When I interviewed Philip Pullman, I found him genial, generous and engaging. He has a sharp mind, a clever wit, and he’s a brilliant writer. He has justifiably been acclaimed as one of Britain’s finest writers.
Some years back, The Independent declared that Pullman is ‘capable of lighting up the dullest day or greyest spirit with the incandescence of his imagination’. He’s also capable of making Christians incandescent with indignation. His strongly atheist comments have raised many people’s hackles.
Genial he may be, but Pullman likes being provocative. He certainly was fully aware that the title of his new book — The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ — would shock some. He wrote it in response to a comment by Rowan Williams that Pullman was surprisingly quiet about Jesus in His Dark Materials.
