has said that one US publisher is looking into reprinting, although he has since said that he doesn't want anyone to. You can probably find it at your local library: if not on the shelves then in the library system somewhere.

The cover scans are from a Hampshire, UK library copy of Galatea. The cover is bordered by the greens of the South American jungle, and the geometrical shapes are the buildings of a city. The inside front cover has a regular blurb, and the back cover recommends a few contemporary publications from Gollancz Fantasy (including the original Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin). The inside back cover has a green-tinged 1978 photo of Pullman. The cover art is © Linda Garland.

Obsessive information (text file).

This second cover is from the first US edition of Galatea, courtesy of RareBookCellar.com.

Links

An essay on postmodernism by Steven Shaviro, including a brief synopsis of Galatea in the fourth paragraph.

The End of Childhood, Beginning is an essay which includes a brief mention of Galatea, as part of Pullman's early work (again by Steven Shaviro).

Wikipedia's article on the Greek and Roman myths, and Michaelangelo's painting of the nymph Galatea, with a descriptive article at the Web Museum.

An extensive quote by Pullman on Galatea, at Darkmaterials.com, from this interview.

Abebooks.co.uk looks to be a good place to find copies to buy.

If you're in the UK, you can search for a nearby copy in the library system.

Philip Pullman doesn't like talking about his first-ever book; he has refused to name or discuss it in interviews - despite it joint-winning the New English Library's Young Writers' Award for first novel. It was first published in 1972 (ish), and is now out of print and rarer than Galatea. No word so far on whether it was ever published outside the UK.

This full-size cover scan comes courtesy of jessia (a.k.a. Jessica T.) There's also obsessive information (text file), and the following blurb from the dust jacket:

One of the judges in the New English Library Young Writers' Award, Lady Antonia Fraser, author of "Mary, Queen of Scots", said of this novel- "I liked 'The Haunted Storm' for its honest and enterprising attempt to interweave the eternal - and immortal - longings of youth into the texture of a contemporary story. It is thus a serious book, and refreshingly free from triviality. Philip Pullman seems to me, therefore, to have the real makings of a writer."

The central characters are two brothers. Matthew is essentially good - Alan is evil.

Matthew is constantly searching - seeking an awareness of himself and a valid relationship with others. He enters into a platonic friendship but the girl he cares for cannot give him the inner comprehension that he wants.

Violence and death in a small village form the backdrop to this novel. Unease and suspicion split the community. Physically involved in the investigation, Matthew finds his spiritual problems have a greater depth of reality.

Only in the final disastrous confrontation in the ruined Mithraic Temple does he, at last, glimpse the possibility of quietitude.

In this, his first novel, Philip Pullman has produced a Hesse-like mixture of the physical and the metaphysical; a cathartic climax shattering in its power.

Philip Pullman, joint winner of the New English Library's Young Writers' Award, was born in Norwich in 1946. His father was a serving officer with the R.A.F., and Philip's home moved between Rhodesia, Australia, England and Wales.

He read English at Oxford and obtained his B.A. despite having "done his best to ignore the University as far as possible".

Philip Pullman has had various jobs and is now working as a librarian in Westminster. He is married with a young son and is currently working on both a play and a new novel.

The second cover is of the 1973 paperback, courtesy of fantasticfiction.co.uk.

If you have access to a different copy, I'd greatly appreciate it if you emailed. More cover scans, or a plot summary or review are still greatly sought after.

The mention in the blurb of a "confrontation in the ruined Mithraic temple" could be revealing; Pullman mentioned Mithraism in his December 2005 BBC Radio 4 conversation about Bach (see below), while hinting about working on a book concerning Jesus' life. Does religion again play a significant role?

Title references: originally [1] (now appears defunct); [2]; [3]; [4] (where you can search for a local library copy in the UK).

Audio of the television show (ITV, UK, March 2003). On the evils of organised religion, and the art of storytelling. Only the first three quarters are available since the fourth became corrupted - sorry! Each file is about 3 MB, and there's a text file describing them.

Part 1 is mostly a discussion of the opening of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass), and of dæmons. There's a reference to On the Marionette Theatre by Heinrich von Kleist. "I'd rather say something positive about growing up." "Wisdom can't be innocent." "The story of Adam and Eve is not for me a story of an unfortunate rebellion which has to be regretted and lamented ever since, but a very important and brave step forward towards achieving what it is that we're capable of, which is wisdom."

Part 2 begins with a discussion of Lyra's parents. On Mrs Coulter, "One of the things I wanted to say was that it's not only children that can grow and change and develop; adults can as well." "The books I now turn to with pleasure as an adult, which I also read as a child, include the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. There's a gentleness and a strangeness about them which I find very engaging." The comic form "allows for counterpoint in the way that ordinary prose doesn't." "There's a wonderful Leonardo paiting of a young woman with an ermine, which actually suggested the idea of Lyra's dæmon."

Part 3 begins with a discussion of PP's short story, Clockwork, and how Pullman tells a story technically. "I very seldom if ever use the first person when I'm telling a story." [Galatea is written in the first person]. On 3rd-person narrators: "He she or it is _, curious, wise, cynical, androgynous certainly, sprite-like, not like a human being at all, actually." Halfway through there's talk of Dust, then the Republic of Heaven, "Of which we are all equal and valuable citizens, and not subjects, and there isn't a priesthood on high, and the rest of us below - we're all equal citizens with an equal responsibility." Then religion: "What the story is not condemning is the impulse - which is at the root of religion - the impulse to wonder, to celebrate. But what the book is condemning is specifically ecclesiastical authority, because it seems to me that churches of every sort and of every religion have got hold of a very good way of controlling human lives, for reasons that are ultimately selfish and cruel. They borrow an authority from a non-existent god or being or something in order to weild power over human lives."

This is a recording of the BBC Radio 4 show Front Row from November 2005. The host is Mark Lawson.

Radio4_Front-Row_Philip-Pullman_John-Eliot-Gardiner_Bach.mp3 (28:35, 26.1 MB)

Any problems, please email via the address at the top of the page. You can find alternative streams at the BBC and on Monteverdi.co.uk.

Philip Pullman on the BBC Radio 4 show With Great Pleasure, re-broadcast 29th November 2006.

He introduces some of his favourite prose and poetry, including "Treasure Island", Tove Jansson's "The Summer Book", Barry Lopez's "Arctic Dreams", "Frankenstein", James Merrill's "A Downward Look", Wallace Stevens' "The House Was Quiet And The World Was Calm", and Elizabeth Bishop's "Manners".

BBC R4 - 20061129 - With Great Pleasure - Philip Pullman.mp3 (27:28, 38.4 MB)

Philip Pullman resources has a biographical timeline, quotes, and some great annotations for His Dark Materials.

Philip-Pullman.com is the author's official site, with a newsletter and other bits, such as PP's own tiny illustations for Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife. There is also an autobiographical sketch (written before HDM) entitled, "I have a feeling this all belongs to me," and links to essays and articles written by PP (often for the Guardian), interviews, etc.

Philip Pullman on Wikipedia has a complete, up-to-date bibliography, as well as biographical details.

Fansites

Bridge to the Stars is a wonderful, complete His Dark Materials resource with an active community and plenty of PP and Golden Compass film news. HisDarkMaterials.org is the other major online english community.

DarkMaterials.com is another intelligent HDM site with more emphasis on Pullman's other work, but is no longer updated.

Italian: Queste Oscure Materie

Interviews

An interview from Unicon, Oxford, 2000, in which Pullman discusses Galatea, fantasy, Tolkien, his other works, His Dark Materials itself and Harry Potter.

Other things

A brief first review of The Amber Spyglass, from David Fickling, PP's publisher (pdf).

The illustrator John Howe's unpublished cover art for The Amber Spyglass: 1, 2. There's a large version of the first in a book of Howe's work called "Myth and Magic" (ISBN 0007107951)