'A Blink of the Screen' by Terry Pratchett

I did not know what to expect when I bought this book.  I had not read Pratchett short stories before.  Fortunately, I was surprised and entertained in new ways.  His personal comments before every story showed his vulnerability as an author.  It seems he is never satisfied, which is well and good. I like a writer who wants to improve himself but he is still sending stories out into the world with a very English "hope for the best but expect the worst" attitude.  No cockiness anywhere.

The start was perfect.  An unadulterated story by a 13 year old Terry.  His first story published.  My daughter perked her ears up at this and laughed right through it.  I smiled and thanked the universe that adults in his world encouraged him.  From then on the stories were new and familiar all at the same time.

"The Glastonbury Tales", a poem about picking up hitchhikers to Glastonbury was funny, and dare I write the word?... cute.  At least that is how his naive passengers seemed to me.  As for the bewildered, patient, atheist driver, well his generosity and patience speaks for itself. Granny Weatherwax is one of my favorite Discworld characters.  I haven't seen her in a while so it was a relief to read of her troubles at the top of the non-existent ranking of witches.  But, one of my favorite stories was "The Hollywood Chickens".  Fantastic imagination, who else can get into the mind of a chicken? Or wants to?  Once I figured out what the chickens were in fact, up to, I realized that you cannot go against your nature.

I recommend this book to those poor souls who have resisted Pratchett thus far but want to briefly see what all the fuss is about.  Anyone who likes Pratchett probably already has this book.

@terryandrob

Terry Pratchett
ISBN: 9780385618984

'Dodger' by Terry Pratchett

 'Dodger' put me in a 'Nation' state of mind

Once upon a time, Discworld novels were humorous jewels I read on an annual basis.  For a while I read them on a quarterly basis when I realized I was so far behind.  I caught up...  These are the books that B.P.R. (Beloved Proof Reader) resigned himself to purchasing on hardback, freshly pressed, as I would not wait for paperbacks.  Then one day I received 'Nation' and it was wonderful, even with an obvious lack of space turtles and patient elephants.  'Dodger' put me in a 'Nation' state of mind.

Anyone who has read previous blogs knows that I applaud Terry's enthusiastic treatment of muck.  He doesn't tire of this disgusting topic and neither do I.  As I reflect on my reading preferences I realize I can and do tire of gore.  Those kinds of books make an appearance well separated by other books and topics.  Muck, richards, sludge, slime, urine (horse, don't ask) and sewage are so much more entertaining with the right author.  'Dodger' sets out to entertain and, I suspect, remind us of how far we have come and how far we have to go in our big cities.

Something else comes to mind...  You know gentlemen of a certain age "pass gas" without realizing or do so because they are now old men and can do as they please.  Well, I wonder if some of Terry's current interests are not the literary equivalent of this attitude.  He is indeed an experienced writer of a certain age, rich and can now write what he pleases....

The story itself is fun and full of icky thoughts.  And I don't mean the obvious ones when you are in a sewer but more along the lines of the difference between 'truth' and 'facts'.  I liked the idea of Charles Dickens as an intelligent, observant, slightly dangerous character pointing out the strengths of people's beliefs as opposed to facts.  Dodger, the hero, knows what he likes, knows how to survive and like a true "geezer" knows how to pick his friends... which brings me to Sol.  Sol or Solomon Cohen is my favorite character.  I was happy to see a character that balances or addresses prejudices put forward by a certain famous book quite close to our current object.  Sol is a gentle, grateful, educated, cautious and thoughtful man.  He also has a sense of humor and a smelly dog.  Every book needs a smelly dog.

The bad guys I will not discuss in detail because they seem to represent concepts rather than pure individual, unique badness.  There are, of course, the usual suspects, unsavory, violent and cruel but these guys were tools used by others.  Society itself, vested interests, war mongering, social snobbery, poverty, lack of education, politics and the status quo were the real bad guys. It is probably easier to give someone a nasty scar, a silky cat and lots of missiles then to point the finger at your own governments for the unfairness of a short, dirty life.  'Dodger' points the solution towards individuals and not to believe everything you read ... I wonder if he is trying to tell us something?

@terryandrob

Terry Pratchett 
ISBN: 9780385619271