No-one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.
Continue reading “The Quotable Pratchett: The Light Fantastic”
The Quotable Pratchett: The Light Fantastic
The Quotable Pratchett: The Color of Magic
No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away
With the passing of Sir Terry Pratchett and the publication of The Shepherd’s Crown, I embarked on an epic re-reading of all 41 official Discworld novels, with the goal of finishing by 31 December, 2016.
Famous for its wit and wisdom, the series offers countless quotable quotes on a variety of subjects. The quotes I share should not be considered the whole of Sir Terry’s excellent prose; indeed, there are the tasty appetizers to a succulent, nourishing meal.
About The Color of Magic
This is the first published Discworld novel; it is also the first in the Rincewind Cycle – the series of books that follow the misadventures of the “WIZZARD” Rincewind.
In this novel, Pratchett introduces us to the workings of the Disc – its mechanics, metaphysics, morality, etc – through the eyes of the Disc’s first Tourist, Twoflower.
If you’ve seen the film The Color of Magic, this book contains the first half of the film [of course there’s more in the book than in the film; there always is] while The Light Fantastic relates the events from the second-half of the film.
The Goodreads Blurb:
The Color of Magic is Terry Pratchett’s maiden voyage through the now-legendary land of Discworld. This is where it all begins — with the tourist Twoflower and his wizard guide, Rincewind.
On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There’s an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet…
And Now: On to the Quotes!
The Librarian as he appears in The Discworld Companion, illustrated by Paul Kidby
Magic never dies. It merely fades away.
Some pirates achieved immortality by great deeds of cruelty or derring-do. Some achieved immortality by amassing great wealth. But the captain had long ago decided that he would, on the whole, prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.
Being Ymor’s right-hand man was like being gently flogged to death with scented bootlaces.
Promotion in the Assassin’s Guild was by competitive examination, the Practical being the most – indeed, the only – part.
Let’s just say if complete and utter chaos were lightning, then he’d be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor and shouting “All gods are bastards.”
Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant “idiot”.
You’re just as dead if you fall from forty feet as you are from four thousand fathoms, that’s what I say.
When one’s foot is stuck in the Grey Miasma of H’Rull it is much easier to step right in and sink rather than prolong the struggle.
Rincewind often suspected that there was something, somewhere, that was better than magic. He was usually disappointed.
Lightning is the spears hurled by the thunder giants when they fight. Established meteorological fact. You can’t harness it . . . and even if you could get a harness on it, how could you get it to pull a cart?
It was all very well going on about pure logic and how the universe was ruled by logic and the harmony of numbers, but the plain fact of the matter was that the disc was manifestly traversing space on the back of a giant turtle and the gods had a habit of going around to atheists’ houses and smashing their windows.
[Octarine] is said to be a sort of fluorescent greenish yellow purple.
A man who owned a needle made of octiron would never lose his way, since it always pointed to the Hub of the Discworld, being acutely sensitive to the Disc’s magical field; it would also miraculously darn his socks.
Everyone has gods. You just don’t think they’re gods.
The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork smiled, but with his mouth only.
I assure you the though never even crossed my mind, Lord.
Indeed? Then if I were you I’d sue my face for slander.
. . .
Next: The Light Fantastic
The Complete List
Unboxing The Shepherd’s Crown
Tuesday was bittersweet. I received a package: the American release of The Shepherd’s Crown by Sir Terry Pratchett! This is also the first book I’ve ever pre-ordered – the first book I’ve ever received on the very day of its release.
However, many of you know The Shepherd’s Crown is the last Discworld novel; Sir Terry passed away 12 March, 2015.
I’m not ashamed to say it:
I took my time opening the box.
I savored the new book smell.
I read the dust jacket.
Then, I placed The Shepherd’s Crown back in the box,
closed the lid,
and cried.
No man is ever truly gone until the ripples they make in the world die away
May Sir Terry’s ripples last forever.
His fantasies sit alongside – and are the equals of – those of Rabelais, Voltaire, Swift, Kurt Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams. . . . But whereas all these are neatly arranged on the bookshelves, my Pratchetts are strewn under the beds, in the bathrooms, the glove compartments. They have shopping lists, takeaway orders, and Scrabble scores scribbled on the fly leaves. They were part of life. – Frank Cottrell Boyce
Teaser Tuesday: The Last Hero
In addition to my parents visiting this week, the wheel of time turned on its axis to
Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*
*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.
This week I’m reading The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable by Terry Pratchett.
I’m excited to read this; I’ve looked for it for several years.
I finally found a copy on Amazon at the same time I possessed money to spend.
I already leafed through it, amazed at Paul Kidby’s illustrations.
The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 112:
'What?' said Rincewind, perplexed at the sudden
subject of fruit.
I'd just started eating an apple, and I just rested
it in the air . . . and it's gone.
The ship creaked in the glaring sunlight.
And an apple core came tumbling gently
through the air.
In Retrospect
This Teaser Tuesday was prepared in advance of a busy week.
Check back next week for a book review of Last Will by Bryn Greenwood.
What have you been reading?
Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?
Drop a note in the prompt box!
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The Ripples They Cause
Word of the Week certainly fits the mold of a regular feature.
Last week’s word was discovery. This week’s word is . . .
LOSS
Late last week, my sister posted to my Facebook:
Truly the end of an era, people are wondering who will supply their dinner rolls and cookies with frosted faces and donuts and cakes and – most importantly – lebkuchen.
However, all is not lost. There are rumors the bakery will be bought – property, machines, expertise – and the tradition continue. In addition, I received a parcel:
Three Lebkuchen! Thanks, Mom!
I’m not as desperate financially able as the woman who cleared out her freezer and ordered fifty dozen lebkuchen.
FIFTY DOZEN
At ten dollars per dozen, that’s quite a bit of dough.
Pun intended.
Then there’s the loss the world is talking about:
Sir Terry Pratchett
I doubt there’s anything I can say here that hasn’t been said elsewhere.
I have no story of how I met him or saw him or received an autographed book as a gift. Nevertheless, he influenced my life in ways few authors have. In those terms, he’s part of my Triad:
Dante
Tolkien
Pratchett
His books have been out since the early eighties, but I only discovered the Disc in 2008 or so with the Hogfather DVD American release. Having loved the film, I tracked down the book; looking back, it may not be the best introduction to Discworld, but I was hooked. Soon most extra money went to purchasing more of Pratchett’s works, and I found myself emotionally invested in Rincewind and Granny Weatherwax and Gythia Ogg and Havelock Vetinari and Sam Vines and Moist von Lipwig and DEATH.
As Iain Sutherland wrote on the change.org petition that DEATH return Sir Terry:
Terry Pratchett turned Death from a figure of hate into a much loved and sometimes welcomed character. No-one else cared about you Death.
You owe him!
I’ve never cried about the death of a celebrity or other public figure . . . until now.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was crying not as much for Sir Terry, but for the end of the Disc.
Does that make me selfish?
I’ll never understand why I’m such a selfish man.
Sir Terry’s death also makes me angry.
Angry for the loss of literary wonder.
Angry at the Alzheimer’s that took him far too early.
Angry at the unfairness of it all.
Another petitioner on change.org wrote
It is like when you lose that relative who you didn’t know very well, but they helped you get through some really tough time and you always meant to call or write, and now it’s too late.
It’s times like these that make us wonder what makes it all worthwhile. Sir Terry had the answer:
“I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" Death thought about it. CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.”
When it comes down to it, I just don’t know what to say. So I’ll read instead, savoring every line and turn of phrase and share the ones that speak to me. Because although Sir Terry is gone,
No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.
May Sir Terry’s ripples go on forever.
No Real Horizon: Discovering Discworld
Some years ago I perused Blockbuster – back when that was a place – looking for something to watch on a lazy weekend. In that predicament, I based my selections mainly on what the covers. My wife and I settled on a unique flick entitled Hogfather. We were drawn to it for three reasons: (1) the cover looked somewhat dark, (2) the title intrigued us, and (3) it was British. The third quality alone would have put it in our queue, for anything done by the British is almost infinitely superior to American films.
That film, starring the fabulous Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey‘s Lady Mary Crowley) as Susan and the versatile Ian Richardson as Death, changed my literary world as no film has ever done. Normally, I read the book before the movie and then spend the length of the feature critiquing it. But, to this point, I was unaware of the beauty and glory that is the Disc. That changed the following weekend. While browsing our local bookstore (a chain, the last local closed a year before), I decided to track down the book upon which the film was based.
The book is superb and remains one of my favorite Discworld novels. However, I couldn’t get enough. I began to buy a book a week, soon accumulating the entire series (except for Last Hero and Raising Steam, which was released today), including the so-called “children’s books” (which aren’t just for kids, in case you didn’t know). Today, they occupy a prominent space in my personal library, with Good Omens being my most recent purchase.
If you haven’t yet experienced the wonders of Terry Pratchett’s fantasy world, get started today. It doesn’t really matter what order you read them in, just jump in with both feet and have fun!
Note: Today is also the release of the newest Discworld novel: Raising Steam. But since I don’t live in England and will (probably) have to wait until Christmas, please don’t spoil it for me.
Posted for NaBloPoMo 2013
Running In My Head 