Thud! (Book) Review
See? Told ya that nearly-once-per-week updating thing was too good to be true. Some of you may be asking by now why I don't just officially change my update schedule to every other week. This, of course, is a silly question. If I did that, then this place would end up seeing new content every three weeks instead. Procrastination has nothing to do with the actual amount of time available.
And, actually, I do have something of an excuse this time. Between my attempts to regain a state of gainful employment, and pushing my self to reach my self-imposed deadline (and we all know how good I am at those!) for the translation project I'm working on, spare brain power for use here has been in rather short supply. Which is also why I don't have any of those little blurbs I usually do up here this time.
No, wait, that's not true, I do have one: Finished reading the second volume of Shoujo Sect (sorry, no link. None of the usual suspects has anything on it. Not surprising, all things considered.) It is highly superficial, as Ms. Friedman said, but in my opinion the scene where Momoko is charging down the hallway, says to Sayuri, "Wait a sec." then clong! fire extinguisher to the back of the head, and Sayuri goes through the -- closed-- door face first, much to the surprise of the students on the other side, was well worth the price of admission.
Alright, today's review: This isn't the book I was planning on reviewing, but since I can't seem to get around to finishing that one, I'm doing this one instead. It's from the Discworld series by my favorite author of the ones that write in English, Terry Pratchett.
Pratchett has time and again shown himself to be among British comedy's finest, and Thud! is no exception to this. But as good as he as at funny, it's far from the only trick he's got. This book easily shifts from laugh-out-loud ot tear jerker, and then back again, a Universal Studios Orlando ride of emotions and sensations. A good part of what lets him do this, without any apparent effort, is his sheer mastery of prose. Many, possibly even most, authors' skills peak after five or six novels, and never see much improvement after that. Pratchett's cranked out thirty-four Discworld novels alone, and keeps getting better with each one. In some ways, his novels transcend reading, as the prose has become so streamlined that almost no mental energy is required in decoding it, leaving it all free to be used to simply experience the story.
Speaking of the story, this is a Vimes book; I normally wouldn't bother with pointing this out, but I've met a couple people for whom this fact, or, rather, the corresponding appearance of one Nobby Nobbs would be enough to turn them away from the book. However, Nobby's role in this book is fairly limited, and his page-time relatively short, so if you are one such person, Thud! may be stomachable after all.
The Discworld books are primarily satires, and so no discussion of one would be complete without talking about the jokes and parodies contained in the text. Being a tech geek by nature, I must say that I loved the Gooseberry Imp and the Bluenose and iHum technomancy jokes. And, while I'm trying my darnedest to keep any traces of real-world politics out of this blog, it would be difficult to talk about this book without noting how the themes of racial and ethnic tension so neatly match up with what we're seeing in real life. The thing is, if this book had been released a hundred years ago, they'd be saying the same things. And I'd bet my last dime that the same would be true a hundred years in the future, too. That's the beauty of Pratchett's satires; they don't date themselves.
Though they don't have the epic, world-spanning storylines of a Tolkien or a Jordan, the Discworld books are just as enjoyable, thought-provoking, and in my opinion, far better written. Thud! stands as the best of the series, at least until the next one comes out, and thus earns itself a ten out of eleven. I would be hard pressed to think of a Western World book series that I would quicker recommend than Discworld, and Thud!'s a great place to get started.
And, actually, I do have something of an excuse this time. Between my attempts to regain a state of gainful employment, and pushing my self to reach my self-imposed deadline (and we all know how good I am at those!) for the translation project I'm working on, spare brain power for use here has been in rather short supply. Which is also why I don't have any of those little blurbs I usually do up here this time.
No, wait, that's not true, I do have one: Finished reading the second volume of Shoujo Sect (sorry, no link. None of the usual suspects has anything on it. Not surprising, all things considered.) It is highly superficial, as Ms. Friedman said, but in my opinion the scene where Momoko is charging down the hallway, says to Sayuri, "Wait a sec." then clong! fire extinguisher to the back of the head, and Sayuri goes through the -- closed-- door face first, much to the surprise of the students on the other side, was well worth the price of admission.
Alright, today's review: This isn't the book I was planning on reviewing, but since I can't seem to get around to finishing that one, I'm doing this one instead. It's from the Discworld series by my favorite author of the ones that write in English, Terry Pratchett.
Pratchett has time and again shown himself to be among British comedy's finest, and Thud! is no exception to this. But as good as he as at funny, it's far from the only trick he's got. This book easily shifts from laugh-out-loud ot tear jerker, and then back again, a Universal Studios Orlando ride of emotions and sensations. A good part of what lets him do this, without any apparent effort, is his sheer mastery of prose. Many, possibly even most, authors' skills peak after five or six novels, and never see much improvement after that. Pratchett's cranked out thirty-four Discworld novels alone, and keeps getting better with each one. In some ways, his novels transcend reading, as the prose has become so streamlined that almost no mental energy is required in decoding it, leaving it all free to be used to simply experience the story.
Speaking of the story, this is a Vimes book; I normally wouldn't bother with pointing this out, but I've met a couple people for whom this fact, or, rather, the corresponding appearance of one Nobby Nobbs would be enough to turn them away from the book. However, Nobby's role in this book is fairly limited, and his page-time relatively short, so if you are one such person, Thud! may be stomachable after all.
The Discworld books are primarily satires, and so no discussion of one would be complete without talking about the jokes and parodies contained in the text. Being a tech geek by nature, I must say that I loved the Gooseberry Imp and the Bluenose and iHum technomancy jokes. And, while I'm trying my darnedest to keep any traces of real-world politics out of this blog, it would be difficult to talk about this book without noting how the themes of racial and ethnic tension so neatly match up with what we're seeing in real life. The thing is, if this book had been released a hundred years ago, they'd be saying the same things. And I'd bet my last dime that the same would be true a hundred years in the future, too. That's the beauty of Pratchett's satires; they don't date themselves.
Though they don't have the epic, world-spanning storylines of a Tolkien or a Jordan, the Discworld books are just as enjoyable, thought-provoking, and in my opinion, far better written. Thud! stands as the best of the series, at least until the next one comes out, and thus earns itself a ten out of eleven. I would be hard pressed to think of a Western World book series that I would quicker recommend than Discworld, and Thud!'s a great place to get started.
Final score:
10/11
10/11
Something I'd like to mention before we go: if my earlier mini-post about Haruhi intrigued you, there's some serious translatin' of the novels going down at Baka-Tsuki. They're pretty serious about it, and they're not doing a half bad job, so go take a look. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Next time will be a review of the Silent Hill movie, and should be fairly soon, since I have to get it done before my brain completes the process of repressing the memories.... Until then, farewell.
Next time will be a review of the Silent Hill movie, and should be fairly soon, since I have to get it done before my brain completes the process of repressing the memories.... Until then, farewell.
posted by Mr. the Tiger at 21:34
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