Best ever Discworld reading experience.

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DaveC

Sergeant
Jul 7, 2010
3,629
2,650
Portishead, UK
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#1
I have strong memories of reading Mort.

I was on The Downs in Bristol, (large, grassy recreational area), leaning agianst a tree on a misty, drizzly, late autumn day. I was reading the section where Mort is standing alone in the square, waiting to be made an apprentice while my girlfriend was meditating on a bench a few metres away, it was my best reading atmosphere ever. :laugh:

What are everyone elses best reading experiences?
 

Tiffany

Sergeant
Oct 13, 2008
2,118
2,650
Devon
#2
It has got to be Equal Rites, the very first TP I read, I picked it up & couldn't put it down, the Family were totally neglected that day.
 

Willem

Sergeant
Jan 11, 2010
1,201
2,600
Weert, The Netherlands
#5
Long hot summer, we had been in London where I picked up some Pratchett paperbacks, among which Interesting Times and Soul Music. I couldn't really get into Interesting Times somehow but since it was a long hot summer I had quite some trouble sleeping. So I figured I might as well get up and read something. I don't know why, but then I finally started enjoying Interesting Times. It was a weird atmosphere, hot but dark, and very very quiet outside.

I also remember a mixed feeling of exhileration and disappointment when first reading Feet of Clay. Trying to keep it spoilerfree: I thought I'd cracked the case early on which made me feel good about being smart, but bad since I thought I wouldn't enjoy the book as much after that.
Luckily I was wrong on both accounts :)
 

Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
31,011
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
#6
*Slaps forehead!* :oops:

Of course I have a special experience from reading the books.

I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again.

I was on another Pratchett board and eagerly awaiting Hat Full of Sky to come out. I knew that another member on that board had already had a copy because she owned a bookstore and had been sent an advance copy.

Anyhow, I'd gone to Tesco and was browsing the shelves when I noticed that Hat Full of Sky was on display about two weeks before the release date. I grabbed a copy and paid for it before anyone could realise that they'd made a mistake.

I loved the book but didn't have anyone to talk to about it because no one else had a copy - apart from that woman in Arizona with the bookstore. So I PMed her, we got chatting and the rest, as they say, is history.

That was 2004, I made my first visit to Tucson in 2006 and we got married in 2007. :laugh:
 

Birthday

Lance-Constable
Feb 2, 2011
23
1,650
#8
Was in Norway in the summer, sitting on a bungalow balcony in the warm humid air reading Guards! Guards!
 

pip

Sergeant-at-Arms
Sep 3, 2010
8,765
2,850
KILDARE
#9
Tonyblack said:
*Slaps forehead!* :oops:

Of course I have a special experience from reading the books.

I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again.

I was on another Pratchett board and eagerly awaiting Hat Full of Sky to come out. I knew that another member on that board had already had a copy because she owned a bookstore and had been sent an advance copy.

Anyhow, I'd gone to Tesco and was browsing the shelves when I noticed that Hat Full of Sky was on display about two weeks before the release date. I grabbed a copy and paid for it before anyone could realise that they'd made a mistake.

I loved the book but didn't have anyone to talk to about it because no one else had a copy - apart from that woman in Arizona with the bookstore. So I PMed her, we got chatting and the rest, as they say, is history.

That was 2004, I made my first visit to Tucson in 2006 and we got married in 2007. :laugh:
Brilliant. Love it.
 

pip

Sergeant-at-Arms
Sep 3, 2010
8,765
2,850
KILDARE
#10
Couldn't sleep when i was in Gottingen in germany so i sat in the open porch reading Witches Abroad during a massive lightning storm.
Really added to the atmosphere. :laugh:
 

Poohcarrots

Lance-Corporal
Mar 5, 2011
109
2,275
#11
One December I had a stopover in Amsterdam for a couple of days on my way back to England. The Fifth Nellie-pants had just come out, so I bought it and spent a very pleasent two days blasted in Amsterdam reading it. :laugh:
 
#13
I remember sitting up in bed at half past one in the morning to read Vimes' mad dash home in Thud, and beaming with glee when he finally reached Young Sam's room. "The world went soft." :laugh: Nothing like seeing a character you care about be so happy, even for a moment (although I'll concur that Tony's post in this thread will be hard to beat! Fantastic story!)
 

Jan Van Quirm

Sergeant-at-Arms
Nov 7, 2008
8,524
2,800
Dunheved, Kernow
www.janhawke.me.uk
#14
I've read the vast proportion of Terry books between Orpington and Charing X so most of my memorable moments are giggling inappropriately on trains. But probably my best memory is a Pyramids one... :eek:

On holiday at a friend of a friend's wonderful 5 bed villa in Portugal, sitting in the shadiest corner poolside, with the scent of thyme and lemon on the BBQ from the spit-roasting chicken, drinking ice cold sangria and laughing like a drain at Pteppic and PTraci riding You Bastard :laugh:
 

Lyssian

New Member
Feb 17, 2011
9
1,650
Illinois
#15
Jan Van Quirm said:
I've read the vast proportion of Terry books between Orpington and Charing X so most of my memorable moments are giggling inappropriately on trains.
My experience as well. I've 'read' most of the series as audiobooks during an hour-long commute to work, and some of the best moments have been me, alone in the car, laughing so hard I almost have to pull over at a well placed pun. Soul Music was the biggest offender, I think.

On the same vein, I remember sitting in my driveway, around 2 a.m., with the car running as I listened to the end of Guards! Guards!, with Vimes and Sybill. I'd read the book on paper before, and knew I couldn't wait until the next commute to get to the "awwww!" payoff.
And she had style and money and common-sense and self-assurance and all the things that he didn't, and she had opened her heart, and if you let her she could engulf you; the woman was a city.
And eventually, under siege, you did what Ankh-Morpork had always done-unbar the gates, let the conquerors in, and make them your own.
Makes me misty every time. :)
 

Beyond

Lance-Constable
Mar 11, 2011
20
2,150
#17
Summer of 2007- I was at the Black sea, it was a rainy weekend, so I went to the bookstore, bought all of the Night Watch books and read them. I got addicted to Pratchett after that.
 

unseenu

Lance-Corporal
Feb 19, 2010
171
1,775
Hull,uk
#19
One night after a particularly hard exam I decided 'Tonight to unwind I'm going to go crazy' so I sat up all night drinking tea and reading Interesting Times :laugh:
 

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