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I always loved Sir Terry's depictions of Ankh-Morpork. It was a crazy, deeply dysfunctional city, full of crazy, dysfunctional people, but he obviously loved i
by ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
I always loved Sir Terry's depictions of Ankh-Morpork.
It was a crazy, deeply dysfunctional city, full of crazy, dysfunctional people, but he obviously loved it, and the reader ends up loving the city, as well.
I think that's a fairly accurate way to look at the world around us.
I believe that Tolkien's depictions of Mordor and the Shire, came from his own personal experiences in the trenches of WWI, so I'd argue that LOTR actually has some fairly significant reflection on the real world.
- robertlagrant 2y ago> I believe that Tolkien's depictions of Mordor and the Shire, came from his own personal experiences in the trenches of WWI Yes, and the general impinging of mechanisation and automation on rural life.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoFrom all accounts, Mordor seems to be a more pleasant place, than 1916 Somme.
- rsynnott 2y agoChina Mieville’s “Perdido Street Station” is also worth reading. It’s set in, essentially, a _bad_ Ankh Morpork; like Ankh Morpork it’s a vast chaotic fantasy city (both are probably based on London) but New Crobuzon is _nightmarish_. (I’ve always been curious to what if any extent one influenced the other; Discworld is older, but Ankh Morpork gets fleshed out a lot later. Given how small a world UK sci-fi/fantasy is they’d almost certainly have been aware of each others’ work.)
- dcminter 2y agoThey seem very distinct to me - the mutual affinity with London seems much stronger than any cross literature bonds there. I do remember thinking Kraken was a little Gaimanesque though so that suggests at least a transitive link to Pratchett, so perhaps ...? btw your blog link in your profile doesn't work for me (we seem to have similar taste in literature so I thought I'd see what you've written)