Certainly. Very obsessed. And enjoying every minute of it.
Wow! The discussion yesterday got a bit heated. I suspect that some people get obsessed about things, and others don’t. If you’re not the obsessing type, then it’s presumably hard to understand those who are.
In this instance I’m not saying I’m obsessed with Philip Pullman because he is better than everyone else. I’m obsessed because there’s something about him and his writing that to me is very appealing. And as I’m not alone in this obsession, I can only assume I’m not totally insane.
The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? Manchester City or Manchester United? Same kind of thing. I think.
As long as I don’t alienate too many people by it, I think a little obsession is good for the soul. I’ve got a few more obsessions other than Philip, but they are best left out of this.
16 responses so far ↓
Lee // January 22, 2008 at 9:18
Heated? We were discussing - quite cordially and respectfully, I assume - a difference of opinion. Now if you want to hear heated, you must listen in to our family exchanges about how to make a proper chili con carne - that’s heated!
And if you want to read a wonderful writer - and wonderfully acerbic - on ‘folk panics’ and group obsessions, have a look at Hilary Mantel’s recent review in the LRB:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n02/mant01_.html
Rosalind Mitchell // January 22, 2008 at 9:48
While I yield to nobody in my admiration of Philip Pullman, I am wary of those who think that’s all there is. Every autumn, they crawl out of the woodwork to condemn the Booker Prize as elitist, pretentious, and irrelevant, and it’s winners unreadable.
Pullman writes for one particular niche in the market, a particular kind of steam-punkish, heavily plot-driven fantasy. Nowt wrong with that, of course, but there is something wrong, I think, with the notion that plot is everything. Are you in that camp? I’m just curious. I think there is delight to be had in imaginative use of language. At the end of last year I re-read Ulysses, blogging it on my Livejournal as I went, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has no plot to speak of, but it’s still a very rewarding read.
Nick // January 22, 2008 at 10:31
The rock-band Marillion coined a word for the fear of obsessive people: Anoraknophobia. Probably in response to the fact that most Marillion fans are a) obsessed and b) considered woefully uncool by those who aren’t. Funnily enough I’m that rare breed: I quite like them.
But I applaud the sentiment. What’s so wrong with being really, really into something? We have obsessive people to thank for literally everything. Without the geeks and the nerds, there would be no Stonehenge, no Pyramids, no electricity, no art, no civilisation. And anyway, put a lot of very narrow-minded people side by side, and you’ve got cultural broadband.
bookwitch // January 22, 2008 at 12:26
Lee, I just wanted people to feel that they might have missed out on something.
So, the chilli con carne? Would it work with veggie substitute?
bookwitch // January 22, 2008 at 12:28
Nick, I have no anorak, but a rather nice lime green cagoule. Mrs Frank McCourt admired it, so if a chic New Yorker thinks it’s OK…
Son used to line up saucepans on the kitchen floor every dinner time, at a certain age. I find the Pullman obsession much more fun and rewarding.
bookwitch // January 22, 2008 at 12:32
Rosalind, I’m also a huge fan of Meg Rosoff’s (sorry Meg, I know I promised not to mention you again), and I think she has described her book(s) as having no plot. In which case I just like some books/authors, for whatever reason. Love is blind. As Nick says, it’s important to love. Or obsess.
Rosalind Mitchell // January 22, 2008 at 12:52
It’s not, you understand, that I’m against plotting. I write crime fiction and still smile when I recall my friend Julie Cohen saying at our writer’s group “I hate you, you can do plot!” Praise indeed…
Still, I’m annoyed that I just went to my local Waterstones (a small ex-Ottakars and the only bookshop for miles, or indeed this side of Morecambe Bay) to get a copy of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient and THEY DIDN’T HAVE IT!
Julie Bertagna // January 22, 2008 at 13:17
Well, if we’re onto obsessions now, forget Mr Pullman and let’s talk Nutella. On toast, with a spoon… and I’m not alone with my problem, I find (http://www.bebo.com/NutellaAddicts).
Lee // January 22, 2008 at 13:36
Since I live in the land of Nutella …
Lee // January 22, 2008 at 13:39
Oh yes, two of my sons were vegetarians for more than ten years. You can do ‘chili sin carne’ too.
Julie Bertagna // January 22, 2008 at 13:41
There is a LAND of Nutella? *swoons*
Ian // January 22, 2008 at 14:53
Obsession is interesting. I’m probably obsessed with Pullman, for a number of reasons, but like Rosalind, I agree - it’s very important to remember there are other things in the world. I think that in the Pullman fan community there is the occasional tendency to forget that.
Rosalind, you raise an interesting point about Waterstone’s; as a former employee I would be asked dozens of times whether we had classics in stock and my response would be “I’m sorry but we don’t carry those titles…”. It’s tragic that this is the way things are - Waterstone’s carry hundreds of copies of Kerry Katona’s latest autobiography but can’t manage anything else.
Land of Nutella sounds good, but I must recommend, speaking as someone on a student budget, the Bellarom produced “Choco Duo” which is available in Lidl, and is comes in marble effect brown and white stripes! Delicious on toast!
The Golden Compass | Obsessed with Pullman? | His Dark Materials | BridgeToTheStars.Net // January 22, 2008 at 15:02
[...] such as Meg Rosoff). In response to this the Bookwitch wrote a follow up article entitled ‘Obsessed- Moi?‘, and in particular how one can be obsessed with people and things, including Pullman. Just [...]
bookwitch // January 22, 2008 at 15:17
Daughter went to land of Nutella and came back addicted, and she has a limited repertoire. Have had to ban it, though, as it’s a massive migraine trigger.
Rosalind Mitchell // January 22, 2008 at 19:03
Nutella, oh be still my beating heart!
Apropos Waterstone’s - I bet Tim Waterstone is really regretting taking the money and running! When Waterstone’s started it was like a breath of fresh air; a bookshop that was browser-friendly (I was once thrown out fo a WH Smiths for reading the books) and dedicated to all books, not just those that could be turned over by the barrow-load. Including a catalogue that was a good read in its own right.
bookwitch // January 23, 2008 at 8:22
Yes, isn’t it odd how Waterstone’s have gone from admired proper bookshop to, well, somewhere you’d rather not admit to shopping?
Though I sometimes skulk through the Manchester Arndale branch to have a pot of tea in Costa (because it’s right opposite the Apple shop, of course) and I enjoy it mainly due to the vast empty spaces. And that can’t be good for a shop.
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