Nation

[princesspurplehippy]

Glad you liked it. It's a very thoughtful book that explores some interesting consepts.

I think it says a lot about his talent that his books can range from silly to quite deep and inciteful.

I have a lot of friends who say they don't really like his books cos all they know about is the funny fantasy books, I tell them that he can write some really meaningful books.

My boyfriend doesnt like his books til I lent him Good Omens and I was worried as he is a fan of the Omen film but he really enjoyed it. I don't think he will ever be a huge fan like me but I think you can find a Pratchett book for everyone

 

[Tonyblack]

Terry's books are deceptive. There's usually a funny fantasy story on the surface but when you scratch that surface you find that there's almost always something deeper to them.

Terry writes about humanity and the way people react. It doesn't matter if those 'people' are trolls, dwarfs, vampires or wee free men, they are all types of humans.

Let's take Nation for example. the story seems fairly simple, but it's about how some people react to an 'act of god'. When something like that happens - everyone you know and all that you believed is destroyed, can you go on believing in the god that destroyed it all?

Terry's writing has been likened to such people as Jonathon Swift and Mark Twain. Both of those writers have been dismissed by some as 'children's writers' or 'fantasy' writers, but they are actually writing about humanity and they stuff they see going on through the medium of satire.

Terry's books will still be read in two hundred years time and people will still recognise what he is writing about.

 

[Vena Ravenhaired]

I enjoyed Nation, although it is set on another alternate Earth, it gently pokes fun at Victorian attitudes to Empire and all it's little foibles.

It took me two readings to get it though.

Cheers, Vena

 

[Ogg]

Imho 'Nation' is as good as anything TP has ever written. I was engrossed from the very beginning and like others read it in one caffeine fueled evening session. I think I've read it at least five times now but I'm sad like that. Hard to put my finger on redeeming factor, just the whole feel of the plot, characters and the thinking required on our part...perfect.
I must add that when Daphne's father finally gave his mother the talking to she deserved, what was it? ...sharp tongued harridan with the manners of a fox...the island might speak to you as it did me..." sniff.

 

[jirzinek]

Hi! I'm translating Nation into Polish and I wonder if you could help me with a few queries:

1) What do the acronyms M.R.H and F.R.A stand for (It's in "Birds of the Great Southern Pelagic Ocean by H.J. Hookwarm, MRH, FRA...) p.103

2) Why is Daphne against naming the newborn child Twinkle? p. 150

3) In the extract describing moments before the disaster struck: "And now it hit Mau, knocking him flat on the sand. His head was trying to explode. It was worse even than that time when he'd played the stone game and had hung on too long" what's this reference to the stone game about? p. 17

I was also wondering about that tree-climbing octopus having a BEAK and the use of spray cans in the nineteenth century setting...

Thank you!

 

[Tonyblack]

Hi! I'm translating Nation into Polish and I wonder if you could help me with a few queries:

1) What do the acronyms M.R.H and F.R.A stand for (It's in "Birds of the Great Southern Pelagic Ocean by H.J. Hookwarm, MRH, FRA...) p.103

2) Why is Daphne against naming the newborn child Twinkle? p. 150

3) In the extract describing moments before the disaster struck: "And now it hit Mau, knocking him flat on the sand. His head was trying to explode. It was worse even than that time when he'd played the stone game and had hung on too long" what's this reference to the stone game about? p. 17

I was also wondering about that tree-climbing octopus having a BEAK and the use of spray cans in the nineteenth century setting...

Thank you!

Hi there jirzinek and welcome.

I think the two acronyms are made up. They look vaguely like they might be Member of the Royal something and perhaps Fellow of the Royal something - but those acronyms don't actually exist as far as I can tell.

Not sure about "Twinkle" apart from it being a dumb name. I suspect this refers to the saying "When you were just a twinkle in your father's eye." In other words just before you were conceived and your father was just thinking about having sex with your mother. But I could be wrong.

I think the "Stone Game" is just Terry asking us to imagine a game that was so rough that it would make you feel like you'd just been washed up in a tidal wave. We are hearing (so to speak) Mau's thoughts and we don't know everything that Mau knows.
Octopus do have beaks as you can see in this Wiki article


I hope that helps.

 

[jirzinek]

Thank you, Tonyblack, that did help a lot!

And another thing, if you are so kind. There's a story of a butler called Biggleswick. The one who got drunk and was fired by Grandmother. Does the name Biggleswick have any associations?

 

[Tonyblack]

Thank you, Tonyblack, that did help a lot!

And another thing, if you are so kind. There's a story of a butler called Biggleswick. The one who got drunk and was fired by Grandmother. Does the name Biggleswick have any associations?

I don't think so. It's the sort of name that Charles Dickens might have used for a character and therefore it give the book that sort of Victorian feel. Dickens used all sorts of odd names such as Chuzzlewit and Fezziwig - I just think Terry was doing more of the same.

Interestingly, there is a company in Britain that make "Hygiene & Disposable Products" called Biggleswick and of course it's not that disimilar to Bigglesworth (Biggles) the fictional WW1 pilot created by W.E. Johns.

 

[Dotsie]

Tony has already been extremely helpful, but I'll just add that although it's a 19th century setting, we do find out that it's a parallel universe. So anything's allowed (although I can't actually remember the spray cans anyway!).

Good luck with your translation

 

[jirzinek]

Thank you again! You are a lovely lot

Spray cans were mentioned right there in the very first chapter (for "spitting" the disinfectant on Cutty Wren).

And if there is something else a translator of Nation should know, tell me

 

[Tonyblack]

Thank you again! You are a lovely lot

Spray cans were mentioned right there in the very first chapter (for "spitting" the disinfectant on Cutty Wren).

And if there is something else a translator of Nation should know, tell me

Difficult to say really as a lot of the stuff that might seem odd to a person in another country, might be perfectly normal to us here.

Regarding the spray cans - I suspect it's not so much an aerosol and rather more an old fashioned pump attached to a can that someome would have to pump back and fore to get a spray out.

I do wish you loads of good luck with this project though and please let us know if we can help further.

 

[Parkstee]

jirzinek good look with the translation and you have a pm

 

[jirzinek]

Just this morning I got a message from the Nation editor and you were right about spray cans - they worked like pumps rather than aerosol.

As for Twinkle - it's supposed to be a baby word for a penis, although it's rare now. Did you know?

 

[Tonyblack]

As for Twinkle - it's supposed to be a baby word for a penis, although it's rare now. Did you know?

Well yes, I wondered about that. Don't think I've ever used that word for that purpose, but was vaguely aware of it.

 

[jirzinek]

A few more questions

1)
I'm not sure I understand what is meant by "up close" in the following sentence (p. 210):

"He (Pilu) managed to suggest that the trouble had not been made by him, very definitely not by him, and that he was against trouble of any kind, particularly any trouble up close. Ever since the Twinkle song, he had always been a little nervous of Daphne."

2)
What's the meaning of "struggling" in what an inner voice says to Daphne (p. 233):
"How is it that you hear us? We are blown about by the wind, and our voices are weak, but you, a trouserman, heard our struggling silence! How?"

3)
How do you understand "humpty" and is it a word made up by the author?
(p. 297):
"The captain got humpty. Crew who'd served with him for a long time said he was a decent man and a good captain, and they'd never seen him get humpty before. Everyone suffered under a humpty captain..."

4)
When Mau and Daphne come back to the cage, at one point she says (p. 309):
"I think people from this island sailed around the world, a long, long time ago. You remembered, but over the years it became a story for little children."
Even down in the dark, Mau thought.

Somehow I cannot see what this "Even down in the dark" thought relates to...

5)
When Daphne takes gold false teeth from a little boy, she says (p. 314)

"Tell the little boy I will give him an arm's length of sugar cane for them and he can stretch as much as he likes. Is that a trade?"

What's her point about stretching exactly?

Would anyone like to help?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Dotsie]

1) Up close = nearby

2) The voices struggle because they are trying to be heard.

3) It means bad-tempered (but not particularly aggressive), & is probably made up by Terry. The closest word we have in English is grumpy, which means the same thing.

4) & 5) - sorry, I'm not sure. I'd need to see the rest of the page for both to decide I think!

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Got the Hump, no that word is not made up by Terry it is a popular word in use in Scotland as you say in a bad mood/temper or upset with someone or something if they are generally that way described as a humpy person to put it politely.

#5 I would think that being sugar candy if it was warmed it would stretch in length making it longer, so he could make it last longer by snaping of short thinner pieces.

 

[Byakuran]

Right, I just skipped through this entire thread because I HAVEN'T GOT IT YET!!!

I don't have a lot of spare cash right now (student...), but is it worth the buy? I think I heard that it was completely different from his usual style, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.

 

[chris.ph]

(coughs and says nothing)

 

[Byakuran]

Thanks Chris, that was most informative

I take it you're not recommending the book?