Daemon Voices

On Stories and Storytelling

By: Philip Pullman

Narrated by: Philip Pullman, Simon Mason

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

From the internationally best-selling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, a spellbinding journey into the secrets of his art - the narratives that have shaped his vision, his experience of writing, and the keys to mastering the art of storytelling.

One of the most highly acclaimed and best-selling authors of our time now gives us a book that charts the history of his own enchantment with story - from his own books to those of Blake, Milton, Dickens, and the Brothers Grimm, among others - and delves into the role of story in education, religion, and science. At once personal and wide-ranging, Daemon Voices is both a revelation of the writing mind and the methods of a great contemporary master and a fascinating exploration of storytelling itself.

©2018 Philip Pullman (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"These essays cast a spell.... To read them is to be invigorated by the company of a joyfully wide-ranging, endlessly curious and imaginative mind...a delightful jaunt...." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A splendid collection...literary insights that will enrich and inspire." (The Wall Street Journal)

“Few contemporary writers of imaginative fiction are able to explore large ethical and moral issues authoritatively, accommodating both intellect and emotion.... Pullman achieves this without abandoning personal responsibility.... This wide-ranging excursion maintains impressive coherence and is bound to satisfy devoted Pullman readers curious about his illuminating observations and why the appetite for - and value of - fiction is universal, from fire-lit cave to seminar room.” (Library Journal)

Fascinating

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

Great performance by the Author

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

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.

A double-edged sword

These essays made me like and dislike the author a little bit more. On one hand, he shows a sensibility for art, poetry and craft I would’ve never guessed. I love the way he thinks about illustrations and his overall eccletic taste.
However, as many reviews have stated, he has a very unflattering opinion about religion and fantasy. I was expecting that and thought I would sympathize, but the anger that transpires in his last essays is very unsettling.
I would like him to acknowledge he is not above people who believe in God. As he said himself, it’s the morality that counts. His work is wonderful, but it is certainly not great enough to be so despising of other fantasy authors. And no, His Dark Materials are not the only profound books of fantasy out there, and he is old enough to know them.

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).

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.

Entertaining and Profound

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

Blasphemous in the best way possible

I could have saved myself a lot of money and simply listened to this collection of essays on writing, story and philosophy instead of my mediocre education in creative writing. Tune into the true craft, and many truths, in Daemon Voices.

Old dude give unsolicited life advise.

The lectures near the beginning are serviceable and relevant to storytelling but the unsolicited life advise near the end becomes insufferable. The "Republic of Heaven" is just more condescending "leave it cleaner than you found it" lectures from someone who clearly used to teach kids and had an uncomfortable "stiff upper lip" connotation that I didn't cate for. Also, Pullman is one of those "I don't consider my work Fantasy" writers who dismisses the genre and would rather be giving lectures on Milton and Derrida.

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."