tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post7510596917895022559..comments2024-03-22T19:07:21.790+00:00Comments on The Wertzone: Reaper Man by Terry PratchettAdam Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-18932235645237091792009-09-05T17:48:24.182+00:002009-09-05T17:48:24.182+00:00I've been waiting for this review for a while ...I've been waiting for this review for a while now, and I must say I'm very surprised by it - Reaper Man is one of my favourites. It's true I was young when I read it, and perhaps I should reread, but to me the two stories gelled perfectly - thematically and tonally, even if not interactively.<br /><br />I don't think it's really fair to say it's just a matter of Pratchett not liking shopping centres or muzak; I think, in fact, that he's making a far broader and more serious point here than he does in almost all his other novels - the 'gimmick' isn't shopping centres, it's depersonalisation and the advent of the hyperreal. The absence of death causes unliving things to be invested with life, including mere conjurations of the imagination, but this does not produce a richer environment - rather, there's a thinning, a dehumanisation, of the lived world. Deathlessness, it says, is soullessness. Death-as-other-half-of-life and death-as-oblivion are contrasted, and thus life-as-other-half-of-death and life-as-absence-of-oblivion are contrasted at the same time: the real and the hyperreal - Death, and the sort of Death that is lit by lightening flashes and turns up at midnight on the dot. Thematically, it's probably closest to Moving Pictures and Witches Abroad, although it's deeper than either of them. <br /><br />To me, "what can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the reaper man?" is not only probably the most affective Pratchett gets but also the most serious and philosophical. In fact, the whole passage should be mentioned:<br /><br />"LORD, WE KNOW THERE IS NO GOOD ORDER EXCEPT THAT WHICH WE CREATE...<br />THERE IS NO HOPE BUT US. THERE IS NO MERCY BUT US. THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE IS JUST US.<br />ALL THINGS THAT ARE, ARE OURS. BUT WE MUST CARE. FOR IF WE DO NOT CARE, WE DO NOT EXIST. IF WE DO NOT EXIST, THEN THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND OBLIVION.<br />AND EVEN OBLIVION MUST END ONE DAY. LORD, WILL YOU GRANT ME JUST A LITTLE TIME? FOR THE PROPER BALANCE OF THINGS. TO RETURN WHAT WAS GIVEN. FOR THE SAKE OF PRISONERS AND THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS.<br />LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?"<br /><br />-----<br /><br />Lords and Ladies, on the other hand, I found totally unfunny, mostly derivative, and generally fluffy. But I'll admit I've only read it once. Perhaps I should go back over the Discworld stories soon.<br /><br />----<br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the review (and the others). Even when I don't agree with you, I appreciate the new perspective you bring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-11056401388081644152009-08-27T15:06:24.025+00:002009-08-27T15:06:24.025+00:00I can't say I've read much Terry Pratchett...I can't say I've read much Terry Pratchett material, but I did read REAPER MAN. Sorry to say that I found it awful. Except for one scene that did truly make me laugh out loud (in the middle of work, no less!), I found the humor in it very weak. It's somewhat reassuring to hear an opinion that this isn't his best effort. I might give him another try because of that.Bill, the Wildcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16137557955170758994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-3751055800579638632009-08-27T14:53:27.516+00:002009-08-27T14:53:27.516+00:00Obviously it was a generalisation, but I think it ...Obviously it was a generalisation, but I think it is legit to say that SMALL GODS is one of the more serious DISCWORLD books despite having some brilliantly funny sequences (most notably the eagle-borne projectile ending) and LORDS AND LADIES is one of the more uproariously laugh-out-loud (the new 'third state' in the Schroedinger's Cat hypothesis is particularly excellent) despite having some of Pratchett's best characterisation and some more thoughtful ideas about life and old age (the Ridcully/Granny stuff was quite interesting).Adam Whiteheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383677312079611311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703856341303488608.post-27283761488429415732009-08-27T09:52:48.553+00:002009-08-27T09:52:48.553+00:00I think this is being unnecessarily harsh, because...I think this is being unnecessarily harsh, because although it's a while since I read it I found the two storylines complemented rather than distracted from each other. I also think that pigeon-holing <i>Small Gods</i> and <i>Lords and Ladies</i> as by comparison 'serious' and 'funny' is doing both books a grave disservice - the latter in particular has some deeply affecting themes of maturation and having to sacrifice one's dreams and live in the real world, not to mention some of the scariest sequences to appear in the Discworld series as a whole.Jamiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15210812771765182815noreply@blogger.com