On Pratchett

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I had not planned on blogging about Terry Pratchett this soon, but I was jarred by the news of his passing that flooded my feed this morning (which goes to show I’m friends with all the right people ^_^).

It’s literally just been days since I put down my last Pratchett. I had only very recently started exploring Discworld in January, as part of a readathon in preparation for our book club’s Christmas party this year, which has been scheduled to be (swallow lump) a Hogswatch. I had been targeting one book a month, and I’ve been right on schedule, with “Guards! Guards!” in January, “Mort” in February, and “Going Postal” just last Tuesday.

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Obviously, I’ve been trying out the different story arcs within the Discworld canon (at the advice of my Pratchett-crazy friends)  and I’ve been blown away by Pratchett’s brilliance — each book I’ve read keeps getting better and I’m staggered by the imagination that went into creating such an elaborate world. Pratchett’s wit is razor-sharp and the humor is absurd and uproariously funny, and in the past quarter I’ve been texting certain people at odd hours because I just had to laugh with someone.

I’ve been looking forward in the next two in my lineup, “Wyrd Sisters” (which I was going to squeeze in later this month, after all the books I needed to finish) and “The Color of Magic” when I logged in this morning and the waterworks just started up as I saw the last tweets on Pratchett’s Twitter account (See above. NB: Death is a character in Discworld who speaks in all caps). I mean, just last Monday, I was wiping away tears of laughter from “The Smoking Gnu” and today I feel like a light has gone out in the literary world, and after only three books at that. I can only imagine what the rest of his fandom must feel like (actually, just look at the trail of tears on my FB timeline).

I am consoling myself with this new addition to my collection, procured over lunch:
IMG_3530That, and the commitment to read Discworld, down to the last book.

Terry_Rob(via Terry Pratchett Books)

Thank you for the stories, Sir Terry Pratchett.

***

“Goodbye,” Mort said, and was surprised to find a lump in his throat. ‘It’s such an unpleasant word, isn’t it?”QUITE SO. Death grinned, because, as has so often been remarked, he didn’t have much option. But possibly he meant it, this time.

I PREFER AU REVOIR, he said.

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