Philip Pullman is a Raven

So, over the weekend I saw an interview of sorts given by Philip Pullman in conjunction with the release of his new book, volume one of THE BOOK OF DUST (a prequel/sequel to HIS DARK MATERIALS). Instead of the give-and-take of a traditional interview, this one consisted of questions submitted by an array of people with Pullman's responses --an arrangement that tends to lead to less spontaneity but also more thoughtful responses.

For me the best takeaways from all this were (1) his answer to the question of what his own daemon would be:

I think she’s a raven. She belongs to that family 

of birds that steal things – the jackdaws, the rooks,

 crows and magpies – and I admire those birds. 

I applaud their enterprising way of dealing with 

the world and their intelligence. I love the way 

ravens fly: they are the most acrobatic and daring

 birds. So I would be very pleased if my daemon 

were a raven.

and (2) looking at his photo accompanying the article and thinking that he looks like a hobbit.

Here's the whole piece:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/22/philip-pullman-my-daemon-is-a-raven-la-belle-sauvage-interview-questions

--John R.
current reading: a mediocre CALL OF CTHULHU module.
my next purchase: LA BELLE SAUVAGE.


P.S. Apropos of the recent discussion here re. Milne, another recent interview w. Pullman reveals the unsurprising fact that Pullman doesn't like Milne. He also has harsh words for Nesbit, and, surprisingly, Grahame. I'm sorry to here he can't appreciate the latter, who laid the ground for Pullman's own work, but so it goes.