|
I think the best entry point depends entirely on who's asking for it. If they like cop stories and whodunits at all (and a lot of people do), then yes, the Watch is a great place to start them off. But then there are people who read a great deal of trashy fantasy, and if someone like that comes along then you better bet I'm giving them The Colour of Magic. If it's someone who reads a lot of YA, then it might be Tiffany Aching or I might get them to read about Johnny Maxwell first. Someone who looks for strong female protagonists would be all over the Witches. I'd give a film buff Moving Pictures, a music nerd Soul Music, and a divinity student Pyramids.
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2014 20:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 18:36 |
|
|
Small Gods is by far and away my favorite, although the Watch is my favorite series and Fifth Elephant probably my favorite among them (I love the Dwarves. I even loved Thud) but I don't get why Pyramids is often poo poo on. I think it's pretty drat good, all things considered.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2014 21:02
|
|
|
RoboChrist 9000 posted:Small Gods is by far and away my favorite, although the Watch is my favorite series and Fifth Elephant probably my favorite among them (I love the Dwarves. I even loved Thud) but I don't get why Pyramids is often poo poo on. I think it's pretty drat good, all things considered. The first half of Pyramids is one of my favourite discworld books, really not so keen on the second half though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2014 21:54
|
|
|
Mister Roboto posted:Yeah, I suggest Mort a lot, but if its themes aren't working, I think Guards! Guards! or Wyrd Sisters would be good starters too, they are a bit more "traditional" in their narrative structure. It's possible Pratchett won't be for you - imo Mort isn't as different from the rest of the line as people are making out. But try a couple of the other arcs like Going Postal or the Guards books. And if you don't like Small Gods you can pretty much wash your hands of his books en masse (which is fine, de gustibus etc).
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2014 22:07
|
|
|
I refuse to believe there exist people who both have good taste and dislike Small Gods. Seriously, it's a flawless novel on any terms. If any Pratchett book ever gets canonized as "modern literature" it will be that one.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 03:30
|
|
|
I liked Small Gods, just not as much as everyone else seems to. Reaper Man is my favorite.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 03:37
|
|
|
precision posted:I refuse to believe there exist people who both have good taste and dislike Small Gods. Seriously, it's a flawless novel on any terms. If any Pratchett book ever gets canonized as "modern literature" it will be that one. I think it's pretty terrible.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 04:01
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:I think it's pretty terrible. Why?
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 06:09
|
|
|
It's my favorite, outside the Wyrd sisters.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 06:13
|
|
|
Plot's pretty subpar, dialogue is unmemorable, it doesn't connect to any of the better aspects of Discworld... at best, it's mediocre.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 06:55
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:Plot's pretty subpar, dialogue is unmemorable, it doesn't connect to any of the better aspects of Discworld... at best, it's mediocre. The plot is amazing though. You're a crazy person, having said that though my wife thought it was poor as well and she obviously has good taste as she married me  .
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 09:04
|
|
|
Oh, there's a thread! I'm being eaten by a sentence from Hogfather. Can someone explain to me why "Lares and penates? What were they when they were at home?" is funny. Maybe I'm missing the point, because I'm trying to find a similarly sounding sentence, but related to the outside or something. Especially the penates, I can find any number of equivalents for lares as "one" in "one, two, punch".
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 14:17
|
|
|
A joke I only noticed today while listening to the Going Postal audiobook - apparently in addition to S.W.A.L.K (sealed with a loving kiss), Ankh-Morpork letters would sometimes be signed L.A.N.C.R.E and K.L.A.T.C.H and I was wondering if anyone had figured out funny sayings for them, considering Klatch is meant to be the ruder of the two (probably another 'excuse my Klatchian' joke)
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 14:22
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:Oh, there's a thread! I'm being eaten by a sentence from Hogfather. Can someone explain to me why "Lares and penates? What were they when they were at home?" is funny. Maybe I'm missing the point, because I'm trying to find a similarly sounding sentence, but related to the outside or something. Especially the penates, I can find any number of equivalents for lares as "one" in "one, two, punch". I was confused by this too. "What were/are they when they were/are at home?" seems to be a reference to something. By googling the phrase I found several instances in other books where a complicated sounding word is followed by the phrase, as a sort of joke: "Bisphosphanates? What were they when they were at home?" and "Semiconductor topographies!" said Mr Aardvark. "What are they when they are at home?" Knowing it's a reference helps a little but I still have no loving clue what it's a reference to. edit: oh god, googling ""what are they when they're at home" gives a million more examples. It seems to always go with an unfamiliar word to the person who's speaking. vvv Yes that much is obvious. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 14:30
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:Oh, there's a thread! I'm being eaten by a sentence from Hogfather. Can someone explain to me why "Lares and penates? What were they when they were at home?" is funny. Maybe I'm missing the point, because I'm trying to find a similarly sounding sentence, but related to the outside or something. Especially the penates, I can find any number of equivalents for lares as "one" in "one, two, punch". Lares and penates were ancient Roman gods of the home and household. "At home", therefore, is the one place where they were much of anything. Edit: and as far as I can tell, "what's [things] when they're at home" is just a more colorful way to ask "what are these, I don't get it, explain please". SatansOnion fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Feb 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 14:33
|
|
|
'What's that when it's at home?' Is a common English expression meaning simply what is this thing you're talking about. Much like, "What's that got to do with the price of fish?" is just a way of asking how something relates to the topic being discussed. At least I'm assuming that the phrase itself is what's throwing you guys, it's just a dialect thing. Obviously the household gods thing makes it into a joke in this case.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 14:42
|
|
|
SatansOnion posted:Edit: and as far as I can tell, "what's [things] when they're at home" is just a more colorful way to ask "what are these, I don't get it, explain please". MrNemo posted:'What's that when it's at home?' Is a common English expression meaning simply what is this thing you're talking about. Much like, "What's that got to do with the price of fish?" is just a way of asking how something relates to the topic being discussed. Thanks! I've never heard this expression. While googling, I stumbled on a kind of explanation page for Hogfather and there's so many references I didn't get!  I'm not even from an English-speaking country, so all our songs are different and many classic English-language movies have never been shown... Well, by non-English-speaking country I mean Russia.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 15:29
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:Thanks! I've never heard this expression. While googling, I stumbled on a kind of explanation page for Hogfather and there's so many references I didn't get! It also fits with the English expression 'Who's that when he's at home with his mother' referring to people going by long formal names in public 'Edward Fenby Featherstone-Smythe' and diminutive names at home 'Ted.' Also used when trying to simplify technical terms 'Calcium carbonate? Or chalk when it's at home.' I wouldn't worry about not getting all the references, I'm a native speaker and I keep spotting new ones that I missed, but ask away.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 15:53
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:It's possible Pratchett won't be for you - imo Mort isn't as different from the rest of the line as people are making out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2014 17:08
|
|
|
Doubtful Guest posted:It also fits with the English expression 'Who's that when he's at home with his mother' referring to people going by long formal names in public 'Edward Fenby Featherstone-Smythe' and diminutive names at home 'Ted.' On that note, why does Susan's employer have to correct herself from "parlor" to "drawing room"? 
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 02:52
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:On that note, why does Susan's employer have to correct herself from "parlor" to "drawing room"? I think it's a Freudian slip for 'enter the parlor said the spider to the fly', because she's mildly terrified of Susan. Also possibly the part where she's completely obsessed with the trappings of nobility (see earlier in the book where she had to have a lie down when Susan accidentally said 'Brian' to 'what do you call the second cousin of the queen')?
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 03:01
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:On that note, why does Susan's employer have to correct herself from "parlor" to "drawing room"? One is posh, the other is not, maybe?
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 03:38
|
|
|
Oh, drat. I would have thought parlor which is more French would have been posh. This reminds me of when I was reading the Colour of Magic, with a dictionary at hand, because of all the posh words. I still don't know what the color "vermine" is. At least I think that's what it was.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 04:08
|
|
|
Vermine is just a pun on vermin and ermine, an animal often used in fur coats. If you mean Octarine, it's a colour that literally does not exist and can't be seen by (non-wizard) human eyes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 04:12
|
|
|
Yes, a material, not color then. I mean, I last saw the term a couple of years ago. My non-nativeness was a definite handicap here, it seems to be particularly hard to associate foreign terms with species, at least for me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 06:05
|
|
|
Pretty much. Parlor is a small room next to the kitchen, where one might entertain folks who have dropped by. It was a feature of working-class/poor houses certainly as a Victorian thing. The upper class equivalent is the Drawing Room - a room to entertain guests informally (i.e. not the Dining Room, Study, Billiard Room etc) It's a fairly common British comic trope to have a social aspirant refer to things or places by their 'posh' names - often an obsession of the nouveau riche - see Harry King's wife for another example. British comedy is obsessed with social class, and it shows in Pratchett's work and references.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 12:09
|
|
|
Yeah, I believe Pratchett's also mentioned that PG Wodehouse was an influence on his writing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 17:14
|
|
|
mallamp posted:You can come back later for Reaper Man and Moving Pictures which are pretty good early ones, but they aren't that necessary. quote:“ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION. AND EVEN OBLIVION MUST END SOMEDAY. LORD, WILL YOU GRANT ME JUST A LITTLE TIME? FOR THE PROPER BALANCE OF THINGS. TO RETURN WHAT WAS GIVEN. FOR THE SAKE OF PRISONERS AND THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS. Alhazred fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Feb 22, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2014 21:15
|
|
|
I've been re-reading the Tiffany Aching books this week and yeesh but that man can write. I'm somewhat curious though: I love Granny Weatherwax as depicted in the Aching books, but I really didn't care for her in Equal Rites. Is it worth going through the other witches books, or should I just pretend that they started with hat full of sky?
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 02:39
|
|
|
Omi no Kami posted:I've been re-reading the Tiffany Aching books this week and yeesh but that man can write. Granny Weatherwax gets consistently cooler with each book. I think they're all worth reading personally but I liked Equal Rites too, though yeah, it's an early raw work.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 02:42
|
|
|
Omi no Kami posted:I've been re-reading the Tiffany Aching books this week and yeesh but that man can write. Equal Rites is universally considered to be a "proto" witches book. They start with Wyrd Sisters, let's all just agree on that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 02:43
|
|
|
Hmm okay, I'll rewind to Wyrd Sisters once I finish the Aching books- thank you!
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 03:38
|
|
|
Yeah; Pratchett hadn't really got a handle on what Granny was until Wyrd Sisters, although she also evolves - in a natural, character development way - a fair bit between Wyrd Sisters and the Aching books.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 15:57
|
|
|
I think it's also that Granny needs the other witches as foils to really work well. Nanny Ogg and Magrat help define what Granny *isn't*.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 16:08
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:I think it's also that Granny needs the other witches as foils to really work well. Nanny Ogg and Magrat help define what Granny *isn't*. And the comedy value of Nanny, Granny and Magrat together is just through the roof. The part of Wyrd Sisters where the increasingly unhinged Hamlet/Macbeth play is carried out with them on stage as the Three Witches never fails to make me wail with laughter. "This cauldron's full of all yuck" is a common phrase in my household when I burn something in a saucepan.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 21:53
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:Plot's pretty subpar, dialogue is unmemorable, it doesn't connect to any of the better aspects of Discworld... at best, it's mediocre. The first time I read Small Gods I thought it was awful. By the time I had read it a second time it was far and away my favourite stand alone discworld book. over the years I have often found I needed to read TP a second time to really enjoy, particularly with the stand alone novels.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 22:05
|
|
|
That's how it was for me with Reaper Man. Hated it, then came back and got significantly more out of it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2014 23:52
|
|
|
Omi no Kami posted:I've been re-reading the Tiffany Aching books this week and yeesh but that man can write. The thing with her in Equal Rites is she's only drawn in two and a bit dimensions, because she's like all the early Discworld characters, a spanner in the wheel to serve the points Pratchett's trying to make about fantasy - in this case, men's magic and women's magic. The book works a lot better once you realise it's basically an expanded version of this speech that he gave to a convention shortly after completing The Light Fantastic.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2014 10:58
|
|
|
It's time to Pay It Forward again and offer some books for trade. I have Last Continent and Fifth Elephant to offer. I'm looking for any of the Aching books, Witches Abroad, or Soul Music. Or anything else special, like the diaries or maps or pretty much any suggestions at all. Could use a reread of Thief of Time, maybe. Mister Roboto fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Feb 27, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2014 11:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 18:36 |
|
|
FactsAreUseless posted:I always think of Wyrd Sisters as the first Witches book, not Equal Rites, mostly because nothing in ER ever comes up again (at least not until I Shall Wear Midnight, which doesn't really count). But Wyrd Sisters actually sets some important canonical stuff for the series. It's not a great place to start unless your target is a big Shakespeare fan. I started at Wyrd Sisters and was instantly hooked. When it was the newest one out. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2014 14:57
|
|