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

I like Thud too. Shine on, Mr Diamond

Going Postal is probably my favourite out of the more recent books. I love Moist Von Lipwig (I'm a sucker for a naughty boy) and he's a character with a lot of stories to tell.

Isn't it "Mr Shine - him diamond"?


Geggs

It is, but I was trying to be clever and that with a Pink Floyd reference

Ah, sorry to have spoiled it then.


Geggs

I think Thud is a very good book.

I like Moist too, funny if you hang around on the Pratchett forums at all it is clear that those books really divide opinion.

FB

I have just realised that although I have read all the books, they all belong to my son, so I gave them back after I read them. I wonder if it's worth downloading them on to my kindle? There must be loads of details I've forgotten, this is becoming especially clear on reading all the comments on this thread.

And, after reading this thread, I have no idea where to start!

"Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop”

I got the impression that Moist Lipwick was a reminder that the criminal mind and the entrepreneurial mind were largely the same. Government agencies tend to veer into gridlock over time, and it takes a devious mind to undo the logjam and make them move again. I didn't like Moist all that much at first, but he was certainly dynamic. He brought excitement back to the Post Office, thanks to Vetinari's insistence that golems be assigned to him to keep him from fleeing.

Does anyone know if Terry has read any of his stuff for audio books?

There are Ausio books http://www.paulkidby.com/audio/index.html but they are all read by someone else. As far as I know writers often don't like to read their stuff for recording themselves.

They're usually read by Tony Robinson, famous for being Baldrick in Blackadder, writing and being the Sheriff in Maid Marion & her Merry Men and for presenting archaeology programme Time Team for over a decade or two.
This cunning plan resulted in Terry Pratchett naming the head of the Guild of Archaeologists Robinson in his honour, and Tony Robinson appeared as the shopkeeper in the TV adaptation of Hogfather. He also did a lot of the voices in the Discworld computer game.

<BB<

Terry Pratchett's voice isn't really suitable, I would have thought, and, unlike Tony Robinson's (whose voice is quite similar, now I think about it) is not trained.

DNA, on the other hand, did read some of his own stuff, I think. I have some audio books of Bill Bryson, read by an actor, who does the accents well.

Yes, DNA did. They took the reading he did of 'Life, The Universe and Everything' as the basis for Agrajag in both 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase' and the Hitchhiker's Radio Show Live, where Agrajag was played by an umbrella.

<BB<

I'm about two-thirds of the way through "Interesting Times." Rincewind is my kind of magician. I think he got cheat by the Archchancellor's Hat in "Sourcery." The Hat promised that Rincewind could have his heart's desire if he helped defeat the Sourceror. I thought that Rincewind's heart's desire would be one of two things: 1. to be left alone, or 2. To have real magical talent. "Interesting Times" proves that he got neither. What a shame! Never trust an Archchancellor's Hat, or any other kind of hat.

Hm... when it comes to Rincewind's hart's desire, wasn't there something about potatoes?

Yes, potatoes were something he desired. His desire for them was strong because he never seemed to get any.

Just got Dodger (2012) from the library.

So far it is proving very interesting.

It's a tribute and a thank you to Charles Dickens
and ye olde days of London and the River Thames
which inspired so much of Ankh Morpork.

In acknowledging his indebtedness to Dickens and
both ancient and Victorian London he seems to be
showing us the thin barrier between fiction and
reality. The characters could just as easily be
living on the Discworld.


~jwf~

I loved Dodger; I felt so smug when I got (most of) the references.
I have just re-read Interesting Times which is one of my favourites.

I share a love of Pratchett with one of my lovely daughters in law. Between us we have copies of everything he has written for adults, and have read the kiddy stuff as well. When he announced he had alzheimers, I thought I would buy his remaining stuff in hardback. This was an expensive mistake; he's been more prolific than ever.

I started reading Pratchett books rather serendipitously when I came across his Fifth Elephant on the bargain shelves of The Bookstop. I had no idea who Terry Pratchett was or what the Discworld was. I was just intrigued by the title and the friendly colors on the book jacked and picked it up. I was a bit confused but Pratchett is always good at making each book independently readable, so I enjoyed it and began my quest to read everything else in the series. I bought all of his previous books in paperback, but would try to get all the new releases in first edition hardbacks. Now I realize that it's just not really important to insist on his 1st Eds anymore as he is such a widely published author, and that I'll still only be getting the US editions that they'll never have any collector value. I recently purchased several books that I had somehow overlooked electronically.