Discussion Group?
- Thread starter Tonyblack
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I want to try and address a point brought up by Tina in the Going Postal discussion that I don't want to post there as it may digress too much. 
These discussions are meant to be fun but they are also so we can share what we got out of the books. Everyone, because on their experiences, looks at life in a unique way. We also look at books and movies that way too. We shape them from our personal experience.
Terry is a satirist and writer of parodies and as such he takes human life and gives it a twist and shows us ourselves through his writing. When he writes about such people as Vimes, Vetinari, Moist and co., he's taking aspects of real life and human characteristics and inserting them into his characters - that's why we like them so much - because we can see the humanity in them.
Some people like Moist because they see his antics as funny and good natured, other people don't like him because they see him as sly and manipulative. The choice is going to come down to our own life experience.
But Terry's writing almost demands that it is stripped down. Yes there's a story on the top, but there is so much more happening underneath. He's making social commentary about serious subjects such as equality, dishonesty, religious belief and many other things that are relevant to us - and those layers that he's planted deserve to be inspected.
Terry's writing will probably be as relevant in 100 years time as it is now and in 100 years time people will be saying things like "He's predicted the Great Bank of Mars Crash!" Of course he won't have, but people don't change that and they keep on making the same mistakes and not learning from history. So Terry shows us ourselves and makes us realise just how crazy people are.
In the same way, if you read Gulliver's Travels, written around 1726, the satire in there is still very relevant to us today. Yes, it appears to be a childrens' book on first glance, but it's also a multi-layered satire about humanity.
These discussions are meant to be fun but they are also so we can share what we got out of the books. Everyone, because on their experiences, looks at life in a unique way. We also look at books and movies that way too. We shape them from our personal experience.
Terry is a satirist and writer of parodies and as such he takes human life and gives it a twist and shows us ourselves through his writing. When he writes about such people as Vimes, Vetinari, Moist and co., he's taking aspects of real life and human characteristics and inserting them into his characters - that's why we like them so much - because we can see the humanity in them.
Some people like Moist because they see his antics as funny and good natured, other people don't like him because they see him as sly and manipulative. The choice is going to come down to our own life experience.
But Terry's writing almost demands that it is stripped down. Yes there's a story on the top, but there is so much more happening underneath. He's making social commentary about serious subjects such as equality, dishonesty, religious belief and many other things that are relevant to us - and those layers that he's planted deserve to be inspected.
Terry's writing will probably be as relevant in 100 years time as it is now and in 100 years time people will be saying things like "He's predicted the Great Bank of Mars Crash!" Of course he won't have, but people don't change that and they keep on making the same mistakes and not learning from history. So Terry shows us ourselves and makes us realise just how crazy people are.
In the same way, if you read Gulliver's Travels, written around 1726, the satire in there is still very relevant to us today. Yes, it appears to be a childrens' book on first glance, but it's also a multi-layered satire about humanity.
- May 5, 2009
- 3,181
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Tonyblack said:
I want to try and address a point brought up by Tina in the Going Postal discussion that I don't want to post there as it may digress too much.
These discussions are meant to be fun but they are also so we can share what we got out of the books. Everyone, because on their experiences, looks at life in a unique way. We also look at books and movies that way too. We shape them from our personal experience.
Terry is a satirist and writer of parodies and as such he takes human life and gives it a twist and shows us ourselves through his writing. When he writes about such people as Vimes, Vetinari, Moist and co., he's taking aspects of real life and human characteristics and inserting them into his characters - that's why we like them so much - because we can see the humanity in them.
Some people like Moist because they see his antics as funny and good natured, other people don't like him because they see him as sly and manipulative. The choice is going to come down to our own life experience.
But Terry's writing almost demands that it is stripped down. Yes there's a story on the top, but there is so much more happening underneath. He's making social commentary about serious subjects such as equality, dishonesty, religious belief and many other things that are relevant to us - and those layers that he's planted deserve to be inspected.
Terry's writing will probably be as relevant in 100 years time as it is now and in 100 years time people will be saying things like "He's predicted the Great Bank of Mars Crash!" Of course he won't have, but people don't change that and they keep on making the same mistakes and not learning from history. So Terry shows us ourselves and makes us realise just how crazy people are.
In the same way, if you read Gulliver's Travels, written around 1726, the satire in there is still very relevant to us today. Yes, it appears to be a childrens' book on first glance, but it's also a multi-layered satire about humanity.
These discussions are meant to be fun but they are also so we can share what we got out of the books. Everyone, because on their experiences, looks at life in a unique way. We also look at books and movies that way too. We shape them from our personal experience.
Terry is a satirist and writer of parodies and as such he takes human life and gives it a twist and shows us ourselves through his writing. When he writes about such people as Vimes, Vetinari, Moist and co., he's taking aspects of real life and human characteristics and inserting them into his characters - that's why we like them so much - because we can see the humanity in them.
Some people like Moist because they see his antics as funny and good natured, other people don't like him because they see him as sly and manipulative. The choice is going to come down to our own life experience.
But Terry's writing almost demands that it is stripped down. Yes there's a story on the top, but there is so much more happening underneath. He's making social commentary about serious subjects such as equality, dishonesty, religious belief and many other things that are relevant to us - and those layers that he's planted deserve to be inspected.
Terry's writing will probably be as relevant in 100 years time as it is now and in 100 years time people will be saying things like "He's predicted the Great Bank of Mars Crash!" Of course he won't have, but people don't change that and they keep on making the same mistakes and not learning from history. So Terry shows us ourselves and makes us realise just how crazy people are.
In the same way, if you read Gulliver's Travels, written around 1726, the satire in there is still very relevant to us today. Yes, it appears to be a childrens' book on first glance, but it's also a multi-layered satire about humanity.
