I recently reread “Mort,” and the first act is 37 pages. In it he introduces the protagonists, the relevant cosmology of the universe, and like the first five steps of the hero’s journey. Many other fantasy authors would still be describing the embroidery on a secondary character’s jacket or whatever at this point. Plus reading Pratchett, I’m smiling the whole time, if not laughing out loud. The Discworld novels are probably, pound for pound, the best thing I’ve ever read.
by redrumbum
27 Comments
You’re so correct. And sometimes he would turn around from some truly funny moments to hit you with the most moving and sincere stuff. Death’s speech in Hogfather legitimately changed my outlook on the world.
Mort was a dark horse favorite from my Discworld collection. It contains one of my favorite footnotes:
“The gods of the Disc have never bothered much about judging the souls of the dead, and so people only go to hell if that’s where they believe, in their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won’t do if they don’t know about it. This explains why it is so important to shoot missionaries on sight.”
GNU Terry
I cannot find who the quote was from, but I remember someone saying that one falls in love with the work of Terry Pratchett at the level of the sentence. And I cannot find a more apt way to describe it. 🙂
I just finished guards! guards! First book I’ve read since highschool in 2002. Waiting for men at arms to arrive now
My favorite thing about Pratchett was his ability to write a line– one to three sentences, usually, that could be laugh out loud funny, keenly perceptive of humanity, and bitingly critical of it, all at once.
He was truly one of a kind. He snuck an unbelievable amount of wisdom into some very silly-seeming books about wizards and silicon trolls and occasionally vampires.
GNU Sir Terry.
[deleted]
I’ve always been jealously impressed of his ability to tell imaginative, creative, witty, and largely self-contained stories within a massive tapestry of stories that are all around 200-250 pages. The talented bastard.
“was I a good fantasy author?”
“YOU WERE THE BEST.”
he really does. With just a small paragraph he can establish an entire character, plus their family, plus make a comment about the discworld, AND make you laugh, all in like 2 long run on sentences. His writing is just an absolute treat to read.
Efficient while at the same time still wonderful prose, his writing was never boring or dry, but wonderfully expressive and at times beautiful.
Vimes’ speech in Guards Guards regarding poverty by describing how poor vs rich buy shoes is also a masterpiece.
Sigh. I need to go back and reread some books….
He knew 1,000 ways to describe a man getting up for a glass of water, and meted them out slowly for effect.
I read Reaper Man originally around 2000 or so, plus ALL of the other Pratchet novels that were out at that time. I eventually read everything he released, but I kept Reaper Man.
We went on vacation recently, and I finally re-read it. Pratchett is SO good. The book is back on the shelf, waiting for another few years for me to re-read it.
In addition to phenomenal talent and work ethic, Pratchett also had really good editors, and he listened to them. One bad side effect of success is writers thinking they’ve gone beyond the need for editing. It’s rarely true, and Pratchett knew it.
I’m actually reading Mort right now as my first Pratchett and my constant thought is “why did it take me so long to finally start reading these?”
>Many other fantasy authors would still be describing the embroidery on a secondary character’s jacket
This made me laugh, not gonna lie that is the problem of the latest fantasy tome I tried to read recently.
‘Many a keen young man owes his advancement to his nuptials,’ said Lezek.
‘He does?’
‘Mort, I don’t think you’re really listening.’
‘What?’
It’s not Discworld, but this is my favorite Pratchett description.
> In order to enhance the occult aspects of herself, Julia had begun to wear far too much handbeaten silver jewelry and green eyeshadow. …She was convinced that she was anorexic, because every time she looked in the mirror she did indeed see a fat person.
A devastating portrait of somebody I’ve met too often.
>”He pushed his luck. It was clearly too weak to move by itself”.
Every few weeks I laugh at the genius of that sentence.
[removed]
[removed]
Mort was my intro to Pratchett recently, and I think I was most surprised by the wholesomeness. It manages to retain solid humor while juggling concepts like Death and oblivion without going grimdark. A breath of fresh air.
An adult Chinese friend of mine who’s working on his English asked me to get him some books when I offered to treat him to celebrate an educational milestone he’d reached. I bought him some of my favorites for younger readers, including the first Johnny Maxwell and Maurice. I was a bit apprehensive because I wasn’t sure if he’d ‘get’ the humor and writing style, so I was _thrilled_ when this usually reserved dude messaged me about speeding through both books, loving the stories, and raving about Pratchett’s writing. I don’t know anyone else who reads anymore. We were gushing over our favorite bits like a couple of giddy schoolgirls. I miss Pratchett.
One day, Pratchett will be taught in schools, not least of all for his literary skills, but moreover, his commentary on human society.
I genuinely believe if that day was already with us, it could help to solve a large chuck of the problems society is facing.
“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away…”
The Reaper Man
[deleted]
My favorite is still Small Gods. It explains more about religion and people, better than any religious text could ever conceptualize in a fevered dream.
It always helped me feel less lost in this world of entropy and indifference to others.
“The Ephebians believed that every man should have the vote (provided that he wasn’t poor, foreign, nor disqualified by reason of being mad, frivolous, or a woman). Every five years someone was elected to be Tyrant, provided he could prove that he was honest, intelligent, sensible, and trustworthy. Immediately after he was elected, of course, it was obvious to everyone that he was a criminal madman and totally out of touch with the view of the ordinary philosopher in the street looking for a towel. And then five years later they elected another one just like him, and really it was amazing how intelligent people kept on making the same mistakes.”