Which Discworld Book is the Best to Read for School?
- Thread starter gordonfreeman
- Start date
Wow, genre you have to read is fantasy? You are lucky! Our teachers never ever would have let us read/report fantasy if they were dragged through the eight hells of discworld. 
My answer to your question is very very clear:
Guards! Guards!
This book I always would recommend as entrance to discworl, I even would recommend it to somebody would otherwise has no interest in fantasy at all. It works on so many levels, as humorous book, as fantasy book, as discworld book.
There there are dragons, there is the typical twist to thousands of other storyline with dragons in it, there is the typical Pratchettian mockery of plot stereotypes. I think, with G!G! you cannot fail (if you yourself like the book that ist, of course).
My answer to your question is very very clear:
Guards! Guards!
This book I always would recommend as entrance to discworl, I even would recommend it to somebody would otherwise has no interest in fantasy at all. It works on so many levels, as humorous book, as fantasy book, as discworld book.
There there are dragons, there is the typical twist to thousands of other storyline with dragons in it, there is the typical Pratchettian mockery of plot stereotypes. I think, with G!G! you cannot fail (if you yourself like the book that ist, of course).
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL BOOKS LISTED
I assume you have already read all of the ones listed. What does your teacher really like to hear about, generally?
Teachers are human and they sometimes react better to topics that push their happiness buttons, and worse if a particular story element triggers one of their strong personal opinions.
Eric has classical allusions to Dante's Inferno and Greek myths, and it has pimply-schoolboy jokes.
Jingo is about a cultural clash and has both-sides ethnic jokes (yes, there are ethnic jokes in it about British culture).
Reaper Man is about how a (Western-culture) man is expected to behave (get a job, rescue the innocent, finish the job, etc.), and it has farmboy, macho-man, and zombie jokes.
The Last Continent includes a whole lot of religious discussion and has Australian jokes, and comic-professor jokes.
Making Money is about economic theory, but has some religious jokes too.
Guards! Guards! is about government, power, and of course, guards, what they guard, and the kind of man who stays in the job and the rewards they get. It has conspiracy jokes and hero jokes.
Depending on the teacher, any one of them could be a good one. This is late enough in the year so that you might have some idea of what works with that particular teacher. In the unlikely event that the fantasy genre assignment was pushed by someone higher up and the teacher isn't familiar with fantasy, probably Guards! Guards! is best, because it includes a police procedural mystery.
I assume you have already read all of the ones listed. What does your teacher really like to hear about, generally?
Teachers are human and they sometimes react better to topics that push their happiness buttons, and worse if a particular story element triggers one of their strong personal opinions.
Eric has classical allusions to Dante's Inferno and Greek myths, and it has pimply-schoolboy jokes.
Jingo is about a cultural clash and has both-sides ethnic jokes (yes, there are ethnic jokes in it about British culture).
Reaper Man is about how a (Western-culture) man is expected to behave (get a job, rescue the innocent, finish the job, etc.), and it has farmboy, macho-man, and zombie jokes.
The Last Continent includes a whole lot of religious discussion and has Australian jokes, and comic-professor jokes.
Making Money is about economic theory, but has some religious jokes too.
Guards! Guards! is about government, power, and of course, guards, what they guard, and the kind of man who stays in the job and the rewards they get. It has conspiracy jokes and hero jokes.
Depending on the teacher, any one of them could be a good one. This is late enough in the year so that you might have some idea of what works with that particular teacher. In the unlikely event that the fantasy genre assignment was pushed by someone higher up and the teacher isn't familiar with fantasy, probably Guards! Guards! is best, because it includes a police procedural mystery.
To clear some things:
All of the books listed are ones I own and have NOT read. I also own Going Postal and Soul Music, which are the only ones I have read previously, other than the Amazing Maurice book which I got from the library.
So yes, my teacher is letting us read a fantasy book OR a mystery, so I opted for fantasy! :dance: We weren't going to do fantasy or mystery at first, my teacher was going to collaborate with the science teacher and do a non-fiction science book for the science fair or something like that, but she found we weren't going to have a science fair so fantasy it is! (and my teacher hates fantasy as far as I know. she's being really nice ) Also, I was a bit wary of doing some of the other books like Eric or Reaper Man because of the Demons and Death because I go to a private Christian school and some people might be offended. I'm a Christian and I'm not offended, but you'd be surprised I guess how easily some are offended.
And because you all suggested it, I will read Guards! Guards!. Thanks for helping me!
All of the books listed are ones I own and have NOT read. I also own Going Postal and Soul Music, which are the only ones I have read previously, other than the Amazing Maurice book which I got from the library.
RolandItwasntmyfault said:
Wow, genre you have to read is fantasy? You are lucky! Our teachers never ever would have let us read/report fantasy if they were dragged through the eight hells of discworld.
) Also, I was a bit wary of doing some of the other books like Eric or Reaper Man because of the Demons and Death because I go to a private Christian school and some people might be offended. I'm a Christian and I'm not offended, but you'd be surprised I guess how easily some are offended.And because you all suggested it, I will read Guards! Guards!. Thanks for helping me!
Actually, you could try to report about eric and compare it with the classics, Dante's inferno, the Trojan War, even the tezuwhatweretherenames and their maya like calendar, even the process of creating the world, show how it has been handled in a process of parodizing... everything a matter of packaging it right... but on the other hand.. the jokes wouldn't really fit to this implicated "depth" references. They are not bad, but they still are rather from this custard pie throwing fashion... There only would be a few jokes I would read out before my teacher and then this few would be anything but not representative for this book...
As said as above, Guards! Guards! is a very good mix and it has everything you would expect of a fantasy story.
So yes, my teacher is letting us read a fantasy book OR a mystery, so I opted for fantasy! :dance: We weren't going to do fantasy or mystery at first, my teacher was going to collaborate with the science teacher and do a non-fiction science book for the science fair or something like that, but she found we weren't going to have a science fair so fantasy it is! (and my teacher hates fantasy as far as I know. she's being really nice ) Also, I was a bit wary of doing some of the other books like Eric or Reaper Man because of the Demons and Death because I go to a private Christian school and some people might be offended. I'm a Christian and I'm not offended, but you'd be surprised I guess how easily some are offended.
Oh, yeah, I know your meaning, teachers only like high literature/the classics.
I myself went to a catholic school but I don't think it would have been a problem apart from that "in the land of Goethe and Schiller" fantasy simply would be unbearable at school for reading.
In fact we could speak really free in classes, even in religion's class where we even had a open confessing atheist (err... somehow this word combination seems slightly unfitting... :shifty and interesting discussions between him and our teacher (one of ouer padres) and nevertheless always got best grades.
Of course I don't know what your teachers and/or your schoolmates make tick.
As said as above, Guards! Guards! is a very good mix and it has everything you would expect of a fantasy story.
gordonfreeman said:
RolandItwasntmyfault said:
Wow, genre you have to read is fantasy? You are lucky! Our teachers never ever would have let us read/report fantasy if they were dragged through the eight hells of discworld.
) Also, I was a bit wary of doing some of the other books like Eric or Reaper Man because of the Demons and Death because I go to a private Christian school and some people might be offended. I'm a Christian and I'm not offended, but you'd be surprised I guess how easily some are offended.
I myself went to a catholic school but I don't think it would have been a problem apart from that "in the land of Goethe and Schiller" fantasy simply would be unbearable at school for reading.
In fact we could speak really free in classes, even in religion's class where we even had a open confessing atheist (err... somehow this word combination seems slightly unfitting... :shifty
and interesting discussions between him and our teacher (one of ouer padres) and nevertheless always got best grades.Of course I don't know what your teachers and/or your schoolmates make tick.
RolandItwasntmyfault said:
I myself went to a catholic school but I don't think it would have been a problem apart from that "in the land of Goethe and Schiller" fantasy simply would be unbearable at school for reading.
In fact we could speak really free in classes, even in religion's class where we even had a open confessing atheist (err... somehow this word combination seems slightly unfitting... :shifty and interesting discussions between him and our teacher (one of ouer padres) and nevertheless always got best grades.
In fact we could speak really free in classes, even in religion's class where we even had a open confessing atheist (err... somehow this word combination seems slightly unfitting... :shifty
and interesting discussions between him and our teacher (one of ouer padres) and nevertheless always got best grades.
So I did giving the essay a one word answer "Is Jesus the son of god?" "Yes". I still got 0/10. @ Gordon: Small Gods (one of my all time favourites) is well worth a read but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for your school report since it does tackle issues of religion and how human nature corrupts the institutions.
Penfold said:
RolandItwasntmyfault said:
I myself went to a catholic school but I don't think it would have been a problem apart from that "in the land of Goethe and Schiller" fantasy simply would be unbearable at school for reading.
In fact we could speak really free in classes, even in religion's class where we even had a open confessing atheist (err... somehow this word combination seems slightly unfitting... :shifty and interesting discussions between him and our teacher (one of ouer padres) and nevertheless always got best grades.
In fact we could speak really free in classes, even in religion's class where we even had a open confessing atheist (err... somehow this word combination seems slightly unfitting... :shifty
and interesting discussions between him and our teacher (one of ouer padres) and nevertheless always got best grades.
Penfold said:
when all we got was 'The Acts of the Apostles' instead - nothing like what I had signed up for. One of our essay questions was "Is Jesus the Son of God?". I wrote a long essay giving reasons and historical context as to why he wasn't the son of god, just an enlightened man, only to have it returned with the comment in big red capital letters "0/10 HE WAS THE SON OF GOD. REWRITE!" So I did giving the essay a one word answer "Is Jesus the son of god?" "Yes". I still got 0/10.
So I did giving the essay a one word answer "Is Jesus the son of god?" "Yes". I still got 0/10.
ray:
Penfold said:
@ Gordon: Small Gods (one of my all time favourites) is well worth a read but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for your school report since it does tackle issues of religion and how human nature corrupts the institutions.
You could get away with it, but it all depends on your auditorium.
Never mind, can't read Guards! Guards!. The book has to be a certain "Lexile level" and apparently G!G! doesn't fit the bill. :violin: The book has to have a lexile of like 725 or over or something like that. I can't do basically any of the books I listed now, other than Making Money and The Last Continent.... or The Colour of Magic, which I own the e-book of.
Um, what is a "lexile level"? And how you calculate this?
Strange that G!G! would be on a lower level than two of the most silly hopping-through-the-country-of-your-choice respectively custard-pie-throwing-humouresk books of the whole series (The Last Continent/The Colour of Magic), without much depth, without much sense (although I love the plot about the god of evolution in TLC)...
Okay, The Colour of Magic you can say it was the first, the beginning, but I don't know if I ever would have appreciated DW in this manner I appreciate it today if TCoM had been my first DW novel.
Making Money on the other side is based on a very very broad, err, base, there would be so much you would have to explain before you even could begin with a summarizing of the plot... Also, I wouldn't call it one ot Terry's classics or typical novels.
Hm, you couln't look out for i.e. Wyrd Sisters (good to compare with Shakespeare and McBeth) or one of the other "classics"?
Strange that G!G! would be on a lower level than two of the most silly hopping-through-the-country-of-your-choice respectively custard-pie-throwing-humouresk books of the whole series (The Last Continent/The Colour of Magic), without much depth, without much sense (although I love the plot about the god of evolution in TLC)...
Okay, The Colour of Magic you can say it was the first, the beginning, but I don't know if I ever would have appreciated DW in this manner I appreciate it today if TCoM had been my first DW novel.
Making Money on the other side is based on a very very broad, err, base, there would be so much you would have to explain before you even could begin with a summarizing of the plot... Also, I wouldn't call it one ot Terry's classics or typical novels.
Hm, you couln't look out for i.e. Wyrd Sisters (good to compare with Shakespeare and McBeth) or one of the other "classics"?
Interesting topic... never heard of Lexile until now.
Found Guards! Guards! It has a level of 690L so it's a little bit lower than what gordonfreeman needs
http://www.lexile.com/book/details/9780061020643/
Click through on Terry's name at that site to see the levels of the other books.
It does seem an odd measure of a book reading requirement, to me. I think I'm with Neil Gaiman - you should be allowed to read whatever you want for school, in fact, the more you read (and the wider range of authors and genres) should be encouraged
Found Guards! Guards! It has a level of 690L so it's a little bit lower than what gordonfreeman needs
http://www.lexile.com/book/details/9780061020643/
Click through on Terry's name at that site to see the levels of the other books.
It does seem an odd measure of a book reading requirement, to me. I think I'm with Neil Gaiman - you should be allowed to read whatever you want for school, in fact, the more you read (and the wider range of authors and genres) should be encouraged
A really interesting topic, Gordon! I wish more young people of my age would read Discworld as well, but it’s difficult to make it known…
Well, although I recommend every single Pratchett’s book, I think Terry has already written some juvenile novels a little bit less complicated to understand such as “The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents” (one girl from the catalan literary forum I joined a long time ago started with this one and liked it very much), “Only you can save mankind” and so on…
But I think you chose the best option from your list. What a pitty you can't read“Guards! Guards!”. I can assure you it has a better level than a LOT of other books. In any case, try then with “Making money”, it has a great criticism.
But I’m with you, Molokov, I think this is certainly not a good way to make people want to read. :|
Mx
I wish more young people of my age would read Discworld as well, but it’s difficult to make it known… Well, although I recommend every single Pratchett’s book, I think Terry has already written some juvenile novels a little bit less complicated to understand such as “The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents” (one girl from the catalan literary forum I joined a long time ago started with this one and liked it very much), “Only you can save mankind” and so on…
But I think you chose the best option from your list. What a pitty you can't read“Guards! Guards!”. I can assure you it has a better level than a LOT of other books. In any case, try then with “Making money”, it has a great criticism.
But I’m with you, Molokov, I think this is certainly not a good way to make people want to read. :|
Mx
Back in the 1960s there was a book called The Art of Readable Writing, that judged books by the length of individual words and the complexity of the sentence structure, and associated that with an educational level required to understand the book. Some books came out requiring post-graduate studies in the specific topic. I imagine that Lexile is based on some such system.
According to the site, individuals get a score based on their current reading level, and books should be chosen within a range of 100 points below that level up to 50 points above it, to get an expected 75% comprehension. So there ought to be some flexibility if the teacher is using it correctly. However, we don't know what the OP's score was, just what the teacher is requiring.
I did the search for all books by Terry Pratchett and the top three books in order were The Unadulterated Cat, I Shall Wear Midnight, and The Colour of Magic, all 890 or above.
There were quite a few above 725, but also quite a few below. The Amazing Maurice came in as the easiest to read.
I would really like to know who did the "analysis" to determine how difficult the books are, and whether it was done by hand or by computer. You can write a very difficult story using short words and simple sentences.
According to the site, individuals get a score based on their current reading level, and books should be chosen within a range of 100 points below that level up to 50 points above it, to get an expected 75% comprehension. So there ought to be some flexibility if the teacher is using it correctly. However, we don't know what the OP's score was, just what the teacher is requiring.
I did the search for all books by Terry Pratchett and the top three books in order were The Unadulterated Cat, I Shall Wear Midnight, and The Colour of Magic, all 890 or above.
There were quite a few above 725, but also quite a few below. The Amazing Maurice came in as the easiest to read.
I would really like to know who did the "analysis" to determine how difficult the books are, and whether it was done by hand or by computer. You can write a very difficult story using short words and simple sentences.
Yes Swift is a good comparison to several of Terry's books there is an inbuilt second level that automated scoring systems would miss. The initial simplicity of the words hides a deeper complexity that is understood by a knowledge of the literature, history or politics being delicately (or otherwise) taken slowly apart.
You can read Gullivers Travels as a childrens book but you get far more out of it as a political satire
Have fun with your project . The first book I studied at Grammer school in English literature was The Hobbit and my teacher for that had a doctorate in Classics
You can read Gullivers Travels as a childrens book but you get far more out of it as a political satire
Have fun with your project
. The first book I studied at Grammer school in English literature was The Hobbit and my teacher for that had a doctorate in Classics 
