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I do not underestimate the level that Pratchett's comedy can operate at. It took me maybe 15 years for the penny to drop between first reading 'Unseen Universit

I do not underestimate the level that Pratchett's comedy can operate at. It took me maybe 15 years for the penny to drop between first reading 'Unseen University' and connecting it to the Invisible College of Robert Boyle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_College https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_College May I note that being brilliant does not stop someone from being a children's comedy novelist. If people are annoyed by this, perhaps they should think better of children's novelists, rather than insisting I call Pratchett something different so as not to injure the egos of adults who enjoy his writing.

dTal 7y ago
If adults enjoy his writing, in what sense are they children's novels? Speaking personally, they were all fairly over my head when I was a child. As an adult, they sparkle.
- inflatableDodo 7y ago
  >If adults enjoy his writing, in what sense are they children's novels? In the sense that novels by people like Joseph Conrad or J. G. Ballard are not. 'Empire of the Sun' was one one of my favourite novels as a young teenager, but it was hard work in comparison to Pratchett. The difference in intended audience was utterly clear.
pdpi 7y ago
That description seems more appropriate for, say, Roald Dahl than it does for Pratchett. Pratchett was, for the most part, a comedy fantasy author. Most of his writing was appropriate for younger audiences (with exceptions, like Monstrous Regiment), but I wouldn’t call it children’s books. The fact that his Tiffany Aching books are specifically aimed at the Young Adult market suggests that he agreed.
- inflatableDodo 7y ago
  Interesting comparison. Roald Dahl has in his oeuvre many stories that are far less intended for children than anything I have ever read by Pratchett. Pratchett keeps pretty much all of his stories accessable by at least teenagers. You cannot say the same for Dahl.
  - pdpi 7y ago
    That’s fair, yes. I merely meant that Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolatw Factory, Esio Trot and many others are much more deliberately children’s books than just about anything by Pratchett Dahl definitely has decidedly non-children appropriate work. Fancy some roast leg of lamb for dinner?
    - inflatableDodo 7y ago
      >Fancy some roast leg of lamb for dinner? After I've finished my cup of tea. It has a bit of an odd flavour though. Did you add almonds or something? I'd say that while Pratchett's books are wider in intended audience than Dahl, there does seem to be care taken with pretty much all of them not to include anything that would cause an adult to tell a child not to read them. As a child, I never had any adults tell me that I should not be reading Pratchett at my age, which was a fairly common occurence with much of what I was reading.

dTal 7y ago

If adults enjoy his writing, in what sense are they children's novels? Speaking personally, they were all fairly over my head when I was a child. As an adult, they sparkle.

inflatableDodo 7y ago
>If adults enjoy his writing, in what sense are they children's novels? In the sense that novels by people like Joseph Conrad or J. G. Ballard are not. 'Empire of the Sun' was one one of my favourite novels as a young teenager, but it was hard work in comparison to Pratchett. The difference in intended audience was utterly clear.

pdpi 7y ago

That description seems more appropriate for, say, Roald Dahl than it does for Pratchett. Pratchett was, for the most part, a comedy fantasy author. Most of his writing was appropriate for younger audiences (with exceptions, like Monstrous Regiment), but I wouldn’t call it children’s books. The fact that his Tiffany Aching books are specifically aimed at the Young Adult market suggests that he agreed.

inflatableDodo 7y ago
Interesting comparison. Roald Dahl has in his oeuvre many stories that are far less intended for children than anything I have ever read by Pratchett. Pratchett keeps pretty much all of his stories accessable by at least teenagers. You cannot say the same for Dahl.
- pdpi 7y ago
  That’s fair, yes. I merely meant that Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolatw Factory, Esio Trot and many others are much more deliberately children’s books than just about anything by Pratchett Dahl definitely has decidedly non-children appropriate work. Fancy some roast leg of lamb for dinner?
  - inflatableDodo 7y ago
    >Fancy some roast leg of lamb for dinner? After I've finished my cup of tea. It has a bit of an odd flavour though. Did you add almonds or something? I'd say that while Pratchett's books are wider in intended audience than Dahl, there does seem to be care taken with pretty much all of them not to include anything that would cause an adult to tell a child not to read them. As a child, I never had any adults tell me that I should not be reading Pratchett at my age, which was a fairly common occurence with much of what I was reading.