Στον κόσμο αυτόν λοιπόν ο Hogfather είναι κάτι αντίστοιχο με τον δικό μας Άγιο Βασίλη (ελληνιστί Santa Claus), μόνο που αυτός είναι διασταύρωση του γνωστού μας κοκκινοφορεμένου τύπου από τη διαφήμιση της Coca-Cola με αγριογούρουνο. Η ιστορία διαδραματίζεται τη νύχτα της παραμονής του Hogswatch (η Πρωτοχρονιά-τα Χριστούγεννα του Δισκόκοσμου). Κάποιες σκοτεινές δυνάμεις του πολυσύμπαντος που λατρεύουν την τάξη και την τετράγωνη λογική θέλουν να ξεκάνουν τον Hogfather γιατί τους ενοχλεί η πίστη των ανθρώπων σε κάτι τόσο παράλογο. Έχουν, θα λέγαμε απλά, αλλεργία στη φαντασία. Προσλαμβάνουν λοιπόν έναν αδίστακτο επαγγελματία από τη Συντεχνία των Δολοφόνων ο οποίος υπόσχεται να εξαφανίσει στην ανυπαρξία τον Hogfather πριν τελειώσει η νύχτα.

Αντίπαλους στα σχέδιά τους θα βρουν τον Χάρο (βασικός χαρακτήρας σε αρκετά από τα μυθιστορήματα του Δισκόκοσμου και μάλλον ο πιο αγαπητός στους αναγνώστες) και την εγγονή του (μεγάλη ιστορία...). Ο ίδιος ο Χάρος αναλαμβάνει τον αγιοβασιλιάτικο ρόλο (μπαίνει από τις καμινάδες και αφήνει δώρα σε κάλτσες, ταξιδεύει με έλκηθρο, φοράει κατάλληλα για την περίσταση ρούχα, ένα μαξιλάρι για κοιλιά και ψεύτικη γενειάδα) και ταυτόχρονα πείθει την εγγονή του, τη Susan, που έχει κάποιες από τις δυνάμεις του παππού της, να σώσει τον Hogfather. Το βασικό επιχείρημα του Χάρου είναι ότι αν δεν σωθεί, ο ήλιος δεν θα ανατείλει ποτέ ξανά.

Φυσικά, μετά από πολλές ευτράπελες περιπέτειες, η Susan θα σώσει τον Hogfather, αλλά, λίγο πριν την γυρίσει ο παππούς της στο σπίτι της, του λέει:

"[...] Τώρα... πες μου..."

ΤΙ ΘΑ ΕΙΧΕ ΣΥΜΒΕΙ ΑΝ ΔΕΝ ΤΟΝ ΕΣΩΖΕΣ;

"Ναι! Ο ήλιος θα είχε ανατείλει κανονικά, έτσι δεν είναι;"

ΟΧΙ.

"Α, έλα τώρα. Δε γίνεται να περιμένεις να το πιστέψω αυτό. Πρόκειται για αστρονομικό φαινόμενο."

Ο ΗΛΙΟΣ ΔΕΝ ΘΑ ΕΙΧΕ ΑΝΑΤΕΙΛΕΙ.

Γύρισε και τον κοίταξε.

"Ήταν μεγάλη η νύχτα, Παππού! Είμαι κουρασμένη και χρειάζομαι ένα μπάνιο! Δεν χρειάζομαι χαζομάρες!"

Ο ΗΛΙΟΣ ΔΕΝ ΘΑ ΕΙΧΕ ΑΝΑΤΕΙΛΕΙ.

"Αλήθεια; Τότε, τι θα είχε γίνει, παρακαλώ;"

ΜΙΑ ΑΠΛΗ ΣΦΑΙΡΑ ΦΛΕΓΟΜΕΝΩΝ ΑΕΡΙΩΝ ΘΑ ΦΩΤΙΖΕ ΤΟΝ ΚΟΣΜΟ.

[...]

"Εντάξει," είπε η Susan. "Δεν είμαι χαζή. Λες ότι οι άνθρωποι χρειάζονται τις... φαντασίες για να κάνουν τη ζωή υποφερτή."

ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ; ΣΑΝ ΝΑ ΗΤΑΝ ΚΑΤΙ ΣΑΝ ΡΟΖ ΧΑΠΙ; ΟΧΙ. ΟΙ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΙ ΧΡΕΙΑΖΟΝΤΑΙ ΤΗ ΦΑΝΤΑΣΙΑ ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΙ. ΓΙΑ ΝΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ Ο ΤΟΠΟΣ ΟΠΟΥ Ο ΠΕΠΤΩΚΩΣ ΑΓΓΕΛΟΣ ΣΥΝΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΟΡΘΟΥΜΕΝΟ ΠΙΘΗΚΟ.

"Νεράιδες; Αγιοβασίληδες; Καλικάντ-"

ΝΑΙ. ΓΙΑ ΕΞΑΣΚΗΣΗ. ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΑΠΟ ΚΑΠΟΥ ΝΑ ΞΕΚΙΝΗΣΕΤΕ ΩΣΤΕ ΝΑ ΜΑΘΕΤΕ ΝΑ ΠΙΣΤΕΥΕΤΕ ΤΑ ΜΙΚΡΑ ΨΕΜΑΤΑ.

"Ώστε να μπορούμε να πιστέψουμε και τα μεγάλα;"

ΝΑΙ. ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ. ΕΛΕΟΣ. ΚΑΘΗΚΟΝ. ΤΕΤΟΙΑ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ.

"Δεν είναι καθόλου το ίδιο!"

ΕΤΣΙ ΝΟΜΙΖΕΙΣ; ΤΟΤΕ ΠΑΡΕ ΤΟ ΣΥΜΠΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΕΣΕ ΤΟ ΜΕΧΡΙ ΝΑ ΓΙΝΕΙ Η ΠΙΟ ΨΙΛΗ ΣΚΟΝΗ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΣΚΙΝΙΣΕ ΤΟ ΜΕ ΤΟ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΟ ΚΟΣΚΙΝΟ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΕΙΤΑ ΔΕΙΞΕ ΜΟΥ ΕΝΑ ΑΤΟΜΟ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗΣ, ΕΝΑ ΜΟΡΙΟ ΕΛΕΟΥΣ. ΚΙ ΟΜΩΣ, ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΕΙΤΕ ΣΑΝ ΝΑ ΥΠΑΡΧΕΙ ΚΑΠΟΙΑ ΙΔΕΑΤΗ ΤΑΞΗ ΣΤΟΝ ΚΟΣΜΟ, ΣΑΝ ΝΑ ΥΠΑΡΧΕΙ ΚΑΠΟΙΟ ΕΙΔΟΣ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΣΤΟ ΣΥΜΠΑΝ ΜΕ ΒΑΣΗ ΤΟ ΟΠΟΙΟ ΜΠΟΡΕΙΤΕ ΝΑ ΤΟ ΚΡΙΝΕΤΕ.

"Ναι, αλλά οι άνθρωποι έχουν ανάγκη να το πιστεύουν αυτό, αλλιώς ποιο το νόημα..." [what's the point...]

ΑΥΤΟ ΕΝΝΟΩ ΑΚΡΙΒΩΣ. [ΜY POINT EXACTLY.] [...]

"Μιλάς για μας σαν να είμαστε τρελοί."[...]

ΟΧΙ. ΕΧΕΤΕ ΑΝΑΓΚΗ ΝΑ ΠΙΣΤΕΥΕΤΕ ΣΕ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ ΠΟΥ ΔΕΝ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΛΗΘΙΝΑ. ΠΩΣ ΑΛΛΙΩΣ ΘΑ ΜΠΟΡΟΥΣΑΝ ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΝΑ ΒΓΟΥΝ ΑΛΗΘΙΝΑ;

Τα σχόλια δικά σας...

]]> http://manuscriptdrawer.wordpress.com/?p=91 Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:02:16 +0000 Ted http://manuscriptdrawer.pl.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/wisdom/

'Master, what is the difference between a humanistic, monastic system of belief in which wisdom is sought by means of an apparently nonsensical system of questions and answers, and a lot of mystic gibberish made up on the spur of the moment?'
Wen considered this for some time, and at last said: 'A fish!'
And Clodpool went away, satisfied.

Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

One of my favorite zombies of all time--up there with "Bub" from Day of the Dead and "the Tarman Zombie" from Return of the Living Dead-- is Reg Shoe from Terry Pratchett's awesome Discworld fantasy/satire novels.

Reg Shoe is a more than a zombie, he is a policeman in his local municipal Night Watch, and an advocate for undead rights.  As the novels go (there are something like 30 Discworld novels, and I've only read about 15 of them), Reg feels that the Night Watch is treating undead citizens unfairly, so he starts the "Fresh Start Club" to advocate for equal rights for the less-than-fully-alive.  (The Fresh Start Club includes zombies, ghouls, werewolves, banshees, vampires, and a bogeyman.)  However, after the Club is started, the number of complaints against the Night Watch by the undead double, and they are all personally directed against Reg Shoe.

Reg is never the main character of a Discworld novel, but Pratchett uses him perfectly and hillariously in supporting roles. 

If you've never checked out Pratchett (which you might not have, if you're American [In Great Britain, he's the #2 bestselling writer behind J.K. Rowling.  In the U.S. his books do well, but not that well.]) and you're a zombie fan, then one of the novels featuring Reg Shoe might be a good place to start.  My favorites include Night Watch and Men at Arms.  They're delightful.  (There's also a zombie lawyer named Mr. Slant who pops up from time to time in Pratchett's stories.  Like Reg Shoe, he is quite amusing.)

Le moment, là, c'est de vous faire partager un extrait, très court, de trois livres. C'est vrai, le tag n'en concerne qu'un normalement, mais j'ai été, à ma plus grande joie, taguée trois fois sur le sujet. Donc, trois ouvrages. Le plus dur sera de retrouver deux des trois livres. Oui, ils sont tous en carton depuis 5 ans et pour une obscure raison que je n'arrive toujours pas à éclaircir, ils y sont encore aujourd'hui. Mais ce sera peut-être l'occasion de balayer cette erreur, qui sait ? Le troisième en revanche, c'est celui que je lis en ce moment, qui me suit dans le train, qui trône sur ma table de chevet, qui m'accompagne sur la terrasse quand il y a du soleil... et qui me fait penser à mon chéri quand je le l'ouvre.

Bon, après ce flots de bavardages, passons aux choses sérieuses.

Le tag en lui-même : prendre un livre, l'ouvrir à la page 123, aller à la ligne 5 et recopier les 5 lignes qui suivent. Et citer auteur, éditeur et année d'édition de l'ouvrage. Ne pas oublier (ce que je viens de faire), de citer le lanceur de tag et de taguer d'autres personnes, forcément. Le chiffre ici étant imprécis suivant les versions envoyées à droite et à gauche, je vais profiter pour prendre en otage quelques blogs qui parlent bien et qui me parlent bien...

Toujours mon plaisir des yeux et de l'esprit

Ma caisse de résonnance favorite

Une francophile bavante vraiment pas comme les autres

Un Gino bien barré et tellement bon

Voilà !

Alors, mon premier choix, pour répondre à ma copine Log, le livre que je lis actuellement :

- Bon écoute, fit Rampa en abandonnant le caoutchouc brûlant de ses pneus sur la bretelle de Tadfield. Jouons cartes sur table. Je te dis les miens si tu me dis le tiens.
- D'accord. Tu commences.
- Ah, non ! Toi d'abord.
- Mais tu es un démon.
- Oui, mais un démon de parole, j'ose l'espérer.

"De Bons Présages", by Terry Pratchett et Neil Gaiman, Editions J'ai Lu 2007. Titre original : "Good Omens".

Il me reste 50 pages à lire. Mais j'ai pas envie. Que l'histoire se termine.

Pour les deux autres références, rendez-vous à l'article Tag 123.5.5 - 2 et Tag 123.5.5 - 3...

Instead I find myself wondering what a preaching vicar might think about down time in Christian life. Is there space for it and how would it look?

I read so much, and now that I'm studying I read more textbooks too. Moving Pictures. A Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett is a book I started at least a year ago and put down. My father, who loves Pratchett, had given me his copy to read. So when my last book ran out I thought I should start reading it again.

Now don't get me wrong - that already bodes - Pratchett is very witty and makes some amazing leaps of the imagination. His prose is concise, easy to read, and sometimes just rolls of the page like poetry. Nothing relies on understanding a particular joke or knowing - in the case of this book - a specific film. I finished the book in 2 evening sessions of a couple of hours with a smattering of travel reading during the days. The book and I, we just didn't click.

I don't know whether the fact that the book wasn't intellectually engaging enough for me, or if it didn't push me enough to expand my mind. I found it a good read, but a pulp book. I'm guessing it could be the specific book, I find it hard to imagine all Pratchett's fans are misguided, I just don't get it. I know from experience sometimes an author or a book - no matter how brilliant the author or book are - and I just don't have chemistry.

On to the next in the Discworld series.

Technorati Tags: books, discworld, terrypratchett, pratchett, review

Another in the series of Pratchett's books based around Sam Vimes and the City Watch characters.  This, I think, is one for the fans and certainly a book that fits in a series rather than on its own as there are a growing number of characters to keep up with and so are covered only in short sections that are extremely funny if you know the character already (thinking about Corporal Nobby Nobbs and Sergeant Fred Colon but also the relationship between Carrot and Angua).

That said, this is a great story, very funny and introduces lots of new features of these stories.  I really like the way female dwarfs are starting to express their femeninity, or the introduction of signal towers, the Igors and the way warewolfs in human form don't like words like 'bath' and 'vet'.  Really enjoyed this book and it was a good choice to read something funny for a change.

All The Little Angels

All the little angels rise up, rise up,
All the little angels rise up high.

How do they rise up, rise up, rise up?
How do they rise up, rise up high?

They rise heads up, heads up, heads up,
They rise heads up, heads up high.

All the little angels rise up, rise up,
All the little angels rise up high.

How do they rise up, rise up, rise up?
How do they rise up, rise up high?

They rise knees up, knees up, knees up,
They rise knees up, knees up high.

All the little angels rise up, rise up,
All the little angels rise up high.

How do they rise up, rise up, rise up?
How do they rise up, rise up high?

They rise arses up, arses up, arses up,
They rise arses up, arses up high.

See how they rise up, rise up, rise up,
See how they rise up, rise up high.

Sourcery is the fifth book in the wildly popular Discworld series, and for anyone who wants to know why there isn't a lot of magic in the books, read this one.

The plot centers around the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son (guess what number is important in Discworld magic?), a boy named Coin, who gets his hands on a wizard's staff. The staff gets its somewhat more metaphorical hands around Coin, and starts trying to bring about a world where magic rules above all else.

But before that, we have to get certain introductions out of the way, including the introduction of the world itself, and the Great Turtle upon which it rides.

There was no anology for the way in which Great A'Tuin, the world turtle, moved against the galactic night. When you are ten thousand miles long, your shell pocked with meteor craters and frosted with comet ice, there is aboslutely nothing you can realistically be like except yourself.
So Great A'Tuin swam slowly through the interstellar depths like the largest turtle there has ever been, carrying on its carapace the four huge elephants that bore on their backs the vast, glittering waterfall-fringed circle of the Discworld, which exists either because of some impossible blip on the curve of probability or possibly because the gods enjoy a joke as much as anyone.

Now the eye's camera pans down onto the Disc itself and there, sulking beside the Circle Sea, we see Ankh-Morpork, glittering gem of cities!

Spring had come to Ank-Morpork. It wasn't immediately apparent, but there were signs that were obvious to the cognoscenti. For example, the scum on the River Ankh, that great wide slow waterway that served the double city as reservoir, sewer and frequent morgue, had turned a particularly iridescent green. The city's drunken rooftops sprouted mattresses and bolsters as the winter bedding was put out to air in the weak sunshine, and in the depths of musty cellars the beams twisted and groaned when their dry sap responded to the ancient call of root and forest. Birds nestled among the gutters and eaves of Unseen University, although it was noticable that however great the pressure was on the nesting sites, they nevber, ever made nests in the invitingly open mouths of the gargoyles that lined the rooftops, much to the gargoyles disapointment.

Of course Ankh-Morpork is home to the great Unseen University (motto: Nunc id vides, nunc ne vides). The University is where the biggest library in the world is located, and overseen by the Librarian (currently a large orangutang, due to a weird magical accident). The Library has a few books that are beyond what's typical.

Books of magic have a life of their own. Some have altogether too much; for example, the first edition of the Necrotelecomnicon has to kept between iron plates, the True Arte of Levitatione has spent the last one hundred and fifty years up in the rafters and Ge Fordge's Compenydyum of Sex Majick is kept in a vat of ice in a room by itself, and there's a strict rule that it can only be read by wizards who are over eighty and, if possible, dead.

In most old libraries the books are chained to the shelves to prevent their being damaged by people. In the Library of the Unseen University, of course, it's more or less the other way about.

And now we come the "hero" of the story, one Rincewind, a wizard, of a sort, about whom a teacher once said...

... to call his understanding of magic abysmal is to leave no suitable word to describe his grasp of its practics.

Lasty we get to meet, properly for the first time, Lord Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician and ruler of Ankh-Morpork.

The current Patrician, head of hte extremely rich and powerful Vetinari family, was thin, tall and apparently as cold-blooded as a dead penguin. Just by looking at him you could tell he was the sort of man you'd expect to keep a white cat, and caress it idly while sentencing people to death in a pirahna tank; and you'd hzard for good measure that he probably collected race thin procelain, turning it over and over in his blue-white fingers while disant screams echoed from the depths of the dungeons. You wouldn't put it past him to use the word "exquisite" and have thin lips. He was the kind of person who, when they blink, you mark it off on the calendar.
Pratically none of this was in fact the case, although he did have a small and exceedingly elderly wire-haired terrier called Wuffles that smelled badly and wheezed at people. It was said to be the only thing in the entire world he truly cared about. He did of course sometimes have people horribly tortured to death, but this was considered to be perfectly acceptable behavior for a civic ruler and generally approved of by the overwhelming majority of citizens. The people of Ankh are of a practical persausion, and felt the Patrician's edict forbidding all street theatre and mime artists made up for a lot of things. He didn't administer a reign of terror, just the occasional light shower.

Coin, the young boy-wizard/sourcerer (someone who has direct access to the source of magic), turns up at the University. He quickly takes over by using the staff, and soon the wizards are all squaring off against one another, building huge towers and firing off blasts of magic that scar the land. This happens because the wizards tend to be very... well, I'll let the book explain it.

The higher levels of wizardry are a perilous place. Every wizard is trying to dislodge the wizards above him while stamping on the fingers of those below; to say wizards are healthily competitive by nature is like saying piranhas are naturally a little peckish.

One of his other books makes the observation that, once upon a time, the plural of "wizard" was "war", which this book showcases nicely.

Well, eventually Rincewind, with the help of a woman named Conina and a would-be barbarian hero named Nijel, wind up saving the day, more or less. They get to visit the Discworld version of Arabia (Klatch), and are present for the Aprocralypse (like an apocalypse, but, as it turned out, not).

This is a decent book, though nothing great by Discworld standards. There isn't as much good commentary and satire as one would get later. It's still a good and fun read, but not anything especially great.

On the other hand, the next book in the series, Wyrd Sisters, is one of the best of the entire Discworld series!

Στο The Truth, το 25ο μυθιστόρημα του Δισκόκοσμου, δύο από τους χαρακτήρες που δημιουργεί ο Terry Pratchett είναι ο Mr Tulip και ο Mr Pin. Αδίστακτοι κακοποιοί που αποτελούν παρωδία αρκετών ανάλογων εγκληματικών ζευγαριών (μάλιστα κάποιες στιγμές παρωδούν ευθέως τους χαρακτήρες του Samuel Jackson και του John Travolta στο Pulp Fiction), ο πρώτος είναι ένας θηριώδης και φαινομενικά άξεστος τύπος με δολοφονικά ένστικτα που κάθε πρότασή του την διανθίζει με την περίεργη βρισιά -ing, π.χ. -We -ing hate noises! (δεν είναι τίποτα άλλο παρά η λογοκριμένη μορφή του "fucking", αλλά στους διαλόγους του βιβλίου όλοι τον ακούν να λέει -ινγκ). Παρότι δεν διστάζει να σκοτώσει όποιον και ό,τι βρεθεί μπροστά του έχει εξαιρετικές ικανότητες στον τομέα της καλλιτεχνικής κριτικής, αφού ξέρει απ' έξω κι ανακατωτά την Ιστορία της Τέχνης του Δισκόκοσμου, μπορεί να αναγνωρίσει με μια ματιά τις δημιουργίες οποιουδήποτε καλλιτέχνη και καταλαβαίνει αμέσως τα πλαστά έργα.

Αυτός λοιπόν ο πωρωμένος εγκληματίας κάποια στιγμή πεθαίνει και έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με τον Χάρο (ο Χάρος στα βιβλία του Pratchett είναι η κλασική φιγούρα του σκελετού με το μαύρο μανδύα και το δρεπάνι και τα λόγια του αποδίδονται στο κείμενο μόνο με κεφαλαία γράμματα). Εκείνος δείχνει στον Mr Tulip τις κλεψύδρες με τις ζωές όσων έχει σκοτώσει ο κακοποιός και αρχίζει να απαριθμεί τα ονόματα των θυμάτων του και τον τρόπο με τον οποίο τους είχε σκοτώσει. Τότε ο Mr Tulip τον ρωτά:

"Αυτό είναι που λένε ότι θα περάσει όλη μου η ζωή μπροστά από τα μάτια μου;"

"ΟΧΙ, ΑΥΤΟ ΗΤΑΝ ΛΙΓΟ ΠΡΙΝ."

"Πότε πριν;"

"ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΩΡΑ ΠΟΥ ΓΕΝΝΗΘΗΚΕΣ ΜΕΧΡΙ ΤΗΝ ΩΡΑ ΠΟΥ ΠΕΘΑΝΕΣ. ΟΧΙ, ΑΥΤΟ... MR TULIP ΕΙΝΑΙ ΟΛΗ ΣΟΥ Η ΖΩΗ ΟΠΩΣ ΠΕΡΑΣΕ ΜΠΡΟΣΤΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΑ ΜΑΤΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΑΛΛΩΝ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΩΝ..."

Terry Pratchett takes a step back from the Discworld for his first major non-Discworld book in quite some time.

Nation takes place in an alternate universe that is similar in many ways to ours (though sadly I don't think we have any tree-dwelling octopi).

The book takes place sometime in the 19th century. It centers around two thirteen-year-olds, Mau and Daphne. He's a young islander and she's a Society girl from England. They meet after a giant wave devastates his island and causes her ship to crash there. The two form a bond and start building their own little nation together as other people begin to arrive.

This is very different from the usual Pratchett works. Normally he writes laugh-out-loud, thought-provoking comedy, and while there is quite a bit of that in this book, it's certainly less pronounced than in the Discworld novels.

What's very fascinating for someone like me is watching Mau's deconversion from his people's faith to someone more rational and scientificly based. He still admires his people's customs and society, but by the end of the story, doesn't seem to have their beliefs in the supernatural.

I found this a very satisfying read, and I'm looking forward to buying a copy once it comes out, which since I already own an advance reading copy, is saying something.

Very highly recommended, pre-order today!

This weekend, I finished reading Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. In this book, the tenth of the Discword series, Pratchett takes on Hollywood and the movie industry. It's a wonderful, fun read (as if Pratchett writes anything that isn't fabulous). But I want more Sam Vimes ...

Still, this was great and I recommend it.

Como padrino de ésta columna (ahora entrada de blog) acerca de literatura fantástica escogí al señor Terry Pratchett, tan sólo el segundo lugar en ventas en el Reino Unido después de J.K Rowling y su famoso Harry Potter. Es un autor que ha logrado hacer como ningún otro, la mejor parodia del género. La fantasía es la madre de la ciencia ficción pues existe desde que tenemos mitología. Pratchett es un autor contemporáneo de literatura fantástica que desarrolla una mitología completa como lo hace Tolkien en su momento, a diferencia que la resultante es irónicamente increíble, pero inteligentemente elaborada y por lo tanto creíble desde su sarcásmo, pues la realidad es muchas veces así, y no por ello deja de ser real.

Mundodisco es el lugar donde transcurre la mayor parte de sus novelas. Sus personajes como el echicero, sí, “sin h”, Rincewind, o como su Equipaje, un cofre con pequeños pies que lo sigue a todas partes, respiran y caminan sobre un mundo muy parecido al nuestro pero “ligeramente” distinto. Desde la base misma de sus creaciones vemos ya una perfecta parodia. Mudodisco es un planeta, si es que podemos llamarle así, cuya superficie es, literalmente, plana, y si, en efecto… el agua de sus mares termina cayendo por los bordes!. Gran Atuín es la inmensa tortuga de edad incalculable que surca el universo, y sobre cuyo caparazón van los 4 elefantes que a su vez llevan a cuestas al disco plano sobre el que descansan los continentes y los océanos. Pero no crean que Mundodisco es tan absurdo como parece, si nos adentramos un poco más nos daremos cuenta que ahí las leyes físicas no sólo obedecen con mayor ahínco a la magia, Pratchett, el autor de esta fantástica fantasía, redundancia al cuadrado, se ha preocupado de conferirle de una cierta lógica científica a todo su planteamiento, aunque no la necesita, escribiendo para ello todo un libro, eso sí, con la ayuda de verdadera gente de ciencia estrictamente hablando: el espacio L. Por ahora sólo puedo dejarte animado recomendándote cualquiera de sus novelas "realmente divertidas". Las primeras que no puedes perderte son, La luz fantástica y El color de la magia, pero cualquiera que tomes en tus manos es de verdad una garantía, cada una cuenta su historia y no se presta a confusión a pesar de que transcurren en el mismo mundo y en algunas aparecen los mismos personajes. Ya estaremos comentando posteriormente más a detalle otros títulos, como Dioses Menores, Mort, o El país del fin del mundo; entenderemos por qué es todo un gozo el darse una vuelta por ésta increíble tierra, o debería decir, disco.

Terry Pratchett trabajó en una central nuclear y colecciona plantas carnívoras, ha obtenido doctorados honoris causa en varias universidades y sobre todo, ha sabido mantener muy afilado su sentido del humor. Es definitivamente un autor fantástico en toda la extensión de la palabra. Si queremos hacer una investigación por los territorios de la imaginación debemos detenernos definitivamente el tiempo suficiente por sus páginas. Tan grande como otros, realmente vale la pena dejarse conducir por su agudeza. Eso sí, les debo advertir que podrán sufrir más de un ataque de risa si lo llegan a leer.

]]> http://torreditanabrus.wordpress.com/?p=21 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:48:37 +0000 coubert http://torreditanabrus.pl.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/il-colore-della-magia-recensione/

Trama

La trama è semplice e lineare.
Duefiori è un turista, il primo turista del Mondo Disco. Dal grande, ricco e potente Impero Agateo è arrivato fino alle terre dei Signori del Mare Circolare per vedere con i suoi occhi i luoghi di cui aveva sentito parlare in tanti racconti, e per vedere i loro famosi eroi.
E' ricchissimo -per gli standard locali- ed ingenuo, ed il mago Scuotivento finisce con l'essere costretto dal Signore della città a fargli da guardia del corpo per evitare che gli accada un incidente che possa scatenare le ire dell'Impero.

Una trama molto semplice, ma che si limita a fare da sfondo ad un libro che punta tutto invece su altre cose: l'ambientazione, i personaggi, le situazioni.

Ambientazione

Mondo Disco è un mondo discoidale, che poggia su quattro giganteschi elefanti che, a loro volta, risiedono sul guscio di un'enorme tartaruga intenta a nuotare nel cosmo.
E la cosa è scientificamente provata, in quanto in più occasioni dei valorosi sono stati calati dentro a navicelle oltre i bordi del mondo, ed hanno potuto vedere con i loro occhi gli elefanti e la tartaruga.

Il bordo è costituito da una cascata eterna, mentre il centro del disco è coperto dai ghiacci e proprio al centro, in cima a una colonna di sedici chilometri, si trova la città degli Dèi. Dèi annoiati e demoralizzati per il loro essere divinità di un mondo fantasioso e poco logico, trasportato sul guscio di una tartaruga gigante.

Ci sono barbari fortissimi ma completamente idioti; maghi che studiano all'università invisibile della magia; divinità che camminano sulla terra.
E c'è il divieto di parlare del numero otto, il numero associato a una divinità terribile e alla magia.

Personaggi

Duefiori è il tipico turista che va a visitare un paese arretrato.
Anche se è un semplice funzionario, in quel contesto così diverso dal suo appare come ricchissimo e la sua ingenuità lo pone continuamente in situazioni pericolosissime, delle quali pare non curarsi troppo.
Ha addirittura una macchina fotografica, nella quale la luce viene data da alcune salamandre e le fotografie sono fatte da un piccolo demone intrappolato nella macchina, che è a tutti gli effetti la sua casa.
Inoltre, Duefiori è seguito costantemente da un baule magico. Un baule dotato di intelletto e di gambe, che può contenerer ogni cosa al suo interno ma, se necessario, può sfoderare una dentatura terrificante. Pare immortale ed invincibile, niente può arrestarlo quando cerca di raggiungere il proprio padrone.

Suotivento è un mago fallito. E' stato espulso dall'Università per aver aperto un libro proibito. Tale azione ha fatto sì che un incantesimo proibito gli saltasse nella testa, inibendogli la possibilità di fare qualsiasi altro incantesimo. E' un incantesimo ignoto, la cui natura sarà rivelata solo quando Scuotivento accetterà di lanciarlo. Momento che per ora non si verifica, visto il terrore che il mago ha dei possibili effetti dell'incantesimo.
E' quindi un mago privo di magie, pauroso e codardo. Che suo malgrado si trova invischiato in situazioni impossibili, e solo grazie alla furbizia, a tanta fortuna e alla capacità di cogliere al volo le occasioni riesce a cavarsela.

Hrun è un eroe, un barbaro la cui esistenza consiste nell'andare in cerca di tesori o di fanciulle da salvare. La sua mente limitata riesce a comprendere poco altro, per la disperazione della sua spada intelligente.
Una spada logorroica e vanesia, il cui sogno sarebbe di essere un aratro. Anche se non sa cosa sia un aratro.

La morte però è il personaggio che ho preferito in assoluto.
Le situazioni in cui si trova Scuotivento fanno sì che tutte le date in cui lui sarebbe dovuto morire vengano ignorate, per la sua costernazione. Alla fine arriverà ad accettare con triste rassegnazione il fatto che il mago continui a sfuggirgli, forte della consapevolezza che per quanto uno fugga non potrà evitarla in eterno.

Le situazioni

Il primo incontro tra la Morte e Scuotivento è in pratica una rivisitazione dell'incontro tra la Morte e il Soldato in Samarcanda (la canzone). Solo che qui Scuotivento rifiuta ogni proposta della Morte su come arrivare in tempo al luogo dell'appuntamento, lasciandola infelice e insoddisfatta.

E poi ci sono gli Dèi, che per vincere la noia giocano a dadi puntando anime e usando delle pedine che sono, in realtà, persone in carne e ossa nel mondo disco.
Ovviamente Scuotivento è una di queste pedine, e più volte sente un rumore strano, come un rotolare di dadi. Ad esempio prima che un enorme troll gli compaia dal nulla di fronte.

Ci sono le driadi, che lo vogliono uccidere per aver danneggiato l'albero. Ma che si dimostrano terrorizzate dall'incantesimo misterioso racchiuso nella sua mente.

C'è il Dio terrificante ed innominabile, che viene sconfitto da un flash proprio quando sta per catturare tutti i personaggi a portata di tentacolo.

Ci sono i dragoni immaginari, e il Signore dei draghi che, anche morto, rimane al suo posto in attesa che uno dei suoi eredi si dimostri meritevole.

C'è Occhidoro Manodargento, il più abile costruttore del mondo, che viene sempre ricompensato per i suoi servigi con mutilazioni o tradimenti. E che malgrado ciò insiste nell'accettare incarichi.

C'è il troll acquatico giunto da un altro mondo, e che ora fa il guardiano del Bordo del mondo.
Ma anche qui, tra le situazioni che preferisco in assoluto ci sono quelle in cui compare la Morte, che deve prendere l'anima di Scuotivento senza però poterlo uccidere lui stesso. E che, quando si trova occupato con una grossa epidemia, manda un sostituto a occuparsi di quel seccatore di Scuotivento.

Giudizio

Leggero e divertente, ma non mi ha colpito molto.
Bei personaggi Scuotivento e Duefiori, spassosissimo Morte.
Ma non mi ha preso, malgrado sia certo scritto bene e l'umorismo non gli manchi.

Magari proverò a passare al ciclo di Morte.

Voto 3/5

Ostatnio mając dość ogłupiającej telewizji, która zacząłem oglądać po zakupie na początku czerwca (tak: mistrzostwa europy w piłce nożnej), oraz PS3 (choć F1 championship rządzi), zacząłem czytać książki.

Na wakacjach przeczytałem Moto-Świat Jeremy'ego Clarksona. Wrażenia ogólnie ok. Czasem cięty humor i ironiczne (całkiem podobne do mojego) podejście do świata sprawia, że utożsamiam się z autorem. W tym celu postanowiłem zanabyć wszystkie książki Jeremy'ego, jakie zostały wydane w Polsce. A co, zaczynam tworzyć sobie biblioteczkę :)

W ostatni weekend połknąłem Mort'a by Terry Pratchett.

Obecnie po zakupach na tapecie są trzy pozycje:

1. Wiem, że masz duszę - Jeremy Clarkson (dla fanów motoryzacji)
2. Kosiarz (ang. Reaper man) - Terry Pratchett (dla fanów... hmmm trudno to określić... w zasadzie fantasy, sci-fi, ale nie do końca)
3. Przywództwo dla bystrzaków (lub dla opornych - jak kto woli) - Marshall Loeb, Stephen Kindel (dla fanów ... bystrzaków ;) oraz ogólnie dla managerów)

Czytane równolegle zależnie od sytuacji i wolnej chwili. W zasadzie cały czas mam przy sobie 2 do 3 z tych książek.

To tyle. Idę czytać, tzn. pracować :) Czytanie wieczorem.

Autore: Terry Pratchett
Editore: TEA
Pagine: 174
Prezzo: € 7.50

Trama

In un mondo sorretto da quattro elefanti magici che poggiano sul guscio di una tartaruga gigante, ha inizio la più stramba, scatenata ed esplosiva delle avventure: il viaggio dell'ingenuo Duefiori attraverso le meraviglie e le bizzarrie del Mondo Disco.

Autore

Terry Pratchett (1948) è fra gli scrittori più amati dal pubblico anglosassone di tutte  le età, e ogni suo nuovo romanzo conquista immediatamente la vetta delle classifiche di vendita.

Nelle edizioni TEA sono già apparsi i primi romanzi della Saga del Mondo Disco, tra i quali ricordiamo:
La luce fantastica, Morty l'apprendista, Stregoneria, Maledette piramidi, A me le guardie! e Uomini d'arme.

So far as I can tell, this is Pratchett's first novel about the witches-Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax, and Magrat Garlick. It was...pretty good. Just as he would later take on The Phantom of the Opera in Maskerade, in Wyrd Sisters Pratchett manages to reverse-engineer something very strongly resembling Macbeth.  The plot is thus:  three witches are meeting a hilltop when a dying coach driver delivers a baby prince to them; they manage to hide the child with some roving players, but the kingdom still suffers under the reign of an evil duke and his even more vile wife. At first, no one's very bothered by the assassination of the old king, the disappearance of his heir, or even by the fact that the duke has a penchant for setting houses on fire with the tenants still inside.  Eventually, though, even the extremely hardy peasants of Lancre have had enough royal nonsense, and then the duke has the witches to reckon with.

I really have to give Pratchett this much: I thought he'd telegraphed the ultimate plot twist within about fifty pages of the opening line, and he had...but then he yanked it out from under me at the very last second. I had forgotten that even when Pratchett seems to be going for the conventional story, he'll twist it a little to account for people's innate earthiness. I'm not always thrilled by the way the he portrays "reality," because it usually seems to involve more sharp edges and more boogers than are strictly necessary, but I have to admit that it almost always makes the books more interesting.

The only real criticism I have here is that although Pratchett certainly makes fun of the way everyone looks, he reserves a certain extended mockery for teenage girls/younger female protagonists.  And really, that's just not as funny as he thinks it is. Speaking as someone who actually was a teenage girl not too long ago and still is a relatively young woman: there's a reason we're so "silly" and "preoccupied with our looks," and it has more to do with crushing societal pressure than innate shallowness. So the fact that Pratchett constantly mocks plain girls for trying to gussy themselves up is just...mean, and not in a particularly intelligent way.  The thing that usually makes Pratchett so powerful and so funny is that he sends up all the nasty little flaws that people are often completely unaware they have. But I can assure you that if I have a bodily flaw, I fucking know about it-either because someone else told me about it in an attempt to be "helpful," or because I stood in front of the mirror after one of those "helpful" hints and tried to find and categorize everything else that was wrong with me.  Plain, ugly, or just indifferent girls almost always know it, because no one has much interest making sure that girls feel confident and comfortable with what they've got. I mean, hell, just last week one of my friends got told by total strangers that she needed to shave her legs, and not so long ago, I was walking home and a bunch of teenage boys I'd never seen before called me ugly. So guess what? Cataloging the physical flaws of a young woman--in this case, Magrat--is not "subversive" or "unexpected" or whatever Pratchett wanted it to be.  It's just a thoroughly typical slap in the face to female readers.

And that slap in the face doesn't make me dislike his work, but it does make me respect it less.

Recommended for: Anyone with a slightly dirty sense of humor, anyone who can stand to have the author show them every unattractive part of a character, and oh-anyone who likes fantasy.

Figured this was worth a quick post for those who missed it on Kotaku. Rhianna Pratchett (Terry's daughter), who also penned Overlord and Heavenly Sword, will be working on Mirror's Edge.

I know a few of you are Pratchett fans, and even gained interest in Overlord when you learned she was the writer. What did you think of her work there? Did you know she worked on Heavenly Sword, too?

http://kotaku.com/5023710/this-is-your-mirrors-edge-writer

Odwrócił się do zebranych obywateli.
- No dobra, zgrajo! - huknął. - Wiem, że niektórzy z was służyli w regimentach! Ilu zna "Wszystkie małe aniołki"?
W górę uniosło siękilka pamiątek, z kategorii tych groźniejszych.
- Bardzo dobrze! Mamy już chór! No więc to jest piosenka żołnierska, jasne?Wy nie wyglądacie jak żołnierze, ale na bogów, dopilnuję, żebyście śpiewali jak oni! Złapiecie słowa po drodze! W prawo zwrot! Naprzód marsz! "Wszystkie małe aniołki się wznoszą, się wznoszą! Wszystkie małe aniołki się wznoszą wnet!" Śpiewać, matczyne syny!
Maszerujący podchwytywali piosenkę od tych, którzy już ją znali.
- "A jak one się wznoszą, się wznoszą, się wznoszą? Jak one się wznoszą, się wznoszą wnet?"
- "One się wznoszą głowami, głowami, głowami..." - śpiewał Dickins, skręcając za róg.
Vimes słuchał, jak refren cichnie w oddali.
- Ładnie - stwierdził młody Sam.
- To stara wojskowa piosenka - wyjaśnił Vimes, bo przypomniał sobie, że chłopak słyszy ją po raz pierwszy.
- Naprawdę, sierżancie? Przecież jest o aniołkach.
Zgadza się, pomyślał Vimes. I zdziwiłbyś się, jakie części ciała podnoszą te aniołki w następnych zwrotkach. Prawdziwa żołnierska piosenka, sentymentalna, ale z nieprzyzwoitymi kawałkami. (..)

Uwielbiam Pratchett'a :D

But as a sample of his great writing, as well as his role as an atheist, I invite everyone to click this link and read what he has to say about the nature of gods. It's very interesting and illuminating.

Anyway!

Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky

A friend got me The Wee Free Men as a late birthday present (along with Flora Segunda, which I will get to when it is not boxed up along with the vast majority of my book collection).  I'm not typically a big Pratchett fangirl; I loved Hogfather with a violent passion, but none of the other Death books ever really did it for me, and I've read a couple of the witches books but was not particularly enamored with any of them (although they are DAMN entertaining).  The Wee Free Men, however, is fanfuckingtastic, and I highly recommend it.

The book stars Tiffany Aching, a young girl with a little brother named Wentworth whom she doesn't particularly like, a dead granny whom she badly misses, and a talent for witchcraft that could really get her into trouble in a village where they still like to burn women who wear pointy hats.  She lives in the Chalk, a shepherding community where sheep are life; she spends her days running her parents' dairy and honing her talent for being ignored whenever she feels like it (and sometimes when she doesn't).   Annoyingly, baby Wentworth follows her everywhere.  But life is more or less good, until one day she spots a fairy tale creature down at the local stream.  And kicks its ass, very creatively.

Then, of course, the queen of the fairies steals Wentworth (why?  Who knows.  All he does is scream for sweets).  Aided by the Nac Mac Feegles, the foul-mouthed, blue-skinned, six-inch-high Wee Free Men of the title, Tiffany sets off on a journey to save him.

I loved The Wee Free Men so much that I immediately went out and picked up the sequels, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith.  I finished A Hat Full of Sky, but I've rather stalled out on Wintersmith.  Frankly, the unfortunate truth is that after The Wee Free Men, Tiffany kind of degenerates into a Canon Sue.  Part of the problem is that Pratchett brought in one of the main characters from the witches books, Granny Weatherwax, and of course Tiffany is the only one to touch her stone-cold little heart.  Also, Tiffany is so omigod amazing that both sequels focus on a supernatural being taking an extreme liking to her--in A Hat Full of Sky, a creature called the hiver wants to basically take over Tiffany's brain because it so OMIGOD AWESOME, and in Wintersmith, the spirit of winter develops a crush on her.  Seriously.  SERIOUSLY.

I haven't finished Wintersmith, so I'm not going to bash it--and even when I do finish, I probably still won't criticize it all that much even if it keeps making Tiff so amazing.  Because honestly?  At heart, I am still a teenage girl, and teenage girls love the idea of the cold (literally!), heartless spirit of winter falling in love with them.  Still.  I like all three of these books, but my feeling right now is that A Hat Full of Sky DEFINITELY did not live up to the potential of The Wee Free Men, and that Wintersmith probably won't.  And that annoys me.

Recommended for:  Pratchett-lovers, people who like a pragmatic heroine.

Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys

Fat Charlie (who is not actually fat) has been cursed with the world's most humiliating father; fortunately, he hasn't seen the old bastard in years.  Unfortunately, Charlie's fiancee Rosie is one of those relentless do-gooder types, and she insists that Charlie contact his dear old dad so that he can invite him to the wedding and thereby mend fences.  But when Charlie gets ahold of an old family friend, he's informed that daddy dearest has just kicked it.

Also, his dad was apparently the Trickster God Anansi, and Charlie has a brother named Spider that he never knew about.

Shenanigans, predictably, ensue.

I didn't expect to really care for this, frankly, because I've read Neverwhere and Coraline, and both of them left me rather cold (although that was probably at least partially the point).  But Anansi Boys has a reasonably compelling plot, the forays into the realm of the gods aren't long-winded or boring (as such forays typically are), and Gaiman has crafted a wonderfully sly narrative voice.  Actually, it was the narrator that really sold me on this book--it had this incredibly underhanded and understated sense of humor that you really had to pay attention to catch, but once you did?  Omigod, y'all, I rolled .  Well worth the price of admission, and then some.

Recommended for:  Anyone who likes good, relatively light fantasy.

Ah... Ils ont aussi un sac de la poste d'Ankh-Morpork.