Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, confessed to being surprised that his book came third in the vote to find the nation's favourite books. LISTEN | Hear Philip Pullman talking about Tolkien, and about how his own works are being made into films. | | |
"I didn't expect even to be in the top 100," he told BBC Radio Oxford's Jonathan Hancock. He was delighted that Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was so high in the list - in second place. "It's one of the greatest novels that's ever been written," he said. Was he a Tolkien fan? "No, not really. He is a great storyteller, there's no doubt about that. "But I don't think he does with the novels what great novelists do, which is to tell us the truth about what it feels like to be a human being. "They are not great novels. They might be great stories, which is a different thing."
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