|
Phenotype posted:The Vetinari bits, I think, would have been fine if they were never repeated. I don't mind a one-off where it turns out Vetinari knows sleight of hand and can juggle, because he's an Assassin and literally Machiavelli, so it's not out of the realm of imagination that he can deal with a brief Klatchian spy mission, or investigate the island and figure out it's gonna sink again. But it's definitely the spot that you point to when people talk about Vetinari getting Flanderized or whatever so that he can magically do anything. I dunno how you can hate Gulli Gulli and Beti when you read it for the first time through, though. Up until then it's easy to understand how Vetinari stayed in power having managed to become Patrician, but it's not particularly clear how a man whose personal brand is being equally unpopular with everyone could have convinced the movers and shakers to let him take the job in the first place. Seeing him have to live off his wits and personally get the donkey down from the minaret gives us some idea of how he might have done that, and the only other time we see him actually have to do the legwork himself is in Night Watch, when we see him as a young man. Xander77 posted:idgi. "Mrs Palm" is a masturbation reference, right? So how does the joke work regarding prostituion? I'll take "overanalysing a simple substitution" for AM$500 please
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 02:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 04:30 |
|
|
Trin Tragula posted:
I mean, the post was a pretty perfect setup of "hey, what does this joke mean?" followed by a clear explanation that they just do not, in fact, understand jokes in general.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 05:48
|
|
|
What was that book where Vimes travels back in time to replace his mentor. Him and young Vetinari fought a bunch of bad guys at the end.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 06:44
|
|
|
Have I mentioned how much I love this thread? This is all great really.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 06:45
|
|
|
That was Night Watch and when you describe the premise like that it makes me astounded that the book is as good as it is.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 06:49
|
|
|
SirSamVimes posted:That was Night Watch and when you describe the premise like that it makes me astounded that the book is as good as it is. Oh it was? I thought that was a much earlier book. I can't can't always connect books to names.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 06:54
|
|
|
Devorum posted:I mean, the post was a pretty perfect setup of "hey, what does this joke mean?" followed by a clear explanation that they just do not, in fact, understand jokes in general. Xander77 fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Nov 6, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 07:36
|
|
|
Jedit posted:It's short for telling a man who wants sex when the woman doesn't to "go see Mrs Palm and her five daughters". And there is a point where someone refers to Rosie Palm as "having all those daughters to feed". So it's a reverse reference - instead of being a euphemism for getting sexual relief, it's literal. (Not that the girls are Rose's daughters of course, but people assume it.) Speaking of, I really liked the joke that according to a survey done by the Guild of Merchants, the Seamstress Guild consisted of 987 women...and two needles.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 12:15
|
|
|
Alhazred posted:Speaking of, I really liked the joke that according to a survey done by the Guild of Merchants, the Seamstress Guild consisted of 987 women...and two needles. Didn't it also have a woman who did actual seamstress work and was so good at it that she attracted a ton of customers?
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 12:21
|
|
|
Feliday Melody posted:Didn't it also have a woman who did actual seamstress work and was so good at it that she attracted a ton of customers? Yeah, it must be really frustrating to try and get your socks fixed in Ankh -Morpork. "Hello, I would like to have my sock repaired...No, I said sock. Sock."
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 12:32
|
|
|
Feliday Melody posted:Didn't it also have a woman who did actual seamstress work and was so good at it that she attracted a ton of customers? Sandra Battye in Night Watch, she prefers to be called a "needlewoman"
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 12:35
|
|
|
Feliday Melody posted:Didn't it also have a woman who did actual seamstress work and was so good at it that she attracted a ton of customers? Yes, but she gets the work because sometimes someone who doesn't know "seamstresses" is a polite fiction comes to get their sewing done. There's a good joke about why they're called the Seamstresses. It's because whenever someone asks why, the answer begins "Ahem".
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2021 13:26
|
|
|
Isn’t it a recurring joke that the guild does eventually start to employ needlewomen, because there are are slot of bachelors and widowers in Ahnk-Morpork?
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 20:43
|
|
|
Talking about Night Watch just made me remember the running joke about all the traps that Vimes sets for the constant trickle of assassins and lol.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 20:54
|
|
|
I love the bit where vimes finds out the guild of assassin's is no longer accepting jobs for him and he's miffed. Its also a really neat pay off, from drunkard captain to possibly the second most important figure in the city.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 21:05
|
|
|
Antifa Poltergeist posted:I love the bit where vimes finds out the guild of assassin's is no longer accepting jobs for him and he's miffed. I like how the assassins still sends students after him to teach them as a training exercise.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 21:47
|
|
|
Alhazred posted:I like how the assassins still sends students after him to teach them as a training exercise. Only the ones good enough to survive though. I'dve felt bad if that girl had died.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 22:04
|
|
|
IIRC, that one was specifically sent there as a lesson in humility.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 22:46
|
|
|
El Fideo posted:IIRC, that one was specifically sent there as a lesson in humility. Yeah, I just worry that it could have gone worse.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 00:18
|
|
|
Feliday Melody posted:Didn't it also have a woman who did actual seamstress work and was so good at it that she attracted a ton of customers? Yep, Sandra Battye! She was quite busy too, because there were a lot of new immigrants from out in the country who just actually wanted holes in their socks patched, and weren't quite savvy enough to get that the Seamstresses were more in the unclothing business.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 04:06
|
|
|
Say, which Discworld book is this talking about? "There is a moment in one of Terry Pratchett's brilliant Discworld novels where the protagonist's "organiser", a magical device reminding the owner of his daily appointments, breaks, so it starts reciting the schedule from an alternate universe where the characters made the wrong choices with awful results." Randomly, it's from an imdb review of that The Watch TV show, to say we're in the dark universe via the show not being good etc. That sounds like a cool book idea, and my googling has failed. I do intend to read many Discworld books anyway, starting with Guards! Guards! And I may go back for some earlier ones later. I had read part of the first book, and watched that Color of Magic mini-series which I liked. Also liked the adventure game back in the day.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 09:55
|
|
|
That's Jingo.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 10:06
|
|
|
That's in Jingo. It's a fairly minor plot detail, more for flavour than anything else.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 10:10
|
|
|
Nice, thanks! It does sound fun how there seem to be so many imaginative fun asides in these. On general reading advice, any downside to reading the first few City Watch books first, then seeing what else I dig, more or less chronological? Not to get ahead of myself and commit to all 40 or so, when I tend to read like three books a year. Even if I'd like to raise that. I'm guessing you pretty much can't go wrong, you just might miss some things like characters having been introduced already etc? Also, I had heard from my fam who are fans that the books hit their stride a little later, with Guards Guards especially. Though also having love for Mort and Wyrd Sisters etc. I've also heard that Sourcery and Eric might not be stronger ones, though I do like Rincewind, or at least the idea of Rincewind I've gotten so far. Either way, I should just crack open that copy of Guards! Guards! already. Hit me with any newbie Discworld tips and tricks though, if you will. Also, how is Moving Pictures? And on Rincewind, if I picked up say Interesting Times as my first one for him, other than that TV mini-series, would that make sense and read well for example? If one was to read just a few Rincewind books, which ones would you go for? And any other must read top of the pile ones? Heavy Metal fucked around with this message at 10:28 on Nov 8, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 10:26
|
|
|
Heavy Metal posted:Not to get ahead of myself and commit to all 40 or so, when I tend to read like three books a year. Don't worry, people who get into Discworld and "only read three books a year" are usually heard rationalising with "well, the Watch novels are really just one big book if you think about it". I don't see too much wrong with your path. The Witches books and Death books are far better than the Rincewind books, though. And Moving Pictures is a good read that introduces Mustrum Ridcully, who is an important character throughout.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 10:38
|
|
|
Heavy Metal posted:Nice, thanks! It does sound fun how there seem to be so many imaginative fun asides in these. fantasy parody was a popular genre in the 80s, and the first few discworld books weren't very special. mort was the first really discwordly book. reading the various series, eg. the city watch, in chronological order is fine. you might miss the significance of some side characters that were introduced in other series, but it's not really that important in the city watch series. rincewind is basically a boring character that's dropped in interesting situations. i wouldn't recommend interesting times as a first rincewind book, because you'll get more out of the book if you've read earlier ones. if you're interested in rincewind, then i recommend that you start with the first discworld novel. moving pictures is almost a standalone novel. you'd get slightly more out of it if you know who the patrician is or how the wizard university works. if you were to just read one discworld novel to find out what the all thing is about, i'd recommend mort.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 10:46
|
|
|
YggiDee posted:That's in Jingo. It's a fairly minor plot detail, more for flavour than anything else. A fairly minor plot point with a fairly depressing payoff (that thankfully isn't the reality we are in).
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 11:13
|
|
|
Thanks folks! Since you were saying the first few weren't as special, how do you feel about Sourcery? I was mainly looking to try a Rincewind that isn't the first two, for my own kooky reasons. Plus I already tried the first one, and watched that mini-series. I've tried a bit of an audiobook version of Mort, though going the paper route for most of them. I think the standard kid apprentice beginning made it feel a bit boring to me, but it sounds like it goes places. I'll give that book a proper try sometime. And I dig Chandler, so I gotta meet this hard boiled Vimes guy. Heavy Metal fucked around with this message at 11:17 on Nov 8, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 11:15
|
|
|
Heavy Metal posted:Thanks folks! Personally, Sourcery felt to me like the last of the ‘old-style fantasy parody’ type Discworld books- the world settled down into its more familiar form afterwards, with Wyrd Sisters, Guards Guards and Moving Pictures setting up Lancre, the Watch and Ankh-Morpork/UU plot lines and characters following shortly after. It’s very apocalyptic and I rather enjoyed it, but it’s definitely the transitional point between the old and current Discworld.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 12:07
|
|
|
Good to know, thanks. One more question, anywhere you can read the short story The Troll Bridge?
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 12:12
|
|
|
Heavy Metal posted:Good to know, thanks. https://www.bookscool.com/classic/Troll-Bridge-693490/1
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 12:22
|
|
|
Right on, much appreciated!
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 13:03
|
|
|
e X posted:Isn’t it a recurring joke that the guild does eventually start to employ needlewomen, because there are are slot of bachelors and widowers in Ahnk-Morpork? It's literally a thing in Night Watch. Palm's flatmate who's name I forget is an *actual* seamstress and seems to get more customers than Palm does.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 13:30
|
|
|
I always thought Dis-organiser was a very dull pun until I found out that the traditional name for the city of demons is... Dis.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 13:52
|
|
|
So I've been "reading" the series in order by listening to the audiobooks. Up to 'The Fifth Elephant', they were mostly read by Nigel Planer, except for a few of the Witches books. Beginning with 'Fifth Elephant', though, they seem to have switched to Stephen Briggs. Briggs is fine in absolute terms as a narrator, but I really prefer Nigel Planer's characterization of certain characters -- especially Death, Vimes, Carrot, and Detritus (and the other trolls in general). Does anyone else have a strong preference for one reader over the other?
Imagined fucked around with this message at 23:13 on Nov 8, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2021 23:11
|
|
|
Imagined posted:So I've been "reading" the series in order by listening to the audiobooks. Up to 'The Fifth Elephant', they were mostly read by Nigel Planer, except for a few of the Witches books. Beginning with 'Fifth Elephant', though, they seem to have switched to Stephen Briggs. Briggs is fine in absolute terms as a narrator, but I really prefer Nigel Planer's characterization of certain characters -- especially Death, Vimes, Carrot, and Detritus (and the other trolls in general). Does anyone else have a strong preference for one reader over the other? Briggs is way better than Planer.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2021 01:34
|
|
|
I did not enjoy Planer. Very poor comic timing, and really bad voices.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2021 01:40
|
|
|
ChubbyChecker posted:moving pictures is almost a standalone novel. you'd get slightly more out of it if you know who the patrician is or how the wizard university works.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2021 01:42
|
|
|
El Fideo posted:I did not enjoy Planer. Very poor comic timing, and really bad voices. His Angua was so awful I couldn't finish Men At Arms.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2021 02:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 04:30 |
|
|
Moving Pictures was just way too close to the level of puns and fantasy analogs of modern culture and technology of something like a Piers Anthony novel than I ever want from Discworld.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2021 03:56
|
|