Philip Pullman had the best response to a reader’s complicated question
Philip Pullman seems like a decent sort of chap.
Not just because he writes books like his cult fantasy series His Dark Materials, but because on his Twitter bio he includes this quote from the Bookseller.
‘Looks like a retired roadie now working in a petrol station’
Plus, when he gets reader’s queries like this …
Hello @PhilipPullman , in HDM when a child is born how does the Daemon appear? Does it just appear out of nowhere, or does the mothers daemon birth it? It came to mind whilst reading La Belle Sauvage and I can't stop pondering it.
— Yikedy Yakedy (@YikedyYakedy) September 16, 2018
… he responds like this.
To be honest, I have no idea.
— Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) September 16, 2018
Beautifully done.
More of this, please. pic.twitter.com/xg5zKa9PsY
— L.D. Lapinski (@ldlapinski) September 29, 2018
Something like: “I don’t know. None of the characters ever told me, and I never needed to know in order to tell the story” should be seen as a fabulous and legit answer to world building mysteries.
— L.D. LapinSCREAM 💀🎃 (@ldlapinski) September 29, 2018
Big fan of this https://t.co/79avT47ncX
— Jen Williams (@sennydreadful) September 29, 2018
And someone contrasted it to the approach taken by another writer you may have heard of.
Rowling take note.
— Sarah Shaffi (@sarahshaffi) September 29, 2018
Philip Pullman > JK Rowling https://t.co/DzDNpPtvi9
— #PeoplesMʀWOODO (@MrWoodo) October 1, 2018
