The Republic of Heaven

Has anyone here read Pullman's Galatea? I might be interested in it, but I can't find any information regarding what it is about, and prices are rather hefty for buying it just like that. I would be grateful on any information about the book's topic.

pullman himself isn't a big fan of his earliest work ("grown up novels": the haunted storm and galatea) which is why we haven't seen any reprintings despite his popularity. the haunted storm wasn't that great, i think, though it was interesting to see the things pulllman had in his brain as a recent graduate from exeter college. rosie/enitharmon has read galatea though.

The Rough Guide to HDM has little to say on Galatea:

Paul Simpson in 'The Rough Guide to His Dark Materials' wrote:Galatea (1978) An intriguing sci-fi/fantasy novel in which a flautist. searching for his wife, becomes embroiled in surreal adventures. Not perfect, but worth reading. Some of the motifs - angels, the dead becoming zombies, the mysteries of matter - recur in His Dark Materials.

Ok, thank you. So probably not worth spending $100 on it.

Assarhaddon wrote:Has anyone here read Pullman's Galatea? I might be interested in it, but I can't find any information regarding what it is about, and prices are rather hefty for buying it just like that. I would be grateful on any information about the book's topic.

Me, me, me!

It's a strange book, with an irritatingly unlikeable protagonist. It is interesting in that it does prefigure some themes that appear in HDM, including a deserted city infested by malevolent spirits.

This is what I wrote about it.

I haven't finished this book yet but wanted to point out that it can be seen as more of a Magical Realist novel than a straight forward Sci-fi or fantasy. Eg. it has more in common with One Thousand Years of Solitude or The House of Spirits.
It can be read as a fable about materialism (in the sense of money) and egotism.
Its interesting to see the non-gendered angel character in his early work.

If anyone wants a copy, I noticed there are 2 going for the very reasonable price of $35 on eBay, for so rare a book. Own a Pullman rarity today!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Galatea-A-novel-Phi ... 1|294%3A50

Is it based of the fable Galatea, about some guy who falls in love with a statue? I saw it on the back of a book, "Pygmalion" and remembered that Pullman had written a book called Galatea.

Well, I havn't finished reading it but yes, it does seem to be a reference to the Greek myth. Instead of a statue, Pullman's Galatea is a robot angel who the protagonist falls in love with.