Alternate Titles...

[Quatermass]

Okay, so an interesting thing that I think we can do is to think up alternative titles for the various Discworld novels, and see if they're any good.

I'll go first...

Snuff: Trafficking Violations; Goblin Punch; Countrycide; Sins and Sensibility. I'm refraining from using the Jane Austen-alike's title of Pride and Extreme Prejudice.

Thud!: Who Watches the Watchmen?; The Darkness Inside.

Witches Abroad: Happily Never After; Good Sisters.

Small Gods: Shells.

Lords and Ladies: For Fear Of Little Men...

Night Watch: Nostalgia.

Making Money: Betting the Bank

I Shall Wear Midnight: Cunning.

Okay, anyone else? Of course, there are some titles that are already perfect...

 

[Quatermass]

Oh, and if anyone is confused by my titles, I will explain them. I know that Shells, For Fear of Little Men..., and Nostalgia might confuse...

 

[Tonyblack]

Interesting idea, Q. I shall have to give it some thought.

 

[Quatermass]

Interesting idea, Q. I shall have to give it some thought.

Yeah. Better well thought-out titles than just any old crap.

 

[Tonyblack]

Actually, Snuff could have been called 'A World of Poo'.

 

[Quatermass]

Actually, Snuff could have been called 'A World of Poo'.

...

Maybe, but they already brought a spin-off book with that title out.

Part of the reason why I did this was that I was fascinated with some of the working titles done for Doctor Who and its episodes (when the episodes have individual titles) over the years. In the 12-part story The Daleks' Master Plan alone, the story's episodes had such working titles as There's Something Just Behind You (episode 5, transmitted as Counter Plot), Counter-Plot (episode 6, transmitted as Coronas of the Sun for some bizarre reason), Land of the Pharaohs (episode 9, transmitted as The Golden Death), Return to Varga (episode 10, transmitted as Escape Switch), The Mutation of Time and A Switch in Time (both for episode 12, transmitted as The Destruction of Time). So this could be a sort of pretend working-titles for the Discworld novels.

Anyway, anyone else?

 

[The Mad Collector]

Small Gods - Om-now-present

Night Watch - The Time Travellers Life

Snuff - The Last Race

 

[Tonyblack]

Maskerade - When The Fat Lady Sings
The Last Continent - This is Not A Book About Australia (Maybe)

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

The Wee Free Men - or Street Fighting in 6 easy lessons

 

[Tonyblack]

The Wee Free Men - or Street Fighting in 6 easy lessons

Or Tiffany Spotting.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

The Wee Free Men - or Street Fighting in 6 easy lessons

Or Tiffany Spotting.

And stalking.

 

[Quatermass]

Okay, well, I might as well explain the reasoning behind three of my titles. Nostalgia is the one I am most proud of, because it means 'homesickness', or a pain for a homecoming. So it reflects both Vimes' regrets and painful memories in the past, and his desire to get back to the future in time for little Sam's birth.

Shells is pretty straightforward, not only referring to Om's turtle form, but also the shell that his religion formed around itself (and thus the faith wasn't going to Om, but his religion, the priests and all that).

For Fear Of Little Men... comes from a poem by William Allingham called The Faeries. Ironically enough, this IS a working title for a Discworld novel, as I have just discovered to my chagrin (via the Wikpedia article on Allingham). But not Lords and Ladies, but rather the more appropriate The Wee-Free Men. D'oh! :doh:

Here's the poem, by the way...

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men.

 

[Sister Jennifer]

Nice topic, bit tricky though. I like the Allingham poem very much.

How about, Going Postal - Miracle Man.

 

[=Tamar]

For a combined publication of both Going Postal and Making Money: Go For Broke!

 

[=Tamar]

Nostalgia is the one I am most proud of, because it means 'homesickness', or a pain for a homecoming. So it reflects both Vimes' regrets and painful memories in the past, and his desire to get back to the future in time for little Sam's birth.

That works nicely.

I rather liked your suggestion of Trafficking Violations as an alternative title for Snuff, if it had to have one. Still, as a dyed-in-the-wool crackpot literary-symbolism analyst, I think Snuff is probably the best possible title. It has so many meanings aside from the obvious allusion to all the deaths. The action of taking snuff is to clear the nasal passages (allowing freer breathing), just as the dam slam clears the river, and the actions in the story clear the obstructionism of the entrenched old way without destroying everything. Come to think of it, the bonfire of the old hurdles removes another kind of obstruction, a heap of old junk (and a hurdle can also mean a unnecessary barrier). And of course to snuff a candle is to remove the detritus, to allow the flame to burn clearly and provide more light. Sir Terry's titles always work, but that one is even more fully packed than usual.

 

[MongoGutman]

Soul Music - Death Metal

 

[Tonyblack]

I like it!