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>> I have a rule-of-thumb: The more seriously you take Discworld, the smarter you get about Roundworld. Oh come off it. I've read all the Discworld novels. I'
by YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago
>> I have a rule-of-thumb: The more seriously you take Discworld, the smarter you get about Roundworld.
Oh come off it.
I've read all the Discworld novels. I've also read every other book that Terry Pratchett ever wrote [1]. All, that is, except for one that I've left for... later [2].
If Pratchett were still with us and heard anyone making such pompous statements about Discworld he'd slap the culprit in the face [3]. See, the thing to understand about Terry Pratchett is that he was quintessentially British, and by that I mean the good British [4]. As such his greatest fear was that someone might take what he wrote seriously and try to follow it like some kind of life advice.
Remember what he quipped when he was knighted for "services to literature":
"I suspect the 'services to literature' consisted of refraining from trying to write any"
And that, as they say, is that.
______________
[1] Yes, even "Where's my Cow?".
[2] Problem is, I don't remember which one so I'll have to read them all again to be sure. Hey, win-win.
[3] Gently. He was a gentle man.
[4] Think Lord Byron, not Lord Elgin. But without all the drinking and womanising, just the big heart.
- qqqult 2y ago4 foot notes? This guy Pratchetts.
- YeGoblynQueenne 2y agoMy notes aren't that tall :P (That was so good this Sunday morning. Thanks :D)
- MezzoDelCammin 2y agothey are "Pratchett" footnotes though. My introduction to Discworld happened when I bought a few second hand paperbacks on Portobello for under a pound in order to have something to read in the bus back from London. Later (well and truly addicted) I wenth through a few more when I was commuting regularly by train. But about a half of the Discworld novels I read as ebooks either on a Kindle, or a Kobo. It has always been "frustrating" to have to click through the footnote links in Pratchetts ebooks. In a paper book (just like in Your comment) the footnotes really complete the train of thought. Often it's the whole pun of a joke. You know it's there. You damn well know it's worth it. On paper, all it takes is a glance down. For me, the "Pratchett footnote" is therefore characterized as anything where "click to see a footnote" somehow breaks that payoff spell a bit.
- dcminter 2y agoSusannah Clarke's glorious Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell has some footnotes that exceed the typical page count of some people's short stories. Not as many puns as Pratchett, but suffers the same UI problem on Kindle.
- MezzoDelCammin 2y agooh, thanks for the reminder. Is that also a recommendation for the Strange & Norrel? I've been meaning to get to more of her stuff ever since I listened to Piranesi last Christmas when driving home through Europe.
- dcminter 2y agoI adore it. If you like fantasy and also enjoy Jane Austen (and her kind of humour) then give it a whirl. But get it in paperback so the footnote-flipping doesn't drive you mad!
- YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago>> they are "Pratchett" footnotes though. I wouldn't date to presume to compare my footnotes to Pratchett's. Like, my footnotes don't have footnotes of their own, but his often do. I wonder how that works on an ebook.
- MezzoDelCammin 2y agoSQUEAK!
- swyx 2y agogod i love the way you write. you Get Pratchett more than vgr. you dont seem to have a blog. please have a blog.
- YeGoblynQueenne 2y agoI don't have a blog sorry. ... I write stuffy academic papers?
- dcminter 2y agoI saw or read an interview with Terry once where he said something like: "If at 16 you don't think LotR is the best story in the world then there's probably something wrong with you, and if at 45 you still think it's the best story in the world then there's definitely something wrong with you." (Quotation marks, but not verbatim I'm sure) I don't think he meant it as a criticism of LotR, more pointing to the wealth of other literature that you might need a bit of maturity to get into. It's funny how some people idolise "the classics" and yet if you actually read them then mostly they're just the popular fun stuff from an earlier era. Poor old Terry, he'll probably be a question on an A-level English exam one of these days.
- wzdd 2y agoI was curious about this too and looked it up. The quote is: > At 17, if you don't think Lord of The Rings is the greatest contribution to literature there's something wrong with your head. If you still think that at 50, there's definitely something wrong with your head. (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/dec/09/jrrtolkien.sciencefictionfantasyandhorror https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/dec/09/jrrtolkien.sci...) Him talking about "contribution to literature" instead of "best story" changes the quote for me. It makes it more about the craft of writing -- and I agree: LOTR isn't the world's best literature. But it's still a damn good story.
- dcminter 2y agoYes, definitely spins a bit differently from my version. Thanks for looking it up!