Varying topics mean varying reactions.

I agree with nearly everything he says, but Philip Pullman has what can only be described, ironically, as a "holier than thou" attitude on some topics which makes a few of these essays a little difficult to listen to. I love his ferocity, his conviction, his ideas, his works, but I would definitely not want to get on his bad side. My favorite of these essays are the ones that focus most on storytelling.

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Challenging, thoughtful literary journey

I personally loved listening the Philip Pullman reread/retell/regive his lectures and essays. He has a compelling voice that is enhanced by his thoughtful, well-read, well-crafted prose. If he read this review he'd probably cynically chide me for a gushing review, but I respectfully reserve the right to give credit where credit is due. As a lifelong reader, writer, learner and thinker, Pullman's critical, brutal honesty about and genuine love of storytelling and the craft challenge my notions of what it means to craft a story, to me, to society, to the world, to time. His references to classical literature are stark contrasts to what he's known for (children's literature) and this juxatposition challenges the listener to break out of their notions about the genre. I also ppreciated his sharp criticism of the modern education system. Although I am an American, I can see the similarities. Finally, the works chosen for this compilation are especially timely. It was eerie to hear how much of Pullman's early warning echo into current times (end of 2018).

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Mixed views

The first few lectures were really interesting. He talked about writing fiction and I enjoyed them very much. I listened to the first three in a row, but after that I really struggled to finish. It took me several months. The lectures started to become repetitive, then they became really boring, to be honest, and the final two preechy and annoying. I believe in a higher power and he went on and on about how one shouldn't preach about your faith to others, which I don't, because I respect other people's opinions and agree that making arguments about something you can't prove to anyone is pointless. But then he became hypocritical, because he himself was preaching about not believing in higher power, to the point of implying that we all believers were idiots because there was nothing there to believe in. That really annoyed me. I don't care what other people think or believe or don't believe in, including him, but talking down to others is not ok. It was like he was doing to others what he didn't like being done to him. I'm not sure if that was his intention or not, but he could have tried to be more diplomatic about the topic. Nobody likes being talked down to. I started out really liking him as an author and lecturer and then disliking him as a person in the end. I still gave it three stars because the first lectures were good. I would even go so far to recommend to prospective writers to listen to those. The rest was "mehh."

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Entertaining and Profound

The insights into story would inspire and inform any writer. Gloriously full of wisdom. Gloriously free of theory.

Fascinating

A really interesting take on the art of writing, combined with the insights of a brilliant man.

Read it. You don't have to agree with it.

An essential book about story telling and the art of literature. You don't have to agree everything he says but you have to think about it.

Great performance by the Author

Loved hearing Phillip Pullman read his own essays. It was like being at his talks!