h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think "The Long War" is out soon...

FB

I recently finished Night Watch. Now I'm reading The Wintersmith.

Talk about a change of tone.

>> Would modern readers even get the social satire
based on Renaissance viewpoints on life? <<

Good question! With a complex answer. I'll begin by saying
Yes and No.

There are certain universal themes in human nature and
Shakespeare survives because he gave us so many examples
of these portrayed in the actions of his characters.

'Tis true that many contemporaneous references are lost
on those with no deep understanding of the times in which
some great literature has been written.

A writer like Dickens is less read today because so much
of his plot in driven by temporal circumstance and told in
language and style peculiar to his day - but he remains one
of two writers (the other being Pratchett) who comes anywhere
close to giving us characters that explore the universals.

For a sense of Pratchett's indebtedness to Dickens, or at least
his respect for Victorian systems and the prominence of character
in driving plot, be sure to put Dodger and The World of Poo on
your reading list.


~jwf~

There was recently a very good dramatization late at night on BBC radio 4 of 'Guards! Guards!'. So I thought I would take the book up to the bathroom to reread in the bath.
Neither on the shelf, nor anywhere else I might have left it. 25 others including 3 duplicates sitting there smugly.
Shall I rebuy it or accuse my lovely daughter in law. She discovered Pratchett at about the time 'Unseen Academicals' came out and everything subsequent has been a hardback copy for her birthday or Christmas present. Which I have also read of course.
I loved 'The Artful Dodger': as with many others I felt so educated when I recognised the references.

>>Shall I rebuy it or accuse my lovely daughter in law<< : Wand'rin star

Probably both, but try the second first

I'm currently listening to a R4 extra dramatisation of Night Watch on i-player - I'm a bit behind but at one episode a night, I'm managing to keep ahead before they expire. It's very good.

Mol

"The Long Earth" and "The Long War" are not set in Discworld. For the time being, I'm trying to stick to the Discworld books, as it's easier to remember who the continuing characters are.

Who is your favourite character so far?

It's hard to settle on just one. I like Carrot a lot. Vetinari is very amusing, and I sometimes think he's the best. Death is surprisingly human. I sometimes find that what he does is tremendously moving. I always look forward to encountering Rincewind again. There's more to him than meets the eye. My theory is that his inability to cast magic spells is misleading. What's important about an egg is not the shell but the egg within. Rincewind can't do magic, but he is a magical being. Technically, he doesn't *need* to do magic. He *is* magic. This is almost a philosophical matter; it is said that you can know the truth or embody it, but you can't do both. Rincewind embodies magic, hence he can't know magic.