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Pope Guilty posted:Tamsin Greig was good as Lamia in Neverwhere. She doesn't get enough recognition. Just watch her in Green Wing, or Black Books even.
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Aug 12, 2009 13:51
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Pyrolocutus posted:Not anything about his books, but Terry Pratchett spoke recently about a House of Lords decision on assisted suicide, tying his Alzheimer's into the discussion. It's pretty sad. Jesus Christ quote:I live in hope - hope that before the disease in my brain finally wipes it clean, I can jump before I am pushed and drag my evil Nemesis to its doom, like Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty locked in combat as they go over the waterfall.
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Aug 14, 2009 13:08
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Sherlock Holmes came back from that.
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Aug 14, 2009 14:44
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And the readers could be the agonized and grief wrought Dr. Watson. I recently read some of the books in his little tiny blue scotsmen/witches series. I wasn't all that impressed - are these some of his earlier books? None of the characters are as great as the ones in Night Watch or Lipwig. Plus it seemed to take the whole witching thing a bit too seriously, in contrast to the general light hearted mockery the wizards get (for being useless and byzantine)
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Aug 14, 2009 16:53
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Ulstan posted:I recently read some of the books in his little tiny blue scotsmen/witches series.
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Aug 14, 2009 17:15
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No, I just saw them at a used books store. That would explain it. I'm not saying they are bad, just not part of my favorite arcs. Of course I like the Rincewind/luggage arcs and I know some people who don't, so tastes obviously vary!
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Aug 14, 2009 17:19
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Ulstan posted:No, I just saw them at a used books store. The Tiffany Aching books are his Young Adult series, the only proper discworld book with witches and Yac Mac Feggle is Capre Jugulum.
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Aug 14, 2009 18:30
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Aussie Crawl posted:The Tiffany Aching books are his Young Adult series, the only proper discworld book with witches and Yac Mac Feggle is Capre Jugulum. Weren't the Yac Mac Feegle in Lords and Ladies as well?
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Aug 14, 2009 18:37
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precision posted:Weren't the Yac Mac Feegle in Lords and Ladies as well? Nac Mac Feegle, and yes, I believe so. Damned if I can remember why, plot-wise.
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Aug 14, 2009 19:12
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They were banished from the Fairy Realm for being drunks and stealing, I think.
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Aug 14, 2009 21:14
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The Nac Mac Feegle are brilliant. It's the only Pratchett book I managed to get signed as well. 
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Aug 15, 2009 00:33
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ibroxmassive posted:The Nac Mac Feegle are brilliant. Are Scottish people offended by them or too drunk too have noticed yet?
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Aug 15, 2009 00:58
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DontMockMySmock posted:Nac Mac Feegle, and yes, I believe so. Damned if I can remember why, plot-wise. I think they got Verence away from the elves? It's been a while since I read it.
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Aug 15, 2009 03:19
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Mogadishu posted:I think they got Verence away from the elves? It's been a while since I read it. No the Feegle's don't appear in Lords and Ladies, you're thinking of Capre Jugulum when Nanny gives them Scumble in return for sneaking Verance out of the castle.
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Aug 15, 2009 04:39
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Agh, you're right. But they're basically the same book, so I say it counts. 
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Aug 15, 2009 04:46
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precision posted:Are Scottish people offended by them or too drunk too have noticed yet? That would be like Londoners getting offended at the portrayal of Ankh-Morpork, or Welsh people getting offended at Llamedos.
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Aug 15, 2009 12:02
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Nilbop posted:That would be like Londoners getting offended at the portrayal of Ankh-Morpork, or Welsh people getting offended at Llamedos. Actually, especially in more recent novels, I've always thought of Ankh-Morpork is an analogue for New York/America. I'm sure there are even quotes which reference how it's a "melting pot" and it certainly seems to have a much more welcoming policy with regards to immigrants than England does.
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Aug 15, 2009 16:09
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Ankh-Morpork has elements from various different cities. There's aspects of London there aswell as pretty much every major city. I don't think there's really a clear influence either way, it's just "The City" which is just a caricature of what a normal city is.
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Aug 15, 2009 16:47
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precision posted:Actually, especially in more recent novels, I've always thought of Ankh-Morpork is an analogue for New York/America. I'm sure there are even quotes which reference how it's a "melting pot" and it certainly seems to have a much more welcoming policy with regards to immigrants than England does. As an American who has never been to London, it is very easy to see parallels between Ankh-Morpork and big American cities - the Ankh, for example, is very reminiscent of the L.A. "river" (actually an aqueduct), which is very smelly and filled with feces and dead hookers and gangsters. On the other hand, from an intellectual standpoint, I can recognize it a parallel of the Thames in London. Other things are so obvious that even an ignorant American can see, such as Old Tom = Big Ben. So basically, it's partly London, but mostly it's just so stereotypically "big city" that you could imagine it's major metropolis.
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Aug 15, 2009 18:24
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The fist sentence of this thread doesn't make sense now that the thread title has been changed for some reason? Anyway, I'm struggling through Carpe, it's just not in the same league as the very few other TP books I've read and loved (Making Money took my TP virginity, since then I've read Monstrous Regiment and The Last Hero? (I think that's the title)). Looking forward to hitting up the watch series once I get around to em, I have a few more TP's sitting there waiting to be read.
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Aug 15, 2009 18:31
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Well, that's my point, the Nac Mac Feegle are an extremely specific parody of a people, the sort of thing that if you wrote them as stereotypical, say, Mexicans people would get really offended. Perhaps it's just because, as Renton says, "It's shite being Scottish."
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Aug 15, 2009 18:56
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Hey, nice title and label change.
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Aug 15, 2009 19:03
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I wish they'd stop making movies and turn the Watch books into a TV serial or something, they're the highlight of the series for me.
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Aug 15, 2009 19:04
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Mogadishu posted:I wish they'd stop making movies and turn the Watch books into a TV serial or something, they're the highlight of the series for me. Nah, a series of movies would be better - movies can have bigger budgets. Dear Hollywood: Sign on Alan Rickman as Vetinari for a 7-movie deal ASAP.
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Aug 15, 2009 19:14
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DontMockMySmock posted:Nah, a series of movies would be better - movies can have bigger budgets. Dear Hollywood: Sign on Alan Rickman as Vetinari for a 7-movie deal ASAP. Last time they wanted to make a Hollywood Discworld movie they were looking at Mort, if i remember the story correctly they'd had Terry do them a rough draft of a script for it, or else had just been given a copy of the novel. Their response was "Love it, great story, great characters, great humour. Now lets just lose this whole Death angle okay?" At which Terry Pratchett jumped through a plate glass window and ran all the way back to England without stopping. I doubt we'll see a Hollywood Discworld movie.
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Aug 15, 2009 19:42
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precision posted:Are Scottish people offended by them or too drunk too have noticed yet? As a Scottish person I am fully qualified to say that no one is offended. I personally love the wee blue bastards. I have a real soft spot for the poetry-reciting Gonagalls of the Feegle tribes (who are affectionate parodies of William McGonagall, the Worst Poet In The World)
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Aug 15, 2009 21:08
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I gave my friend Guards! Guards!, and she's gotten through about half of it in 2 years of reading. Now she says it's boring, the story is always in same place, and she's returning the book to me. Is there some other book you guys think is maybe...easier to read? Or has humor that doesn't require you to have read any other books (books in general)? I'm thinking Mort might work, or maybe one of the stand-alone ones like Small Gods or The Truth.
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Aug 16, 2009 20:09
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Pyramids or Sourcery are my two go-to books in that style. edit: Oh god how could I forget The Last Hero. That's pretty much perfect for what you're looking for. A pretty standalone story, easy to read and beautifully illustrated. Rush Limbo fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Aug 16, 2009 |
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Aug 16, 2009 21:40
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Small Gods would probably go well. Besides the fact that it's one of the best books in the series, it also has a great concept, is pretty much completely stand-alone, reads well and doesn't have a lot of the fantasy markers that turn people off (trolls, dwarves, etc). Mort and then probably Pyramids would be my next suggestions. Honestly, I'm a little bit biased, because I feel Small Gods is a step above the rest of the series as a book. I love Pratchett's humour and will happily read through most of the discworld books when I need a light read, but Small Gods is the only one where I'll go to my bookshelf specifically looking to read it again. The others I'll pick up when I need a book to read and I'm staring at the shelf trying to decide. edit: And I recently bought a second copy with the 2005 black cover so people would actually read it. T.C. fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Aug 17, 2009 |
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Aug 17, 2009 04:50
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shadok posted:They started shooting in May, and most of the casting is up on IMDB. Manuel (Andrew Sachs) is going to be Groats? Completely approve of this.
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Aug 18, 2009 03:18
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If a Terry Pratchett book is too hard, maybe they're just not a "reads books" kind of person.
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Aug 18, 2009 04:25
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shadok posted:[Pratchett] said some ways of looking after those with chronic illnesses, including forcible or 'peg' feeding of Alzheimer's sufferers, were degradpulsorying and painful. Later in the article is this: quote:'I very much doubt this could be the case. We are a democracy and no democratic government is going to get anywhere with a policy of comor even recommended euthanasia.' degrading and compulsory.
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Aug 18, 2009 19:23
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Yes, I too solved the word scramble. I just re-read Soul Music, one of the Discworld books I hadn't liked much my first time around, and for whatever reason I found it more enjoyable this time. Even so, if I classed them all in order of favourite, I think all three Susan Sto Helit books would be at or near the bottom. I am ready for my Unseen Academicals now, please.
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Aug 20, 2009 15:49
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Entropic posted:If a Terry Pratchett book is too hard, maybe they're just not a "reads books" kind of person. Yeah, I think that's it. 
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Aug 20, 2009 22:12
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shadok posted:if I classed them all in order of favourite, I think all three Susan Sto Helit books would be at or near the bottom. Even Thief of Time? I can agree with the other 2 (except I found most of the Witches series worse,) but ToT is one of his best.
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Aug 20, 2009 23:46
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What's frustrating is that Susan is such a great character but gets somewhat shafted on which books she gets put in. Thief of Time was great, though, and the movie version of Hogfather was brilliant, especially her showdown with Teatime.
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Aug 21, 2009 00:10
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shadok posted:I am ready for my Unseen Academicals now, please. With all of the morbid Alzheimers articles of late, I don't know if I can bring myself to rush headlong into it. The thought of finishing it and knowing there may never be another adult Discworld novel sucks rear end.
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Aug 21, 2009 08:25
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I don't understand how people could dislike Hogfather. Was it the fun? Was it too much fun for you? the big piggy did a steaming great piss in the shop
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Aug 21, 2009 14:53
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Loutre posted:With all of the morbid Alzheimers articles of late, I don't know if I can bring myself to rush headlong into it. What do you think about him leaving the saga to someone else after he passes on? Would you rather have Discworld end with Pratchett or have more books written by someone he hand-picks?
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Aug 21, 2009 18:49
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Nilbop posted:I don't understand how people could dislike Hogfather. I doubt most Terry Pratchett fans actually dislike anything he's written. It's just a matter of whether he's on top of his game or not. Hogfather was a lot better than Soul Music, that's for sure. EDIT: No, no, a thousand times no, unless it's Neil Gaiman using Pratchett characters in cameos, the Disc is Terry's and no one else's.
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Aug 21, 2009 19:23
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