You could always try the "kids" books. They all come with chapters but I swear the only thing that makes them kids books are that the hero or heroine are younger. Otherwise they read just like any other Discworld book.
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You could always try the "kids" books. They all come with chapters but I swear the only thing that makes them kids books are that the hero or heroine are younger. Otherwise they read just like any other Discworld book.
I dislike books with chapters, I always feel like I have to read to the end of them even though I might feel tired or have something else I need to get on with. With Pratchett you can just read a scene and if you want to continue onto the next one then you can. I find that far more liberating.
About Hogfather and TCOM, I once rated all the Discworld books and those two came out on the bottom of my list along with Pyramids. I still enjoy them, but I don't find them to be as good as his other work.
If you really want to get into the series then the book to read is Mort. It has a great story with great characters but it is only the fourth book in the series so it isn't that difficult to jump into. It is also the first novel to focus on Death. My personal favourites would be Men at Arms and Night Watch, but those come a little too late in the series to start out with.
If you liked Mort then I would suggest the fifth novel, Sourcery. It is the third Rincewind novel, but it has nothing to do with the events of the first two so it is easy to jump into. I personally think it is the best Rincewind novel. After that I would recommend the sixth novel, Wyrd Sisters, which is really the first of the Lancre witch series. Then I would recommend the eighth novel, Guards! Guards!, which is the first of the city watch series. They only get better from there.
I did manage to make it through those 2 books, and I believe I have another 5 or so Discworld books to read, it was just that no chapters seemed to make it a tougher read for me.
If you prefer chaptered books, Going Postal and Making Money and possibly Pyramids have 'em.
Night Watch, Going Postal, The Truth, Mort and Thief of Time remain my top 5, although I still have about 8 to read at some point, mostly the earlier ones. I didn't like the 'young' books so much.
Did I see somewhere Going Postal will be next to get television-ised?
Night Watch, Going Postal, The Truth, Mort and Thief of Time remain my top 5, although I still have about 8 to read at some point, mostly the earlier ones. I didn't like the 'young' books so much.
Did I see somewhere Going Postal will be next to get television-ised?
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yes, it is.
Yep it is.
I do prefer chapters but maybe I just need to try reading some more and get used to them.
Going Postal should work better on screen than the other two I think. I've not seen either Hogfather or TCoM from start to finish, but what I have seen didn't seem too great.
I was pleasantly surprised by Hogfather because I know how terrible film adaptations tend to be, and since Hogfather was never one of my favourites they didn't have a chance to screw it up. I quite enjoyed it, although it certainly wasn't perfect.
As for TCOM... David Jason was a bad choice as Rincewind and Sean Astin was a bad choice as TwoFlower. The Light Fantastic was the first Pratchett book that I read, so I have a soft spot for it, and I didn't think the adaption did it justice. I let the pleasant surprise that they didn't screw up Hogfather fool me into thinking that TCOM was going to be great.
I'm on my guard about Going Postal so hopefully that will help me to enjoy it.
As for TCOM... David Jason was a bad choice as Rincewind and Sean Astin was a bad choice as TwoFlower. The Light Fantastic was the first Pratchett book that I read, so I have a soft spot for it, and I didn't think the adaption did it justice. I let the pleasant surprise that they didn't screw up Hogfather fool me into thinking that TCOM was going to be great.
I'm on my guard about Going Postal so hopefully that will help me to enjoy it.
Going Postal is so much simpler than the other two though. Other than the ethereal stuff in the upper levels of the post office, it's a very simple premise: conman becomes postmaster after Patrician of the city fakes his execution. I mean, what's simpler?
And yes, David Jason was a terrible choice as Rincewind.
And yes, David Jason was a terrible choice as Rincewind.
I get the impression he wasn't a choice at all. He decided he wanted to be Rincewind and that was that. Personally, after having listened to the audiobooks I have trouble seeing anyone other than Nigel Planer in the part.
As for Sean Astin...if you can push the preconception that Twoflower should probably have a somewhat asian look about him out of your mind, he does a reasonable job of adapting the character. Though I have to say, I've never met a yank tourist who was nearly as polite or had such a firm grasp of English, so he wasn't exactly playing an typical American either.
As a matter or personal preference, I have to say that I liked 'Hogfather' much more that 'The Colour of Magic' but then I like the book better too. Death is easily a favourite character of mine (followed closely by Susan & Vimes) and as I've said before I never really cared for Rincewind. I expect 'Postal' will survive adaption a little better than the previous two, though I REALLY want the next book after that to be one of the City Watch books or another Susan book. Though I'm pretty sure it will end up being of the the Witches stories.
I wonder why the BBC hasn't so far made any attempt at adapting the junior discworld books. They used to make good quality family friendly mini-series all the time. The old 'Narnia' series and 'The Borrowers' springs to mind.
As for Sean Astin...if you can push the preconception that Twoflower should probably have a somewhat asian look about him out of your mind, he does a reasonable job of adapting the character. Though I have to say, I've never met a yank tourist who was nearly as polite or had such a firm grasp of English, so he wasn't exactly playing an typical American either.
As a matter or personal preference, I have to say that I liked 'Hogfather' much more that 'The Colour of Magic' but then I like the book better too. Death is easily a favourite character of mine (followed closely by Susan & Vimes) and as I've said before I never really cared for Rincewind. I expect 'Postal' will survive adaption a little better than the previous two, though I REALLY want the next book after that to be one of the City Watch books or another Susan book. Though I'm pretty sure it will end up being of the the Witches stories.
I wonder why the BBC hasn't so far made any attempt at adapting the junior discworld books. They used to make good quality family friendly mini-series all the time. The old 'Narnia' series and 'The Borrowers' springs to mind.
I felt exactly the same way after I saw him playing Sydney in Hogfather; he looked almost exactly like Rincewind does in my mind, only with a different coloured beard. Every Discworld fan I've talked to about this agreed that he would have been the perfect Rincewind, but David Jason was a producer and gave himself the role.
My main problem with TCOM was the lack of a spark between Rincewind and TwoFlower. They had a great love/hate relationship in the novels, but I never felt that come across properly in the adaption and I feel that it is primarily Sean Astin's fault. Contrary to this, I thought that the Albert/Death relationship came across very well in the Hogfather adaption and it is one of the reasons I like it.
I think that David Jason would be good as Groat in Going Postal, but I will be seriously pissed if he decides to give himself the role of Vetinari!
I don't believe David Jason is in it, according to some online reports he has a contract with ITV, so he won't be able to star in any of them for a few years.
I felt exactly the same way after I saw him playing Sydney in Hogfather; he looked almost exactly like Rincewind does in my mind, only with a different coloured beard. Every Discworld fan I've talked to about this agreed that he would have been the perfect Rincewind, but David Jason was a producer and gave himself the role.
My main problem with TCOM was the lack of a spark between Rincewind and TwoFlower. They had a great love/hate relationship in the novels, but I never felt that come across properly in the adaption and I feel that it is primarily Sean Astin's fault. Contrary to this, I thought that the Albert/Death relationship came across very well in the Hogfather adaption and it is one of the reasons I like it.
I think that David Jason would be good as Groat in Going Postal, but I will be seriously pissed if he decides to give himself the role of Vetinari!
Was the Patrician in TCOM supposed to be Vetinari? I saw about 3 minutes of him yesterday and couldn't be sure.
well, now, that IS the question... some people apparently think that the Patrician in COM/TLF is not Vetinari, but others apparently do. so, whether Irons was Vetinari or not depends on your views of the former point.
i think Irons was Vetinari, ret-conned as the COM/TLF patrician.
i think Irons was Vetinari, ret-conned as the COM/TLF patrician.
From wikipedia:
I think that "The Patrician" has a lot more in common with Snapcase than Vetinari. Snapcase wasn't completely mad, he managed to orchestrate the assassination of Winder, and he seized power the same night. And in the scene when he takes over he focuses a lot on his chair while talking about killing Keel, and I find that similar to how "The Patrician" kept talking about food while discussing important matters with Rincewind.
Of course the real reason I think this is because Vetinari is my favourite Discworld character and I don't like the idea of him being "The Patrician" since it is so very out of character. I found my way of justifying it to myself and I'm not going to let Terry Pratchett ruin it for me.
Of course the real reason I think this is because Vetinari is my favourite Discworld character and I don't like the idea of him being "The Patrician" since it is so very out of character. I found my way of justifying it to myself and I'm not going to let Terry Pratchett ruin it for me.
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