tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post8854583406393505124..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Which is your favorite Discworld novel?Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-10797192987399643272008-07-22T10:16:00.000-04:002008-07-22T10:16:00.000-04:00Guards, Guards, GuardsFrom the dedication through ...Guards, Guards, Guards<BR/><BR/>From the dedication through to the final page it is my favorite.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-12257848823038175342008-07-21T01:30:00.000-04:002008-07-21T01:30:00.000-04:00I know I'm late but I couldn't resist adding my 2c...I know I'm late but I couldn't resist adding my 2c worth. Vetinari! Death! Susan! Vimes! Lu Tse! (beware the exclamation marks). I couldn't choose between these favourites. As for specific books - Thief of Time and Reaperman (the auditors are awesome bad guys); Monstrous Regiment; Feet of Clay and any of the Watch/Vimes books. But even so, if you said "but what about ..." and named another, I'd have to say "oh yes, of course, that one too". Pyramids (he topples over top heavy after dressing for his last exam as an assassin) and Small Gods, oh and the Nac Mac Feegle. But I think of all these, Reaperman and Death showing his human(?) side, is closest to my heart.Valerianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09516061746397054979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-21595510132266478572008-07-19T01:53:00.000-04:002008-07-19T01:53:00.000-04:00I have to go with the City Watch. Guards! Guards! ...I have to go with the City Watch. Guards! Guards! and Men at Arms have moments that, even after re-reading, cause me to laugh out loud. Nightwatch always struck me as more serious, but it is a great look at the evolution of Sam Vimes.<BR/><BR/>From the various book featuring Death, I do love Mort. Even without the book on hand, I can conjure up the image of a fly-fishing Death, and the fly auguring into the water like a buzz saw.<BR/><BR/>DanBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-29700217125746510372008-07-18T21:45:00.000-04:002008-07-18T21:45:00.000-04:00Damn, I feel stupid. Late last night I said to mys...Damn, I feel stupid. Late last night I said to myself, "Self, you didn't put 'wha' hey', did you?"<BR/>Make that "wha' hae", naturally.<BR/>Don Gwinn, I know the feeling. When I got turned on to Pratchett, which was done by this blog or Lawdog's, I looked at the list of his books & remembered reading "Mort" years ago. Don't know why it didn't hook me; if I can ever find it in my endless boxes of books I'll reread it & mayhap find out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-11182650017452386582008-07-18T03:58:00.000-04:002008-07-18T03:58:00.000-04:00You can pick a favorite?Heck, I can't even pick a ...You can pick a favorite?<BR/><BR/>Heck, I can't even pick a favourite set of characters...<BR/><BR/>I am partial to any book where Cohen, the Luggage or the Nac Mac Feegle kick donkey, anything with death, or the watch... err some of the witch books(the second one in the trilogy bored me enough to quit reading it, but I loved Carpe Jugulum).<BR/><BR/>Recent reads include wee free men, thud!, going postal and a re-read of reaper man, and I've just started on monstrous regiment.<BR/><BR/>I've read so much Pratchet that in some cases, I forget what went in which book. My favorite Rincewind book is the one where he travels through time/dimensions and the Luggage follows, kicking donkey along the way. No idea which one that was.Mikaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04894602732468692375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-55588114110016908422008-07-18T01:09:00.000-04:002008-07-18T01:09:00.000-04:00Too hard to choose, but I confess I'm partial to t...Too hard to choose, but I confess I'm partial to the witchy bits and the watch action.phlegmfatalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08636803080525003892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-23366552061913512692008-07-17T23:52:00.000-04:002008-07-17T23:52:00.000-04:00Hmm...pretty much a tossup between Guards! Guards!...Hmm...pretty much a tossup between <I>Guards! Guards!</I> and <I>Hogfather</I>...but an appropo quote came to mind from the latter:<BR/><BR/><BR/>The mother took a deep breath.<BR/><BR/>"You can't give her that!" she screamed. "It's not safe!"<BR/><BR/>IT'S A SWORD, said the Hogfather, IT'S NOT MEANT TO BE SAFE.<BR/><BR/>"She's a child!" shouted Crumley.<BR/><BR/>IT'S EDUCATIONAL.<BR/><BR/>"What if she cuts herself?"<BR/><BR/>THAT WILL BE AN IMPORTANT LESSON.RevGreghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11627218929198779685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-63674133420998923752008-07-17T23:33:00.000-04:002008-07-17T23:33:00.000-04:00I've only read a few. I think at the moment "Guar...I've only read a few. I think at the moment "Guards! Guards!" would have to be my favorite. "Small Gods" was good, too, and I loved "Thief of Time."<BR/><BR/>I'm having a hard time getting into "Mort," which is odd. I sort of drifted away from it, as one does, and picked up other things.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15824445546892392815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-47485875104098541312008-07-17T22:40:00.000-04:002008-07-17T22:40:00.000-04:00pippy,"But in Hogfather, you cut the quote off way...pippy,<BR/><BR/>"<I>But in Hogfather, you cut the quote off way too soon, and missed the money quote from the book.</I>"<BR/><BR/>Yeah, but I wanted to put up a teaser, not a spoiler. ;)Tamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-33469277990940414032008-07-17T20:31:00.000-04:002008-07-17T20:31:00.000-04:00I simply have not read any of them more than once....I simply have not read any of them more than once. I find it difficult to really appreciate a book if I can remember what happened, and Pratchett tends to lodge itself in my head with too much force to make for regular rereading. I couldn't tell you how any of them go off the top, mind, but it usually comes back quickly once I start, and then proceeds to remove all the surprise and much of the humor.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I should be quite occupied if I live long enough to be senile. My bookshelves will be a source of much amusement and industry for me.<BR/><BR/>(Short answer: can't pick just one, it's too hard. Anything with the Watch is a good read, though, and I generally enjoy the abuse of poor Rincewind as well.)Canthroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17263191238757258797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-83276242245347546852008-07-17T20:29:00.000-04:002008-07-17T20:29:00.000-04:00Tough one. I've got about 15 or so Pratchett b...Tough one. I've got about 15 or so Pratchett books so far, & add whenever the used bookstores get more (I found my first Pratchett at Goodwill, of all places--damn, I've given it away!).<BR/>I always enjoy Death (the character, that is), and the Feegle kick over my gigglebox every time.<BR/>"Nac Mac Feegle, wha' hey!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-66266982107762091102008-07-17T18:59:00.000-04:002008-07-17T18:59:00.000-04:00One of the things I think speaks best for Small Go...One of the things I think speaks best for <I>Small Gods</I> is that atheists seem to think it's a devastating critique of religion, and the religious seem to think it's a powerful endorsement of faith.<BR/><BR/>They are, perhaps, both correct... which is what makes the book so good.LabRathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05244213491162693858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-41330376501425445262008-07-17T18:58:00.000-04:002008-07-17T18:58:00.000-04:00Reaper Man,Going PostalGuards! Guards!Color of Ma...Reaper Man,<BR/>Going Postal<BR/>Guards! Guards!<BR/>Color of Magic.<BR/><BR/>Those are my top four.<BR/><BR/>DROP THE SCYTHE, AND TURN AROUND SLOWLY.<BR/>-- Dirty Death (Reaper Man)Home on the Rangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03836315423040719919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-14565656469029228732008-07-17T18:30:00.000-04:002008-07-17T18:30:00.000-04:00Pratchett must be my single most read author. Put...Pratchett must be my single most read author. Put re-readings in and nobody comes close. I've only missed a couple of the books since I started reading them at the tender age of about thirteen, so choosing is hard. So instead, I'll just list the ones that stuck with me...<BR/><BR/>Feet of Clay is I think one of the best of the Watch series. It's not a single character study, it's practically a whole Watch character study, and the introduction of the golems gives the plot a real hook.<BR/><BR/>Witches Abroad is my favourite conceptually of the Witches arc, but Lords and Ladies has the best lines (See Elves, and human knowledge: "In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.")<BR/><BR/>Hogfather rates high among the Death series, just for Death on the need for lies.<BR/><BR/>Small Gods, for the most wonderfully subversive description of religion, with the classic Pratchett spin.<BR/><BR/>The Last Hero may be a graphic novel, but it's just such an epic story. Old men, past their time, raging at a world that has left them behind and yet still refusing to die. I've always liked it when Cohen makes an appearance, but The Last Hero is like a farewell to the old D&D satirising Discworld that Rincewind and Cohen first appeared in, and an acknowledgement that they don't fit in the new Discworld forged by people like Vetinari. Who said there were no more worlds to conquer?<BR/><BR/>I still say that the first two books are hard to beat for sheer comedy, and though I can't remember which, one of them has a rather chilling description of Fate....<BR/><BR/>Sorry. Can't choose. Just can't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-50076902132327673502008-07-17T18:29:00.000-04:002008-07-17T18:29:00.000-04:00The Susan Sto Helit (granddaughter of DEATH) novel...The Susan Sto Helit (granddaughter of DEATH) novels are all good, but Guards, Guards is still my favorite. The scene when Sgt Colon warns Captain Vimes about the Librarian's reaction to the m-word still makes me laugh out loud.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Note: we are talking about the name for small simians with tails, not noble majestic apes like the Librarian...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-43185292799165200762008-07-17T18:11:00.000-04:002008-07-17T18:11:00.000-04:00Reaper Man, Small Gods, Feet of Clay, all are exce...Reaper Man, Small Gods, Feet of Clay, all are excellent, but I reread the Hogfather at least once a year before I play Santa. We've gotten odd looks working in the yard with the audio play (not an audio book, but a play, BBC radio I think?) of Guards Guards playing in the background...<BR/><BR/>But in Hogfather, you cut the quote off way too soon, and missed the money quote from the book. I continue:<BR/><BR/>They walked in silence for a moment.<BR/>'Ah,' said Susan dully. 'Trickery with words. I would have thought you'd have been more literal-minded than that.'<BR/>I AM NOTHING IF NOT LITERAL-MINDED. TRICKERY WITH WORDS IS WHERE HUMANS LIVE.<BR/>'All right,' said Susan. 'I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable.'<BR/>REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.<BR/>'Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little-'<BR/>YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.<BR/>'So we can believe the big ones?'<BR/>YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.<BR/>'They're not the same at all!'<BR/>YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET-- Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME... SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.<BR/>'Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point---'<BR/>MY POINT EXACTLY.Pippyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00510020056509525265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-21730659021108569322008-07-17T17:07:00.000-04:002008-07-17T17:07:00.000-04:00"Oh waily, waily, waily!"That's a really tough cal..."Oh waily, waily, waily!"<BR/><BR/>That's a really tough call. "The Last Hero" comes to mind as laugh out loud funny. but then again, so are "The Wee Free Men" and "A Hatful of Sky," which also have some remarkable insights into the human psyche (a hallmark of just about all of the witch stories).<BR/><BR/>Sorry, this question cannot be answered.<BR/><BR/>But I would dig a set of intelligent pearwood luggage. I'd like to see a TSA drone try to search THAT!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-15850191656370292112008-07-17T17:01:00.000-04:002008-07-17T17:01:00.000-04:00Well... Where does this occur - "Teach a man to li...Well... Where does this occur - "Teach a man to light a fire and he is warm for the night. Set a man on fire and he is warm for life." <BR/>-------------- <BR/> <BR/>Having long thought that there are too many, and too silly, laws one of my favorite passages: <BR/> <BR/>Terry Pratchett, "Night Watch", ISBN 0-06-001311-7 2002 --- excerpt, circa pp. 112-113: <BR/> <BR/>Swing, though, started in the wrong place. He didn't look around, and watch, and learn, and then say, "This is how people are, how do we deal with it?" No, he sat and thought: "This is how people ought to be, how do we change them?" And that was a good enough thought for a priest but not for a copper, because Swing's patient, pedantic way of operating had turned policing on its head. <BR/> <BR/>There had been that Weapons Law, for a start. Weapons were involved in so many crimes that, Swing reasoned, reducing the number of weapons <I>had</I> to reduce the crime rate. <BR/> <BR/>Vimes wondered if he'd sat up in bed in the middle of the night and hugged himself when he'd dreamed <I>that</I> one up. Confiscate all weapons, and crime would go down. It made sense. It would have worked, too, if only there had been enough coppers - say, three per citizen. <BR/> <BR/>Amazingly, quite a few weapons were handed in. The flaw, though, was one that had somehow managed to escape Swing, and it was this: criminals don't obey the law. It's more or less a requirement for the job. They had no particular interest in making the streets safer for anyone except themselves. And they couldn't believe what was happening. It was like Hogswatch [Christmas Eve - ed.] every day. <BR/> <BR/>Some citizens took the not-unreasonable view that something had gone a bit askew if only naughty people were carrying arms. And they got arrested in large numbers. The average copper, when he's been kicked in the nadgers once too often and has reason to believe that his bosses don't much care, has an understandable tendency to prefer to arrest those people who won't instantly try to stab him, especially if they act a bit snotty and wear more expensive clothes than he personally can afford. The rate of arrests shot right up, and Swing had been very pleased about that. <BR/> <BR/>Admittedly, most of the arrests had been for possessing weapons after dark, but quite a few had been for assaults on the Watch by irate citizens. That was Assault On A City Official, a very important and despicable crime, and, as such, far more important than all these thefts that were going on everywhere. <BR/> <BR/>It wasn't that the city was lawless. It had plenty of laws. It just didn't offer many opportunities not to break them. Swing didn't seem to have grasped the idea that the system was supposed to take criminals and, in some rough-and-ready fashion, force them into becoming honest men. Instead, he'd taken honest men and turned them into criminals. And the Watch, by and large, into just another gang. <BR/>***John Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00801684602403824157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-61083677011790601182008-07-17T16:36:00.000-04:002008-07-17T16:36:00.000-04:00Whew, tough call...It's either Night Watch or Reap...Whew, tough call...<BR/>It's either Night Watch or Reaperman.<BR/>Both have a story arc that is near classical...a man out of place, out of time, and dealing with lots of new challenges.<BR/>For outright laughter, Wee Free Men. <BR/>There are several classes of TP novels. <BR/>Reaperman. Pratchett seems to save all of the deepest commentaries on humans for the VOICE. And I do like how Death struggles with understanding us.Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15665859950228150235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-43420384890376548322008-07-17T16:04:00.000-04:002008-07-17T16:04:00.000-04:00I've only recently read the first one. Favorite b...I've only recently read the first one. Favorite by default?Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07323030245852764303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-51430513447446462832008-07-17T15:57:00.000-04:002008-07-17T15:57:00.000-04:00Just Recently finished Making Money featuring the ...Just Recently finished Making Money featuring the con man Moist von lipwig introducing the concept of fiat and paper currency to Ankh-Morpork. Very good explanation even if it is fictional.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-24633874556288813772008-07-17T15:47:00.000-04:002008-07-17T15:47:00.000-04:00God it's tough. Feet of Clay, Guards Guards! and R...God it's tough. Feet of Clay, Guards Guards! and Reaper man all get very good marks, but the original two, The Color of Magic, and The Light Fantastic Deserve to be on the list if only because they were the first to establish many of the major players.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-45053486880453030612008-07-17T15:22:00.000-04:002008-07-17T15:22:00.000-04:00I can never choose. It's a total tossup between H...I can never choose. It's a total tossup between <I>Hogfather</I> (my introduction to the series) and <I>Night Watch</I>. Since I couldn't wait for the paperback and got <I>Night Watch</I> in hard cover, it's holding up a lot better over repeated rereadings than <I>Hogfather</I>. I'd say both of them get read at least once a year, more if I'm depressed and need literary "comfort food".<BR/><BR/>My favorite Witches story changes from mood to mood, but usually it's <I>Witches Abroad</I>. If it's not <I>Wee Free Men</I>, <I>Lords and Ladies</I>, or <I>Carpe Jugulum</I>, that is.<BR/><BR/>I'm also growing quite fond of <I>The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents</I>; aside from the fact that I kind of like rats and Pratchett did an amazing job of researching them, I love the underlying theme. "Perhaps it doesn't matter so much what you are deep down as who you are up top..."LabRathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05244213491162693858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-83008700156847422492008-07-17T14:25:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:25:00.000-04:00Mort.Although, now that you ask, I may need to go ...Mort.<BR/><BR/>Although, now that you ask, I may need to go reread the collection again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-41735118612814288362008-07-17T14:08:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:08:00.000-04:00My favorite is Guards! Guards! Lords and Ladies c...My favorite is Guards! Guards! Lords and Ladies comes in at second. My favorite character is Mustrum Ridcully, despite that neither of the two are "his" books (although he of course turns up in L&L).<BR/><BR/>I've been reading Pratchett since the early eighties, and make it my practice to buy his books when overseas, because I like the UK covers by Josh Kidby so much better than the US editions. And it seems somehow more appropriate to read Pratchett in his native tongue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com