How did you discover Discworld/Terry Pratchett?
- Thread starter Fizz
- Start date
I was in a bookshop in Haverstock Hill, round about 1991, looking for a book of poems by e. e. cummings for a friend. I was a fan of Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman' comics and spotted 'Good Omens' on the shelf, bought it and never looked back. I did have all the Discworld books, but they got stolen (along with all my records and CDs 
). I'm gradually rebuilding the complete set. My favourite is 'Thief of Time' and before that 'Wyrd Sisters' and 'Reaper Man'. I used to get strange looks on public transport for laughing out loud so much and even more so when I was waiting in A & E with a broken nose (I tried to break up a fight). His books aren't just funny though; I find them deeply human and often very moving. I've been trying to persuade my German friends to read them for years, but get the 'I don't like fantasy' response. One of them finally found a second-hand copy (I think it was 'Mort') in a charity shop about two years ago and now she's hooked too. And she's got her kids into them. I read 'The Amazing Maurice...' to my son when he was 7 and he absolutely loved it (he's fifteen now).
). I'm gradually rebuilding the complete set. My favourite is 'Thief of Time' and before that 'Wyrd Sisters' and 'Reaper Man'. I used to get strange looks on public transport for laughing out loud so much and even more so when I was waiting in A & E with a broken nose (I tried to break up a fight). His books aren't just funny though; I find them deeply human and often very moving. I've been trying to persuade my German friends to read them for years, but get the 'I don't like fantasy' response. One of them finally found a second-hand copy (I think it was 'Mort') in a charity shop about two years ago and now she's hooked too. And she's got her kids into them. I read 'The Amazing Maurice...' to my son when he was 7 and he absolutely loved it (he's fifteen now).
Welcome to the site, NickPretzel! 
Ah - the old 'I don't like fantasy' thing. I think a lot of us have come across that one. It usually translates as - it looks weird and I might not like it. As you point out, once someone has made that initial step, they tend to get hooked.
The books are, I think, more about satire than fantasy. it's just a case that Terry uses a fantasy world to play out his satires. Jonathan Swift did the same with Gulliver's Travels.
Ah - the old 'I don't like fantasy' thing. I think a lot of us have come across that one. It usually translates as - it looks weird and I might not like it. As you point out, once someone has made that initial step, they tend to get hooked.
The books are, I think, more about satire than fantasy. it's just a case that Terry uses a fantasy world to play out his satires. Jonathan Swift did the same with Gulliver's Travels.
How did you discover Discworld/Terry Pratchett
I keep trying to tell them that. Well, it's their loss. I quite agree about the satire; the fantasy is almost incidental and is really a metaphor; the humour disguises his depth and wisdom.
Thanks for the welcome, I really should have joined up long ago !
I keep trying to tell them that. Well, it's their loss. I quite agree about the satire; the fantasy is almost incidental and is really a metaphor; the humour disguises his depth and wisdom.
Thanks for the welcome, I really should have joined up long ago
!
Lost books
Thank you for the sympathy deldaisy and I know what you mean. I started rebuilding the collection by getting the new ones and then the ones I particularly liked and wanted to re-read. I've got about 15 now, so only 20 odd to go! I must have bought at least four copies of 'Good Omens'. That book, in particular, seems to be cursed. I lent my first copy to my brother, when he went to St Lucia and the flat he was staying in burned down (with the book)! Another copy got destroyed when my son dropped it in the bath. That's fire and water, I'm waiting for one to get blown away and dreading the landslide that will swallow the other
A couple of questions:
Thank you for the sympathy deldaisy and I know what you mean. I started rebuilding the collection by getting the new ones and then the ones I particularly liked and wanted to re-read. I've got about 15 now, so only 20 odd to go! I must have bought at least four copies of 'Good Omens'. That book, in particular, seems to be cursed. I lent my first copy to my brother, when he went to St Lucia and the flat he was staying in burned down (with the book)! Another copy got destroyed when my son dropped it in the bath. That's fire and water, I'm waiting for one to get blown away and dreading the landslide that will swallow the other
A couple of questions:
- Speaking of other books, does anyone know if there is a thread about other authors they like to read? I always like book recommendations and think it might be interesting to hear from other Terry fans, as we already have that in common.
- Do you have to post images somewhere in order to include them, or is there a way of including images from your own hard disk?
Welcome Heartsfan2
Definitely You don't need to read them in order, though it helps, as the characters and ideas develop. The first two ('The Colour of Magic' & 'The Light Fantastic') are quite different from the rest and you may want to leave them until later as they won't give you a true picture of what they are like. Then there are several strands of stories in them (The witches, Ricewind/the wizards, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Death/Susan Sto-Helit &c), though some of the characters appear in several strands (most notably Death, Susan's grandfather, who appears in just about all of them). Of the early ones I would recommend 'Wyrd Sisters' (#6 and first of the witches stories, unless you count 'Sourcery'), loosely based on MacBeth, or 'Guards! Guards!' (#8 and first of the City Watch stories), or 'Reaper Man', one of my favourites (#11 and second of the Death/Susan Sto-Helit stories - the first is 'Mort' which is also available as a graphic novel). I'd also recommend 'Good Omens', co-written with Neil Gaiman (author of the Sandman graphic novels) which is not a Discworld novel, rather a spoof of 'The Omen' and very funny too.
Just out of interest, if you haven't read any Terry Pratchett, why did you sign up for this forum?
Anyway, Welcome Heartsfan2, I'm a new member myself, even though I've been a fan for 20 years. Enjoy and read a Terry Pratchett book, you'll never look back
Definitely You don't need to read them in order, though it helps, as the characters and ideas develop. The first two ('The Colour of Magic' & 'The Light Fantastic') are quite different from the rest and you may want to leave them until later as they won't give you a true picture of what they are like. Then there are several strands of stories in them (The witches, Ricewind/the wizards, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Death/Susan Sto-Helit &c), though some of the characters appear in several strands (most notably Death, Susan's grandfather, who appears in just about all of them). Of the early ones I would recommend 'Wyrd Sisters' (#6 and first of the witches stories, unless you count 'Sourcery'), loosely based on MacBeth, or 'Guards! Guards!' (#8 and first of the City Watch stories), or 'Reaper Man', one of my favourites (#11 and second of the Death/Susan Sto-Helit stories - the first is 'Mort' which is also available as a graphic novel). I'd also recommend 'Good Omens', co-written with Neil Gaiman (author of the Sandman graphic novels) which is not a Discworld novel, rather a spoof of 'The Omen' and very funny too.Just out of interest, if you haven't read any Terry Pratchett, why did you sign up for this forum
?Anyway, Welcome Heartsfan2, I'm a new member myself, even though I've been a fan for 20 years. Enjoy and read a Terry Pratchett book, you'll never look back
Re: Lost books
Hey Nick, heres the two book reccomendation threads:
Closed but still readable.
http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5&start=0
Current one, started because the other went way toooo long.
http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3149&start=0
As for the imaages question, yeah you have to use Photobucket or something to host images, I wish we could do straight from hard drive.
Hey Nick, heres the two book reccomendation threads:
Closed but still readable.
http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5&start=0
Current one, started because the other went way toooo long.
http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3149&start=0
As for the imaages question, yeah you have to use Photobucket or something to host images, I wish we could do straight from hard drive.
Questions, questions
Thanks for that. As it happens, I think I found the active one while trawling. God, there's so much stuff here! Thanks all the same and I'll check out the locked one too. Any other suggestions would be gratefully appreciated (at this rate I'm going to be spending half my online life here .
Thanks for that. As it happens, I think I found the active one while trawling. God, there's so much stuff here! Thanks all the same and I'll check out the locked one too. Any other suggestions would be gratefully appreciated (at this rate I'm going to be spending half my online life here
.