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FactsAreUseless posted:This is the first time I've ever heard someone accuse a bookstore employee of being on cocaine. It was the first time I've ever encountered it. He did everything but say "wow groovy cat *snap snap*" when I told him the reason I was in the bookstore was because I needed a new book 
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Apr 6, 2015 15:23
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EvilTaytoMan posted:Well I just did in Going Postal. Talking of references in Going Postal, was one of the undelivered letters that "spoke" to Moist supposed to be one of Carrot's letters home? Only supposedly his letters got there, since it's been shown that Carrot's dad writes his replies on the back of them.
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Apr 6, 2015 15:53
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"Well, I was going to buy a book, but now I think I'll go to [INSERT NAME HERE] instead, thanks. Tell your manager."
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Apr 6, 2015 15:54
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BizarroAzrael posted:Talking of references in Going Postal, was one of the undelivered letters that "spoke" to Moist supposed to be one of Carrot's letters home? Only supposedly his letters got there, since it's been shown that Carrot's dad writes his replies on the back of them.
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Apr 6, 2015 15:58
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I also thought the post office had been closed for quite a number of years, so since before carrot went to the city.
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Apr 6, 2015 16:11
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It technically wasn't closed, just so mismanaged that it was completely useless. It did still have people working there before Moist showed up. Well, two people at least.
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Apr 6, 2015 16:31
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tooterfish posted:It technically wasn't closed, just so mismanaged that it was completely useless. That's right, but Carrot used the traditional mountain method of sending mail, viz. giving it to someone heading in that general direction.
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Apr 6, 2015 16:56
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DoctorWhat posted:Nobby's a bit of a joke, sadly. I always thought dwarves "coming out" as female was an analogy for homosexuality. Especially in the Fifth Elephant when the king's right hand dwarf, a super traditionalist, ends up having a huge breakdown and screaming at Cheery and saying it's "not fair" because "why can she do it when I can't." Which is pretty clearly a nod to the sort of super right-wing homophobic Republican politicians in the US who often turn out to be closeted themselves.
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Apr 7, 2015 00:15
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You're kind of right, but on slightly closer inspection, there's just no way that the situation can be anywhere near that simple. We're talking about a culture where This is one of the things that really get to me about him dying - given what little he managed to show in Raising Steam (and there's hints in Thud with Sally von Humpeding also), he was clearly planning to develop those themes about the complexity of identity and contemporary human social norms even further and I was really looking forward to it, and then he simply ran out of time to do it in. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Apr 7, 2015 |
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Apr 7, 2015 00:40
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Bilirubin posted:It was the first time I've ever encountered it. He did everything but say "wow groovy cat *snap snap*" when I told him the reason I was in the bookstore was because I needed a new book Actually, that sounds like a David Lynch moment. Did he talk to you about your favorite brand of gum?
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Apr 7, 2015 12:09
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Well, I've been really undecided on which one of the books I would be re-reading first now that Terry's dead. In the end I went for Monstrous Regiment, and I'm glad I did. It's one of those books that I didn't like that much the first time I read it, but which I now really enjoy. As someone said, it contains some great characters and situations. Jackrum is great as the archetypal sergeant. He's also a typical Pratchett character in that he often hides the fact that he's competent and clever behind a stereotypical "jolly old sarge" facade. In my opinion the last really good Pratchett books - the last ones to feel "right" - are Going Postal and Empire. You could argue that Making Money is ok, but in my opinion this is the first book where something is seriously missing. As I recall, there wasn't anything really interesting going on, and I was more worried about what would happen to the bad guy and his hand than I was about the protagonist. Also, the financial markets would have been good potential object for satire, e.g. stock market swindles and so on, possibly with CMOT Dibbler getting involved. I remember that I was really looking forward to Making Money, but was disappointed in the end. If you have read the book "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" (1841) by Charles Mackay (Pterry probably knew of it), some of the stories on financial bubbles in that book read like something straight out of Discworld. For example this one, which allegedly happened in the early 1700s. This was at the time of the "South-Sea bubble", when the general public got the idea that they could make big money by buying shares in private enterprises. So creative individuals provided the public with all kinds of more or less credible schemes. This particular one was started by some person unknown, and was called “A company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.” Charles Mackay posted:The man of genius who essayed this bold and successful inroad upon public credulity, merely stated in his prospectus that the required capital was half a million, in five thousand shares of 100l. each, deposit 2l. per share. Each subscriber, paying his deposit, would be entitled to 100l. per annum per share. How this immense profit was to be obtained, he did not condescend to inform them at that time, but promised that in a month full particulars should be duly announced, and a call made for the remaining 98l. of the subscription. Next morning, at nine o’clock, this great man opened an office in Cornhill. Crowds of people beset his door, and when he shut up at three o’clock, he found that no less than one thousand shares had been subscribed for, and the deposits paid. He was thus, in five hours, the winner of 2000l. He was philosopher enough to be contented with his venture, and set off the same evening for the Continent. He was never heard of again. So basically, this guy makes a public announcement that people can buy shares in his enterprise, "which is really great, but I can't tell you what it is." He sets up shop, and people line up around the block to buy his shares. At the end of the day he calmly packs up his earnings, gets on a boat and is never seen or heard of again. That's the kind of thing I would have hoped to see more of in Making Money.
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Apr 7, 2015 14:00
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Just imagine Terry's take on bitcoin for a minute. That alone would have been worth a book. Warehouses filled with little imp cages.
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Apr 7, 2015 14:10
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My Lovely Horse posted:Just imagine Terry's take on bitcoin for a minute. That alone would have been worth a book. Warehouses filled with little imp cages. LMAO!!!
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Apr 7, 2015 14:15
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Effectronica posted:LMAO!!!
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Apr 7, 2015 21:53
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My Lovely Horse posted:Just imagine Terry's take on bitcoin for a minute. That alone would have been worth a book. Warehouses filled with little imp cages. 
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Apr 7, 2015 22:33
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My Lovely Horse posted:Just imagine Terry's take on bitcoin for a minute. That alone would have been worth a book. Warehouses filled with little imp cages. Madly scribbling calculations on tiny little sheets of paper with tiny little pencils, generating so much heat from the friction that the warehouse burns down.
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Apr 7, 2015 23:09
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FactsAreUseless posted:Imagine what Pratchett would have said about Star Citizen. Imagine it. Imagine all the things he would have said about Star Citizen, only the things would be dwarves and imps and magic instead of spaceships and lies.
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Apr 8, 2015 00:14
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FactsAreUseless posted:I just imagined this and I do NOT recommend you do so. I'm still laughing. I can't stop laughing. I've got 911 on speed-dial if you need it.
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Apr 8, 2015 02:15
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Effectronica posted:I've got 911 on speed-dial if you need it.
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Apr 8, 2015 12:15
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I don't know if this is old news but The Shepherd's Crown is being published Sep 10. http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Books/News/2015/04/11/Terry-Pratchetts-final-Discworld-book-out-in-September/
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Apr 12, 2015 03:18
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I'm glad he's going out with a Tiffany Aching book.
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Apr 12, 2015 18:58
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He aten't dead.  The website for the 2016 International Discworld Convention went live today, for those who are interested. Membership sales open in early May, and I recommend booking early if you want to stay at the venue.
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Apr 12, 2015 20:15
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Doubtful Guest posted:Can anyone recommend somewhere to start my Brother-in-law with the Discworld? I tried to read the discowold books a few times, on and off over the past 4 years. I first tried ebooks but got confused by the non chapters. I finally started reading Discworld books when I came across a bunch of adbandon discworld books while waiting for the bus. I picked up Going Postal because 1. clean cover, 2. was in trade paperback, so larger in size, larger in text size, and the line spacing was fair 3. it was formatted into chapters. Going Postal got me reading the series. Then I bought Guards! Guards! and wasn't as impressed (but that is me just finding the book very boring). THEN I got Mort in Trade PaperBack, again, big text, big in size, easier to read at least visually. Mort got me hooked. I made the mistake of buying Small Gods in mass paperback and couldn't get past the turtle meeting some boy because I found it so hard to read the small letters. What I am trying to say is, with dyslexic, its not the story that puts us off, its the books formatt visually. If the text is extremely small, with squished fonts and line space, then reading is utter hell. I always help parents who have teens with dyslexic and I often pick books that have clean fronts, and large formats as well as finding a story they may enjoy. Those tend to be more successful when the parents come back then books that were formatted poorly. Sources: Me (Have dyslexic), My Job (Works in Book Store). Forget everything I said. I didn't read your whole post. Audiobooks are nice. I still think Going Postal is a good one to start off with. (I will always have a soft spot for you Moist :3) DrNewton fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Apr 13, 2015 |
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Apr 13, 2015 03:08
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Seconding Going Postal. There's not much knowledge presumed, and the plot is pretty straightforward without having to know Pratchett's style. That and I honestly think it's one of the best books in the series, despite not being particularly subtle.
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Apr 13, 2015 03:45
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Regarding audiobooks: how do they handle the footnotes? 
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Apr 13, 2015 04:49
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daggerdragon posted:Regarding audiobooks: how do they handle the footnotes? Immediately jumping to them mid-sentence as an aside, no real indication that it's a footnote rather than normal text. But the reader normally switches to their 'narrator' voice rather than a character voice.
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Apr 13, 2015 05:11
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Pidmon posted:Immediately jumping to them mid-sentence as an aside, no real indication that it's a footnote rather than normal text. But the reader normally switches to their 'narrator' voice rather than a character voice. How the hell do they manage those ridiculous page-long 4-or-5-deep footnote nests in the early books?
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Apr 13, 2015 18:16
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thespaceinvader posted:How the hell do they manage those ridiculous page-long 4-or-5-deep footnote nests in the early books? Sequentially. (The Planer audiobooks also apply a deep reverb to footnote text so that it sounds like it's being read to you from the bottom of a hole.)
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Apr 13, 2015 21:59
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I really hate the audiobooks, but I think I might be in the minority.
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Apr 14, 2015 00:35
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I used to hate them but they've grown on me. I'm also really glad we're ending on a Tiffany book for some reason.
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Apr 14, 2015 01:02
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Flipswitch posted:I used to hate them but they've grown on me.
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Apr 14, 2015 01:14
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If I ever finish the Thief of Time and the Death series (having done The Watch), is the Tiffany series the one I should go for next?
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Apr 14, 2015 03:08
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VagueRant posted:If I ever finish the Thief of Time and the Death series (having done The Watch), is the Tiffany series the one I should go for next? The Witches series should probably be first. [optional: Equal Rites,] Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskarade, Carpe Jugulum.
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Apr 14, 2015 03:36
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Read Equal Rites later, skip right into Wyrd Sisters. (Laugh your rear end off at Witches Abroad)
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Apr 14, 2015 03:50
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I'm re-reading some of the older books at the moment. Finished up Equal Rites and I actually think it holds up really well. It's not as... good a book as the later offerings but in many ways, it's actually funnier as well. Re-reading Pyramids at the moment which I love, it was always one of my favorites among the earlier offerings.
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Apr 14, 2015 07:03
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Equal Rites is weird because the part with Simon is basically identical to the plot of Sourcery. Both books start with a dying wizard leaving a staff to their descendant, both books have someone abusing magic and ending up in the Dungeon Dimensions.
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Apr 14, 2015 13:30
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Cicadalek posted:Equal Rites is weird because the part with Simon is basically identical to the plot of Sourcery. Both books start with a dying wizard leaving a staff to their descendant, both books have someone abusing magic and ending up in the Dungeon Dimensions.
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Apr 14, 2015 14:05
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Cicadalek posted:Equal Rites is weird because the part with Simon is basically identical to the plot of Sourcery. Both books start with a dying wizard leaving a staff to their descendant, both books have someone abusing magic and ending up in the Dungeon Dimensions. I thought I was going crazy having not read either of them in years but holy drat! Ah well, to be fair to Terry such a dramatic opening is hard to resist using twice. Wizards most of the time know how to go our in style.
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Apr 14, 2015 15:03
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I liked the dungeon dimensions. I wished they came back but they probably wouldn't fit.
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Apr 14, 2015 15:21
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I like to think they never went away, all the horrible things there are just terribly bored because the Wizards have moved on though.
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Apr 14, 2015 15:24
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