Rincewind - Where is the love?

[CJDobs]

Been rolling through a few threads this afternoon on here *cough*worksabitquiet*cough*...... and I've discovered an alarming trend of Rincwewind haters....

wha?

How can you not love Rincwewind??

I suppose from my perspective, The Discworld was originally about Rincewind. If you have read the DW books chronologically (and lucky/old enough to remember the orginal publication being issued!) then the early books were a series of road trips where Rincewind, as our erstwhile if somewhat reluctant travel guide, sprinted through the scenery shrieking 'ohshitohshitohshitohshit'.

Along the way, Rincwewind's journey was embellished, then put on hold as Death and Guards and Witches and gods and confidence tricksters and newspaper entrepeneurs and golems and bands with rocks in and movie stars and a couple of wars etc etc etc all took the centre stage....but for the first few years certainly, RIncewind was THE DW constant.

So come on, let's feel the love for the Wizzard....without him, our DW geography would be a lot less interesting

 

[meerkat]

I adore Rincewind! I would be quite happy to make him a potato patty to order and mend his threadbare clothes for nothing.... in a sisterly way... you understand...

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

I like him you know he going to run away but end up saving the day, he also makes me laugh.

 

[Jan Van Quirm]

Always liked Rinso - he's a sensible girl's wizzard *wise nod* :twisted:

It's true the running away does get a little tedious but it's always fully justified in context

 

[Tonyblack]

As mentioned - Rincewind is often used as a literary device that allows Terry to explore the Discworld in ways that he'd find difficult to do with many of his other characters. He's almost a cartoon character in that he is indestructible.

I'm in the same situation as CJ - I started the books at the beginning, so Rincewind has always been there from the start and therefore has a certain place in my heart, even if he isn't my favourite character. He's never really developed in all his adventures. Yes he's a coward, but sometimes he does incredibly brave things.

 

[Bouncy Castle]

I like Rincewind.

Don't like Sir Dave portraying him, though.

 

[Anonymous]

I like Rincewind.

Don't like Sir Dave portraying him, though.

Well said Rincewind is my fav character and his books are amongst the best in my view but hate that David Jason played him, for me it was a massive casting cock up.

 

[ladyramkin]

I love and adore Rincewind and always will, though it took me a long while to get over seeing David Jason in the part.
Could they have picked someone more wrong in every way. Now Mackenzie Krook......

 

[meerkat]

oooh yes, thin, scraggy beard, but no wooden eye!

 

[Bouncy Castle]

Yeah, Mackenzie Crook would have been brilliant.

 

[Anonymous]

Ye know, whenever I see posts like the last three I wonder:
Is someone from MobFilms on the board and if yes, why do they ignore the actors we come up with? D=

 

[meerkat]

Cost of hiring the actors.
The Agents fees.
The fact that there is a hierarchy in acting.
Some actors are chums of the author.
The Author might not like the chosen actors.
And the ones they really wanted were busy doing other things at the time of filming.
And of course the producer might be useless in getting the actors they want.

.........And no one ever listens to a fan anyway!

That's prob'ly why, Meebs!

 

[Anonymous]

well, 'twas more of a metaphorical question.
Ah, if the movie after UA will really be Sourcery there is still a chance of them getting the casting right...

 

[Tonyblack]

The important think as far as using Sir David is that a lot of non-Discworld fans will have watched it JUST because he was in it. There are probably a lot more Discworld readers now after watching those TV shows and that's the main thing. He was not my idea of Rincewind, but he wasn't horrible at the part. Whoever had played the part, some fans of the books wouldn't be happy - so why not use a big name that will attract a bigger audience?

 

[raisindot]

No love for Rincewind here.

Then again, I started reading DW books from the "classic" era of Thief of Time and The Fifth Elephant, when PTerry's literary prowess was at its peak.

By the time I got to the first DW books I had read nearly all the other books, so I suppose there was nothing left but disappointment. I find the RIncewinds books tiresome, particularly the early ones. As others have said, he is essentially a cartoon straight man for more 'zany' characters to bounce off--the fantasy equivalent of Adams' Arthur Bent.

Even the later wizards books rarely varied from formula and Rincewind never evolved as a character. Which is quite likely why Pterry largely dropped him as a main character over the years, since he had more fertile narrative territory to plow with the Guards, the Witches, Susan and one-offs like Soul Music, The Truth and Monstrous Regiment.

 

[Mycroft Vimes]

Well,my nickname at this site http://www.photoforum.com/forum/animals-birds/48160-doggypics.html should give a bit of a clue...

I love Rincewind,the bit of anti-hero added,really completed the character for me.

 

[Harry Blue5]

I like Rincewind. Well, I liked him enough to make him my avatar.

But I think the problem with Rincewind is not the character himself, but the events around him. It's very hard to get him to sit down and actually do something, so a lot of his plots have to be resolved by random events pushing him to do something. Terry finds him hard to write for inner monologue-wise as well, IIRC. And since he's got it all figured out ("eat potato", "run away"), he doesn't have much leeway for character devlopment.

I suppose another thing that hurts him is that his first appearances were the first books, and Terry's obviously improved since then.

I do love him, though. Definitely one of my favourite characters.

 

[CJDobs]

Raisindot wrote: "Then again, I started reading DW books from the "classic" era of Thief of Time and The Fifth Elephant, when PTerry's literary prowess was at its peak."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! Contentious!!!!!

Just off the top of my head, Before Thief of Time there was:

Witches Abroad - Classic
Guards! Guards! - Classic
Wyrd Sisters - Classic
Jingo - Classic
Hogfather - Classic
Maskerade - Classic
Lords and Ladies - Classic
Small Gods - Classic
Mort - Classic
Guards! Guards! - Classic

I'm incredibly biased of course as I think nearly all of Terrys work is classic but if you're taking PRE 'Thief of Time' then the heart and soul of Discworld and the best of Terrys wit and satire lies in all of the above books.

I was talking to a Discworld 'fan' at work the other day and he had no idea who 'Cut me own throat Dibbler' was...I nearly cried.

I know it's a taste thing and I also know a lot of my choice is based on nostalgia, but I've revisited all of his books over the years and I never fail to be blown away by how good they are - especially the early ones whose charm and wit won me over in the first place.

Now, if anything, I'd argue that PRE Thief of Time, was Terry's classic period...followed by his refined period.... followed by his Knighted period......

 

[Anonymous]

To me it was alway Colour of Magic to Sourcery where the beginning era and then up to Nightwatch was the classic era. The rest is the 'post Nightwatch era'... and I often have the feeling Discworld was meant to end with Nightwatch...or at least the plots of the established characters, to then introduce new ones at new places WITHOUT the intereference of old ones....
/shrug

 

[SpideyGirl]

I (platonically) love Rincewind!