Pullman rips on LOTR, others

[davem]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli

Or rather shorthand for a Paris Hilton, a Britney Spears or an Anna Nicole Smith. Surely you're not asserting in some uber-Pagliesque way that bimbohood is the new postmodern feminism, are you?

"She's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up."

It seems Susan's 'sin' was wanting to be a 'grown-up' - which is not necessarily the same as becoming an adult. Its not that she's interested in 'nylons and lipstick and invitations.', its that she's interested in nothing except 'nylons and lipstick and invitations.' - ie not in Narnia, Aslan, or anything else beyond those superficialities.

Of course, Lewis left Susan's ultimate fate a mystery. In a letter to one 'Martin' he wrote:

“The books don’t tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there is plenty of time for her to mend, and perhaps she will get into Aslan’s country in the end – in her own way.”

Susan's fate has interested other writers - from a Wikipedia article on Narnia:

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman wrote the 2004 short story "The Problem of Susan", in which an elderly woman, Professor Hastings, is depicted dealing with the grief and trauma of her entire family dying in a train crash. The woman's first name is not revealed, but she mentions her brother "Ed", and it is strongly implied that this is Susan Pevensie as an elderly woman. In the story Gaiman presents, in fictional form, a critique of Lewis' treatment of Susan.