The Terry Pratchett Thread: For the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The Terry Pratchett Thread: For the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds

«‹›309 »

toasterwarrior: Nov 11, 2011

I bought Thud! on a whim in my first day of college and never stopped since.

# ? Aug 7, 2020 22:20

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 26, 2024 00:48

Bingo Bango: Jan 7, 2020

Tree Bucket posted:

What was the first Discworld everyone read? I started with "Interesting Times" and it absolutely blew my 12-year-old mind. I had no idea what was going on but "your wife is a big hippo" and "there he is! Get 'im! Got 'im? Now kick 'im inna fork!" were pure magic.

I'm embarrassed to say, I can't remember! In high school I worked at our small town library and was very bored one Saturday while I was waiting around for the bridge club to get set up before I could go home. Since my supervisor was gone for the day, I picked up one of the two Pratchett books that had been staring at me from the New Arrivals shelf all day. It was either Thud! or Monstrous Regiment. I devoured it over the weekend and was relieved when the other one hadn't been checked out when I came back for my next shift several days later.

# ? Aug 7, 2020 23:48

Gambrinus: Mar 1, 2005

SirSamVimes posted:

Still lmaoing at young skinny hot vigilante Sybil Ramkin.

That's Sybil? I haven't kept up with the TV series at all, but blimey.

# ? Aug 7, 2020 23:59

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

I�m going to have real trouble believing her romance to the tramp standing behind her.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 00:11

Gambrinus: Mar 1, 2005

It's TV, Attractive Young Woman has inexplicable relationship with Man Old Enough To Be Her Father happens all the time.

The striking looking lass with the crossbow is quite something. Assume she's supposed to be Angua?

# ? Aug 8, 2020 00:33

Fighting Trousers: May 17, 2011; Does this excite you, girl?

SirSamVimes posted:

Still lmaoing at young skinny hot vigilante Sybil Ramkin.

Also loling (disappointedly) at non-dwarf Cheery.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 03:00

BurgerQuest: Mar 17, 2009; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Cardiac posted:

Equal rites here cause it was one of few Pratchett books that was translated into Swedish at that time. Ie 30 years ago or so.

Interesting Times is my favourite, mostly due to the cynicism with regards to any kind of revolution that Pratchett describes through Rincewind. Then again, I consider Vimes to be a new protagonist compared to Esme and Rincewind.

I've heard mostly good things about the translations but it's gotta be so hard to convey some of the humour and subtext I'd think!

# ? Aug 8, 2020 03:23

Beachcomber: May 21, 2007; Another day in paradise.; Slippery Tilde

BurgerQuest posted:

I've heard mostly good things about the translations but it's gotta be so hard to convey some of the humour and subtext I'd think!

Sounds like a good opportunity to sell some soup.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 03:30

withak: Jan 15, 2003; Fun Shoe

Beachcomber posted:

Sounds like a good opportunity to sell some soup.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 05:06

IshmaelZarkov: Jun 20, 2013

Sourcery here, when I was waaay too young to get it. Mort a couple of years later.

If I had to recommend a starting book though, it's probably be Reaper Man or Mort.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 08:04

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

thebardyspoon posted:

I think the PS1 game was my first interaction with a Pratchett thing

Me too, I don't think I even realized that there was Discworld books until I played Discworld Noir.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 09:30

Bruceski: Aug 21, 2007; The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

Gambrinus posted:

The striking looking lass with the crossbow is quite something. Assume she's supposed to be Angua?

Yup. I think her look would've been great as Nobby instead. Carrot on the right (he and Vimes look great IMO), not sure who the one on the left is.

I kinda love a lot of the shots I've seen of that show, but I hate which names are given to the people in them. But that's all road we've traveled before, now I'm just waiting to see how it actually plays out.

Bruceski fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Aug 8, 2020

# ? Aug 8, 2020 10:24

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

Yeah I will say that Vimes and Carrot look excellent (aside from the lack of breastplates)

# ? Aug 8, 2020 10:35

DontMockMySmock: Aug 9, 2008; I got this title for the dumbest fucking possible take on sea shanties. Specifically, I derailed the meme thread because sailors in the 18th century weren't woke enough for me, and you shouldn't sing sea shanties. In fact, don't have any fun ever.

Random thoughts:

Still hate how they took a story about two early-middle-age not-particularly-attractive people falling in love and made the man fifty years old and the woman a twenty-something supermodel.

Carrot not having a beard is inexcusable.

I guess Cheery should be bearded too but it seems like they made her either not a dwarf, or another biological human raised by dwarves (and thus biologically incapable of growing a beard). If she's just not a dwarf at all, gonna be really weird if she's named Cheery.

Really weird of them to have Detritus faithfully reproduced as a large rock man but not have any non-adopted dwarves. Are dwarves even a thing in this adaptation?

Mad there's no Colon and Nobby.

I think it looks really silly for someone to have a cocked crossbow resting on their shoulder like that. At least Carrot looks like he's getting ready to aim at someone.

All in all it seems like this adaptation is really going for "lookin cool" over all other concerns. At least, that's what it seems like so far. I still can hope they're equally concerned with humor and emotional depth, but I'm mostly pessimistic about it.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 11:10

Beachcomber: May 21, 2007; Another day in paradise.; Slippery Tilde

DontMockMySmock posted:

Carrot not having a beard is inexcusable.

...Carrot's never had a beard. :confused:

# ? Aug 8, 2020 11:24

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

DontMockMySmock posted:

Carrot not having a beard is inexcusable.

Carrot doesn't have a beard in the books. He's barely 16 in Guards! Guards!, remember. And he's never been illustrated as bearded.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 11:24

DontMockMySmock: Aug 9, 2008; I got this title for the dumbest fucking possible take on sea shanties. Specifically, I derailed the meme thread because sailors in the 18th century weren't woke enough for me, and you shouldn't sing sea shanties. In fact, don't have any fun ever.

Well he might not have had a beard yet in Guards! Guards! but I can't imagine any self-respecting dwarf shaving, and he definitely still considers himself a dwarf later on. Pretty sure it comes up in Fifth Elephant. Anyways, my mental image of him definitely has a beard. Don't think I've ever seen an official illustration of him; the printings I had of most of the books were the American paperbacks that have simple, non-character art.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 12:48

Asgerd: May 6, 2012; I worked up a powerful loneliness in my massive bed, in the massive dark.; Grimey Drawer

Carrot always has a beard in the same way Tiffany always has a hat.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 12:52

YggiDee: Sep 12, 2007; WASP CREW

I'm in oppositeland over here and have never even thought of him as having a beard. Which is odd now that I think about it but there you go.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 13:24

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Official art of Carrot, Leonard of Quirm, and Rincewind from The Last Hero:

And his art for Guards! Guards!

# ? Aug 8, 2020 13:33

ChubbyChecker: Mar 25, 2018

SirSamVimes posted:

Still lmaoing at young skinny hot vigilante Sybil Ramkin.

and cheery

that show will be so awful

# ? Aug 8, 2020 13:40

Staggy: Mar 20, 2008; Said little bitch, you can't fuck with me if you wanted to
These expensive
These is red bottoms
These is bloody shoes

Carrot has a beard because Carrot is a dwarf. The fact that he is clean-shaven is as relevant as the fact that he is 6ft something.

I think he's my favourite casting as he matches my imagination (heavily influenced by the artwork above). He looks like a relatively clean-cut rugby player; a Nice Boy who Means Well. Vimes is next; although that photo looks like he's gurning for no reason, I can see him as a Night Watch-era Vimes (not Young Sam) after a few years of decent eating. Angua's not bad, not fussed about Cheery. I could see the actress they have as Young Sybil but it's hard to tell if that's what they're going for here. Detritus looked insufficiently broad and looming at first but I'm coming around.

Give us Nobby and Colon you cowards.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 13:42

mllaneza: Apr 28, 2007; Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1993-1952

Beachcomber posted:

Sounds like a good opportunity to sell some ~~soup~~ not at all suspicious meat ona stick.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 13:42

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

[quote="DontMockMySmock" post="507118743"]
Are dwarves even a thing in this adaptation?
/quote]

The woman who plays Angua looks really tiny:

# ? Aug 8, 2020 18:20

Trin Tragula: Apr 22, 2005

The whole point of dwarves and beards is that Cheery thinks her massive luxuriant beard is vitally important to her own conception of dwarfishness even though she's openly female; and yet it doesn't matter one bit that ~~Carrot~~ Head Banger is six feet three and has no facial hair whatsoever, he's accepted even by some of the deep-down grags as unquestionably dwarfish, and for the rest, it's a debatable point and a point worth debating whether or not he counts as a dwarf. Pratchett first brought it up in The Fifth Element and then developed it further in Thud.

quote:

'You have to understand, sir, that there's a sort of big debate going on,' said Carrot. 'On how you define
a dwarf.'

'Well, some people might say that they're called dwarfs because‐'

'No, sir. Not size. Nobby Nobbs is shorter than many dwarfs, and we don't call him a dwarf.'

'We don't call him a human, either,' said Vimes.

'And, of course, I am also a dwarf.'

'You know, Carrot, I keep meaning to talk to you about that‐'

'Adopted by dwarfs, brought up by dwarfs. To dwarfs I'm a dwarf, sir. I can do the rite of k'zakra, I
know the secrets of h'ragna, I can ha'lk my g'rakha correctly . . . I am a dwarf.'

'What do those things mean?'

'I'm not allowed to tell non‐dwarfs.' Carrot tactfully tried to stand out of the way of the cigar smoke.
'Unfortunately, some of the mountain dwarfs think that dwarfs who've moved away aren't proper
dwarfs either. But this time the kingship has been swung by the views of the Ankh‐Morpork dwarfs,
and a lot of dwarfs back home don't like it. There's been a lot of bad feeling all round. Families falling
out, that sort of thing. Much pulling of beards.'

quote:

'Go and tell Angua I want her along. And oh, Haddock. And Ringfounder, maybe.
You come too, of course.'

'Er, not a good idea, sir. I happen to know most deep-downers are nervous about
me. They believe I'm too human to be a dwarf.'

'Really?'

Six feet three inches in his stockinged feet, thought Vimes. Adopted and raised by
dwarfs in a little dwarf mine in the mountains. His dwarfish name is Kzad-bhat, which
means Head Banger. He coughed. 'Why on earth should they think that, I wonder?'
he said.

'All right, I know I'm technically human, sir, but size has traditionally never been a
dwarfish definition of a dwarf. Hamcrusher's group aren't happy about me, though.'

quote:

It's just weird folklore. Dwarfs believe it. I don't. So how did you get the vurms to form
that sign?'

'Easy, sir. You just smear the wall with a piece of meat. That's a feast for vurms. I
wanted to shake Ardent up a bit. Make him nervous, like you taught me. I wanted to
show him I knew about signs. I am a dwarf, after all.'

'Captain, this is probably not the time to break it to you, but...

'Oh, I know people laugh, sir. A six-foot dwarf! But being a human just means being
born to human parents. That's easy. Being a dwarf doesn't mean being born to
dwarfs, though it's a good start. It's about certain things you do. Certain ceremonies.
I've done them. So I'm a human and a dwarf. The deep-downers find it a bit hard to
deal with that.'

'It's mystic again, is it?' said Vimes wearily.

Together with the hints at who the Low Queen really is and the introduction of Sally von Humpeding and her friendship with Angua, it's quite clear that Pratchett was planning to develop these thoughts about gender in specific and identity in general all a lot further, and then just ran out of time to do it.

# ? Aug 8, 2020 18:35

Fighting Trousers: May 17, 2011; Does this excite you, girl?

If you were wondering about Rhiannon Pratchett's opinion...

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:44

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

I know no-one cares but I absolutely loathe the costuming.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:52

Stroth: Mar 31, 2007; All Problems Solved

3D Megadoodoo posted:

I know no-one cares but I absolutely loathe the costuming.

I'm not sure how to describe it, but I know the words "post apocalypse punk" are involved.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:57

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Stroth posted:

I'm not sure how to describe it, but I know the words "post apocalypse punk" are involved.

I was thinking more "New Zealand-Canada-Germany co-production youth TV series".

# ? Aug 10, 2020 12:58

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Stroth posted:

I'm not sure how to describe it, but I know the words "post apocalypse punk" are involved.

The earliest marketing that came out described as a punk thriller, so yes.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 13:07

Stroth: Mar 31, 2007; All Problems Solved

3D Megadoodoo posted:

I was thinking more "New Zealand-Canada-Germany co-production youth TV series".

Mad Max by way of Urban Outfitters.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 13:09

CoolCab: Apr 17, 2005; glem

There's so much good TV out there right now - I don't get some dopamine rush from hearing familiar names. I haven't watched the other Diskworld adaptations because they have a poor reputation. I heard the Good Omens adaptation was good so I watched it and mostly it was (except for the Prachett bits imo). If this comes out and is glowingly reviewed or develops a good word of mouth maybe I'll watch it. Hell, if it turns out spectacularly bad I'll probably wind up watching it out of morbid curiosity, but I would guess it won't even achieve that.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 13:11

Mokinokaro: Sep 11, 2001; At the end of everything, hold onto anything; Fun Shoe

3D Megadoodoo posted:

I know no-one cares but I absolutely loathe the costuming.

Overall, yeah. I still don't mind most of Vimes' look though.

CoolCab posted:

I haven't watched the other Diskworld adaptations because they have a poor reputation.

Hogfather is decent. Soul Music is okay but man you can tell it was budget animation.

I haven't watched the others.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 13:45

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Fighting Trousers posted:

If you were wondering about Rhiannon Pratchett's opinion...

As I've mentioned before, Rhianna was completely cut out of the production. She was Pterry's chosen successor to writing Discworld, so if she's not involved then it isn't Discworld.

# ? Aug 10, 2020 14:30

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Jedit posted:

As I've mentioned before, Rhianna was completely cut out of the production. She was Pterry's chosen successor to writing Discworld, so if she's not involved then it isn't Discworld.

Haven't you heard about the death of the author? :smugbert: