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#299301 - 11/06/2007 20:36 I have a Confession.
schofiel
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
Boys and Girls,

I have only yesterday, 10:45AM BST, discovered Terry Pratchett.

Please forgive my sins.

PS: He's pretty funny, actually.
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One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

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#299302 - 11/06/2007 21:53 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: schofiel]
petteri
addict

Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
I know nothing of this Terry (Wikipedia search underway...), but Happy Birthday!

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#299303 - 11/06/2007 22:50 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: schofiel]
FireFox31
pooh-bah

Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
Happy Birthday, as well. I think I've heard of Terry Pratchet. Doesn't he (she??) sing or something.

(This post was brought to you by the year 1995, before you feigh knowledge of everything by simply searching the Internet.)
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FireFox31
110gig MKIIa (30+80), Eutronix lights, 32 meg stacked RAM, Filener orange gel lens, Greenlights Lit Buttons green set

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#299304 - 12/06/2007 03:27 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: schofiel]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
I've seen his books on the shelves for some time. Going by the number of volumes and constant stocking, they must have a following, but the time I bought one, It just couldn't keep my interest.
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Glenn

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#299305 - 12/06/2007 06:21 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: gbeer]
peter
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
Quote:
I've seen his books on the shelves for some time. Going by the number of volumes and constant stocking, they must have a following, but the time I bought one, It just couldn't keep my interest.

The first half-dozen or so were really good, but IMO after that the quality tails off and they start becoming potboilers too reliant on running-jokes. The best later ones are the ones with entirely new settings and characters, so the running-jokes are scarcer: Pyramids, and, my favourite of the lot, Small Gods. Everyone should read Small Gods. Everyone should read Pratchett's collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, too.

Peter

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#299306 - 12/06/2007 08:31 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: schofiel]
LittleBlueThing
addict

Registered: 11/01/2002
Posts: 612
Loc: Reading, UK
Quote:
Boys and Girls,

I have only yesterday, 10:45AM BST, discovered Terry Pratchett.

Please forgive my sins.

PS: He's pretty funny, actually.


I'll forgive you - but you're going to have to evangelise to make it up to the god of Blue Screwdrivers.

"And it came to pass that in that time the Great God Om spake unto Brutha, the Chosen One:
"Psst!"
Brutha paused in mid-hoe and stared around the Temple garden.
"Pardon?" he said."

Praise be to (horns) Om.
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LittleBlueThing Running twin 30's

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#299307 - 12/06/2007 08:48 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: LittleBlueThing]
peter
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
Quote:
Praise be to (horns) Om.

Amen, brother. My favourite bit of Small Gods is
Spoiler:
gur svefg cntr be fb, gur frg-hc sbe gur rntyr naq gbegbvfr guvat, gur ovg gung fgnegf jvgu "Pbafvqre gur gbegbvfr" naq raqf "Bar qnl, n gbegbvfr jvyy yrnea ubj gb syl".

If Small Gods is theistic humanism in a nutshell, that part is Small Gods in a nutshell. Amazingly, they muffed it when they did the Radio 4 adaptation: they kept most of the passage but skipped the punchline.

Peter

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#299308 - 12/06/2007 09:32 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: peter]
LittleBlueThing
addict

Registered: 11/01/2002
Posts: 612
Loc: Reading, UK
Honestly, I don't remember

So I'm know on p65 (again)

"Thou Shalt Build Shallower Steps"

I don't think there are any Pratchett books that I didn't enjoy - though there are obvious peaks. Mort was another favourite.

I think the style is quite British, verbose, slightly sarcastic, clearly not self-important and with some laconic punchlines. I think it requires some acceptance - if you don't 'just get it' you need to relax and let it flow.
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LittleBlueThing Running twin 30's

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#299309 - 12/06/2007 09:41 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: peter]
pca
old hand

Registered: 20/07/1999
Posts: 1102
Loc: UK
My father, having read Small Gods and laughed all the way through, claimed it was a book every divinities student should read to put religion into perspective

I think it's probably his best work. All the others are good, that one is great.

pca
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Experience is what you get just after it would have helped...

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#299310 - 13/06/2007 01:21 Re: I have a Confession. [Re: peter]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
Quote:
Quote:
I've seen his books on the shelves for some time. Going by the number of volumes and constant stocking, they must have a following, but the time I bought one, It just couldn't keep my interest.

The first half-dozen or so were really good, but IMO after that the quality tails off and they start becoming potboilers too reliant on running-jokes. The best later ones are the ones with entirely new settings and characters, so the running-jokes are scarcer: Pyramids, and, my favourite of the lot, Small Gods. Everyone should read Small Gods. Everyone should read Pratchett's collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, too.

Peter


Pyramids, Is that a story where a small pyramid shows up at a university and grows larger with repeated inputs of energy. In the process sucking in various persons and transporting them to a universe/time when the greek gods exist, leaving the same people to embark on a strange quest to get home.

I enjoyed that one, didn't remember who wrote it.
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Glenn

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