Pratchett, Terry - Mort (reread)

[oyceter]

(Apologies for spamming! Um, yes, I am trying to catch up with my backlog, so there may be a few more...)

I actually haven't read very much Terry Pratchett at all. The first time I read this, I was mildly amused but not too impressed. I suspect for most things intended to be funny, I have to read them a few times. Otherwise, the prose strikes me as too twee or too contrived.

Mort is all elbows and thinks entirely too much for his small village, which is how he ends up at a fair for people trying to find apprentices. Fortunately (?) for Mort, Death of Discworld is looking for an apprentice.

Mort gets himself into a giant scrape involving the very fabric of reality, and antics ensue.

I enjoyed this the second time around, now that I had a better feel for Pratchett's sense of humor. I love the long footnotes, though I got sick of a few of them closer to the end of the book. I also like the characters a lot more; the first time I read it, I couldn't quite figure out how sympathetic I was supposed to feel and how much Pratchett was making fun of them. I think I rather like the gentle fun he pokes; I had originally read them with the vague idea that he wrote satire and not good story (this was pre-LJ).

My favorite character was Ysabell, even though she didn't get many pages; I am a sucker for overlooked girls who prove to be useful and down-to-earth.

I could tell from vague knowledge collected from LJ that Pratchett was bringing Mort to meet several established Discworld characters, but since I don't know any of them outside of Granny Weatherwax, it had very little impression on me.

So: I think I am going to try and read up on Pratchett, just to keep up with LJ, if nothing else. Also, he won me over in another book with SQUEAK! from the Death of rats.

I definitely like the Death books, so I think that is Soul Music and Hogsfather. Mely and Rachel both say to avoid Rincewind and to read the Guards books. Rec me! Also, let me know if I should read in any particular order!

Of the Discworld books, I have read: this book, The Amazing Maurice and The Color of Magic (was not terribly impressed by the last, but Mely says it is because it sucks).

Comments

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I also really dislike the Rincewind books and agree that you don't need to read them.

Some of my favorites are:
Small Gods (a stand-alone, about the Discworld's version of the Spanish Inquisition)
Hogfather (a Death book about Christmas)
Reaper Man (a Death book about Death deciding to quit his job)
Witches Abroad (a witch book about fairy tales)
Lords and Ladies (a witch book about Macbeth)
Men at Arms (a Guard book about gun control and King Arthur)
Masquerade (a witch book about the Phantom of the Opera)
Thud! (a Guard book about race relations)

I also thought The Night Watch was *really* excellent, but unlike most of the series, you needed to be familiar with the characters and previous events for it to work.

That turned out to be a really long list, but I *adore* Terry Pratchett.

[oyceter]

Oh, thank you for writing those out!

Also, dude! Book on race relations, awesome!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

That's the one I was reading in Taiwan, that I said you would probably like but you had to read the previous ones first. The Guards books deal a lot with race relations and prejudice, as the Guards (police) deal with a more pluralistic society, and must themselves (sometimes forcibly) accept members of races, species, genders, etc which they've never had to before. Feet of Clay, an earlier Guards book, is about the exploitation of a particular group of beings, and involves Jewish mythology.

And they're very funny! And sometimes spooky, poetic, and magical.

[oyceter]

Oh! Cool!

Also, Jewish mythology! Even better!