Excerpted from: The Fallen Worlds of Philip Pullman
By Alexandra Schwartz
September 29, 2019
Link: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/the-fallen-worlds-of-philip-pullman
So we read aloud the first two books (of “Paradise Lost.”)—the best two books, really. The landscape of Hell, the revolution of the devils to make war on God. It’s tremendously exciting. ... That actually had a physical effect on me; my skin bristled and my heart beat faster. It was ==my first real understanding of the fact that poetry is not a fancy way of giving you information; it’s an incantation. It is actually a magic spell. It changes things; it changes you.==