SPOILERS Unseen Academicals ***SPOILERS***
- Thread starter The rat
- Start date
When I first saw the book I was so glad, because it was so much thicker than the usual Terry Pratchett's books.
Vetinari is awesome at all times, but him being drunk was just amazing.
In the end it really seemed typical that the football player and the model ended up together.
Mr Nutt was an interesting character and he's knowledge abut spoons was incredible.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_evczPOeIO0k/T ... micals.JPG thats the full cover)
When they first talked about football, I thought that Rincewind would be a perfect player; he can run.
Vetinari is awesome at all times, but him being drunk was just amazing.
In the end it really seemed typical that the football player and the model ended up together.
Mr Nutt was an interesting character and he's knowledge abut spoons was incredible.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_evczPOeIO0k/T ... micals.JPG thats the full cover)
When they first talked about football, I thought that Rincewind would be a perfect player; he can run.
Tonyblack said:
That's the Estonian covers I think. 
Who's Wee Dug said:
I believe thats where nomad is from, I have a couple of them I picked up from previous DWCons.
Who's Wee Dug said:
I like these loony book covers, they are funny.
I read Unseen Academicals quite recently for the first time and it struck me that Sir Terry must have seen a BBC series called Sleepers which was shown in the early 1990s because there are several parallels in it to the book. For example, in Sleepers there is a character who constantly introduces himself as Checkhov (no relation). If you want to hunt for it the leads are Nigel Havers and Warren Clarke.
It was repeated a couple of times and is available in DVD second hand only and it's now become quite expensive.
There are other things - another character is constantly looking at the English football match of 1966 in which there is a controversial goal, the two leading characters have to go on the run because the KGB is after them and so on. There is also a soft toy in the story who plays a much bigger part than Glenda's teddy bear but he's there.
I wonder if anyone else has seen this and can comment.
It was repeated a couple of times and is available in DVD second hand only and it's now become quite expensive.
There are other things - another character is constantly looking at the English football match of 1966 in which there is a controversial goal, the two leading characters have to go on the run because the KGB is after them and so on. There is also a soft toy in the story who plays a much bigger part than Glenda's teddy bear but he's there.
I wonder if anyone else has seen this and can comment.
Welcome to the site! I don't recall ever seeing that show. I think the "no relation" thing may go back a lot further than that. Here's an example. But who knows? Terry frequently comes up with references that even he doesn't know the origin of.
I don't recall ever seeing that show. I think the "no relation" thing may go back a lot further than that. Here's an example. But who knows? Terry frequently comes up with references that even he doesn't know the origin of. 
My apologies for the necro-post here. I just across something that I thought was interesting.
I never knew that "Nutt" was a real surname, but apparently it is, and it got me wondering: is Mr Nutt's name (not his character, just his name) a reference to a real person?
After digging for a while on Wikipedia, I found that it could be: Gordon Nutt, an ex-England professional footballer (and coach, too). He played in England, The Netherlands, and Australia. I don't know if Gordon is who Pterry was referring to (maybe he was? Probably not), but it's an interesting coincidence.
Having said that, I'd like to draw your attention to John Nutt, a 17th-century English pirate, whose arrest and trial caused a sensational scandal. I also think he's interesting because, unlike so many other pirates, his story has a happy ending! Enjoy.
I just across something that I thought was interesting.I never knew that "Nutt" was a real surname, but apparently it is, and it got me wondering: is Mr Nutt's name (not his character, just his name) a reference to a real person?
After digging for a while on Wikipedia, I found that it could be: Gordon Nutt, an ex-England professional footballer (and coach, too).
He played in England, The Netherlands, and Australia. I don't know if Gordon is who Pterry was referring to (maybe he was? Probably not), but it's an interesting coincidence.Having said that, I'd like to draw your attention to John Nutt, a 17th-century English pirate, whose arrest and trial caused a sensational scandal. I also think he's interesting because, unlike so many other pirates, his story has a happy ending! Enjoy.
Likes:
=Tamar
Several people with the Device name (no Anathema, though), plus one woman called Alice Nutter. Well.It's sad, but not surprising, that the Pendle Witch Trials started with two families squabbling. A similar situation happened during the Salem Hysteria, as well as other, less well-known cases.
What's really surprising is this:
What the...? *shrug*
The reason you won't see anyone named Anathema is that, in typical Pratchett style (possibly Gaiman style too), it's a word that sounds, maybe like a proper name. Bestiality Carter comes to mind off the top of head. Anathema Definition.
Er ... I'm not surprised that a pardon was sought. It's natural for the descendants to see it as a stigma, and to want their ancestors to be free of it.
But I'm surprised that the pardon wasn't granted. I didn't think witchcraft was a crime in the UK - well, not since the famous Helen Duncan trial.
Sure. It's like calling an English baby Ecclesia or Faustina - both real names (in Greek and Spanish, respectively), but not very popular in the UK, perhaps? On average, at least.
Personally, I like the old names. It's about time that names like Johnny and Agatha, Stevie and Bertha, etc. made a comeback.
But I'm surprised that the pardon wasn't granted. I didn't think witchcraft was a crime in the UK - well, not since the famous Helen Duncan trial.
Sure. It's like calling an English baby Ecclesia or Faustina - both real names (in Greek and Spanish, respectively), but not very popular in the UK, perhaps?
On average, at least.Personally, I like the old names. It's about time that names like Johnny and Agatha, Stevie and Bertha, etc. made a comeback.
The Pendle witch trials were in 1612, no-one's crying over this. And at that time, it was a crime, and they were found guilty of it. Without additional evidence, they can't be pardoned.
The only reason this keeps cropping up is to reignite interest and bring the tourists in. And sorry Rath, but I can't help but laugh to think there might be a 'stigma'
The only reason this keeps cropping up is to reignite interest and bring the tourists in. And sorry Rath, but I can't help but laugh to think there might be a 'stigma'
The Pendle witch trials were in 1612, no-one's crying over this. And at that time, it was a crime, and they were found guilty of it. Without additional evidence, they can't be pardoned.
The only reason this keeps cropping up is to reignite interest and bring the tourists in. And sorry Rath, but I can't help but laugh to think there might be a 'stigma'
The only reason this keeps cropping up is to reignite interest and bring the tourists in. And sorry Rath, but I can't help but laugh to think there might be a 'stigma'
There certainly is no stigma among the descendants of the witches. In fact, there is a strong sense of pride among many of them.
It is also true that the Salem witches were exonerated almost immediately afterward, when investigators came in from outside the town, It became obvious that the main reason behind the sentences, if not the trials, was a land grab. All the ones executed had owned land in a particular area, that was taken over by the men in charge. The ones who were merely given prison sentences or freed, even though some of them had admitted to being witches, didn't own valuable land worth stealing.
There were instances of the same kind of hysterical accusations elsewhere, but only in Salem were they taken seriously and people tried and executed.
What perturbs me about the refusal to pardon the Pendle witches is that the courts refused to consider that under the law, magical witchcraft of the sort they were accused of, does not exist and should never have been a crime. That tells me that the UK court now believes magical witchcraft crimes do exist, and the UK system has fallen into superstition again.
There were instances of the same kind of hysterical accusations elsewhere, but only in Salem were they taken seriously and people tried and executed.
What perturbs me about the refusal to pardon the Pendle witches is that the courts refused to consider that under the law, magical witchcraft of the sort they were accused of, does not exist and should never have been a crime. That tells me that the UK court now believes magical witchcraft crimes do exist, and the UK system has fallen into superstition again.
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Yes! I studied "The Crucible" towards the end of my time in high school. It always made a strong impression on me, especially when I learned about the link between "The Crucible" and the McCarthyist years.
A few years after finishing high school, I started studying the McCarthy years in detail, out of my own interest. It's a fascinating subject, and gives the lie to certain current politicians who claim that there is "a great witch hunt" directed at them. *snerk*
All right, that's my fault for assuming. Sorry. *blush*
Er ... I really hope the UK courts don't believe in witchcraft crimes. But if they do, what's next - putting animals on trial, as some European nations did during the Middle Ages?
(No joke - European nations put horses, dogs, cats and even flies and fleas on trial in those days. And lest you think that's just a medieval thing, and we are smarter these days - consider the sad case of Mary, the circus elephant.)
I studied "The Crucible" towards the end of my time in high school. It always made a strong impression on me, especially when I learned about the link between "The Crucible" and the McCarthyist years.A few years after finishing high school, I started studying the McCarthy years in detail, out of my own interest. It's a fascinating subject, and gives the lie to certain current politicians who claim that there is "a great witch hunt" directed at them. *snerk*
All right, that's my fault for assuming. Sorry. *blush*
Er ... I really hope the UK courts don't believe in witchcraft crimes. But if they do, what's next - putting animals on trial, as some European nations did during the Middle Ages?
(No joke - European nations put horses, dogs, cats and even flies and fleas on trial in those days. And lest you think that's just a medieval thing, and we are smarter these days - consider the sad case of Mary, the circus elephant.)
This is, at best, speculation and not backed by historical evidence. Many of the accused and convicted were teenagers and women who had no rights to own land that could be taken from them, therefore the land-grabbing theory makes no sense. And some of those who were not convicted were landowners. Yes, many of the accusations were probably inspired by squabbles between neighbors, but the idea of a mass conspiracy by real estate speculators to steal land makes no sense. And it's not true that everyone convicted lost their land. For example, convicted witch John Proctor passed his land to his son after he was executed.
And the "witches" were not immediately exonerated. It took several years for criticism of the trials to begin and even longer for such criticism to be accepted as mainstream thinking. It took more than a decade for the Massachusetts government to formally apologize and vacate convictions (for those lucky enough to be still iiving).
And the "witches" were not immediately exonerated. It took several years for criticism of the trials to begin and even longer for such criticism to be accepted as mainstream thinking. It took more than a decade for the Massachusetts government to formally apologize and vacate convictions (for those lucky enough to be still iiving).
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To return to something like the topic, Mr Nutt the Roundworld football coach seems more likely to be related to Mr Nutt of UA than the pirate does. Combining more-or-less 16th century football with 16th century Romeo and Juliet leads me to wonder briefly whether Gloriana may have been alluded to somewhere.
