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Today's Terry Pratchett reread got up to Snuff
which is a very heavy book if you think about it but as usual takes you racing through it if you let it.
... I actually didnt finish reading until like 5 in the morning on the 21st but having a day's gap,in my journal displeased me. I should stop reading these in the middle and go sleep sometimes.
This one makes you look at things square and stay there. Things you'd rather not think about. The lightest of which is Young Sam's interest in poo. Clearly a topic of universal relevance but not, for most people, abiding interest.
And then you've got goblins and their interests... and a whole race shoved aside because basically they're stinky and nobody knows the language? And they do things when they're starving that no one wants to think about. But only one character is trying to fix that by actually sharing food.
And this book gets really, really, angry about it.
There's things Sam Vimes, policeman, justice, cannot do... but the book gives him a guy that does them anyway. And makes you think about how easy it is to get lost in the dark.
Vimes worst nightmare is he goes to the bad and doesnt notice. And there's some corners to make you wonder. Do things for a good reason, do things for a bad one, still break a rule. Vimes believes in the slippery slope and makes you look at it when he steps on it. Vimes believes in law and order, and justice, and this book oands him in the great big mess where there's a gap between those.
I like at the end where Vetinari draws a firm line against retroactive law. Yes it should be a crime, but it wasn't, and that's that. Otherwise there's no end to it, no order, no safety.
Vimes thinks of law and order in a different way than Vetinari speaks of them and the contrasts are chewy.
This is a very good book but reading all the Watch books in a row is a way to stay angry angrier angriest as it makes you really Look.
Strong stuff.
which is a very heavy book if you think about it but as usual takes you racing through it if you let it.
... I actually didnt finish reading until like 5 in the morning on the 21st but having a day's gap,in my journal displeased me. I should stop reading these in the middle and go sleep sometimes.
This one makes you look at things square and stay there. Things you'd rather not think about. The lightest of which is Young Sam's interest in poo. Clearly a topic of universal relevance but not, for most people, abiding interest.
And then you've got goblins and their interests... and a whole race shoved aside because basically they're stinky and nobody knows the language? And they do things when they're starving that no one wants to think about. But only one character is trying to fix that by actually sharing food.
And this book gets really, really, angry about it.
There's things Sam Vimes, policeman, justice, cannot do... but the book gives him a guy that does them anyway. And makes you think about how easy it is to get lost in the dark.
Vimes worst nightmare is he goes to the bad and doesnt notice. And there's some corners to make you wonder. Do things for a good reason, do things for a bad one, still break a rule. Vimes believes in the slippery slope and makes you look at it when he steps on it. Vimes believes in law and order, and justice, and this book oands him in the great big mess where there's a gap between those.
I like at the end where Vetinari draws a firm line against retroactive law. Yes it should be a crime, but it wasn't, and that's that. Otherwise there's no end to it, no order, no safety.
Vimes thinks of law and order in a different way than Vetinari speaks of them and the contrasts are chewy.
This is a very good book but reading all the Watch books in a row is a way to stay angry angrier angriest as it makes you really Look.
Strong stuff.
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Date: 2022-06-21 07:29 pm (UTC)