Death claims an Author
Sir Terry Pratchett, author of over 70 novels, including the best-selling, (and much-loved by many OTers) Discworld series has died aged 66.
Pratchett was one of my pivotal authors growing up, his works were light and easy to read on the one hand, but still discussed topics such as the nature of power, or what it means to be human. His works were also written with a cleverness that largely went over my head as a teenager, and still occasionally still does, but never in a way that affected the easiness of reading them.
According to reports, he completed one more Discworld novel before his death.
Feel free to discuss your favourite Pratchettworks below. For me, Night Watch was Pratchett’s finest work.
🙁Report
Another great author whose best work & wit is very difficult to do in film (Douglas Adams was another).
Time to go re-read everything he ever wroteReport
Night Watch is my favorite of his works.
However, the Tiffany Aching books taken as a whole are probably his best works.Report
I wanted to say you’re mad… but if one imagines them combined I think you could be right.
There’s a scene in Wintersmith with Tiffany’s dad feeding the fire… well I’ll say no more but you could be right.Report
To me, it’s the scene in “Hat Full of Sky” wherein she has not just Second Thoughts but Third — wherein she finally understands both herself and her grandmother.
The prose there, the way the narration weaves in and out as her mind unfolds and she has a moment of pure, utter clarity about herself and her world and everything in it. Fantastic.
But again, I think one reason the Tiffany Aching books stand out is because of the Chalk. And the fact that it is very obviously Terry Pratchett discussing a part of England that he truly, deeply loves and feels connected to. It comes out in the characters and in Tiffany especially, and you can feel Sir Terry’s own love of his home.Report
He was wonderful at what he did most often: pointed satire and deadly sarcasm so leavened with wit that often you didn’t realize how bitter it was. For instance, the descriptions of how clear and straightforward Vorbis’s mind works is sound almost like admiration until you realize that they add up to “monster”. But he did so much of that, that it’s the exceptions, like Night Watch that stand out. For me, the best single scene he wrote was towards the end of Jingo, when Vimes learns that, had he made a slightly choice, the result would have been a stupid, bloody, pointless battle in which the entire Watch is killed.Report
@james-k
Agreed. We will all miss him. Also agreed Night Watch was his absolute best.
On other news of mutual interest, HPMOR is winding up towards its last chapters. We should do a discussion on that some time (at least for those of us who read it)Report
@murali
Yes, just one chapter to go now.Report
If you write the date in the American way, it is pi day today. For those of us who write the date normally (with the day first then the month) we have to content ourselves with the 22nd of JulyReport
If you write the date the American way, it’s probably still the 13th.Report
I loved all of Discworld. Not just the stories, but the characters. Granny Weatherwax was my all time favorite, with Vimes close behind.
His other books were marvels too. Nation and Dodger were both amazing. And his older ones, especially the ones (supposedly) written for young readers, like Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Johnny and the Dead, and of course the Bromeliad Trilogy.
xkcd: Terry Pratchett
http://xkcd.com/1498/Report
And Good Omens! How could I have left that out. I’ve lost more copies of that by lending it out than any other book I’ve ever owned. And every time I go out and replace it because not owning a copy is unthinkable.Report
Be careful not to leave Good Omens in you car. It turns into a Steven King collection.Report
LOL!Report