spoilers, emails, and books

[deird_lj]

Three mini-posts on completely unrelated topics:


I've looked at a bunch of entries on TV Tropes recently, and have noticed that really, quite often, their spoiler text is almost useless.

Firstly, you've got all the people who talk about:
"When Buffy staked a really mean vampire with Mr Pointy, and then ran off to Spike's crypt to have sex with him."
...and put entirely the wrong bits in spoilers.

And then there's the bits where it's done correctly, but someone else then comes and comments on that bit, and leaves the spoilers out in broad daylight, like this:
-"I cried so much when Buffy had to kill Angel at the end of season 2."
---"THIS! I got so teary! And the bit where Buffy sticks a sword right into his chest, and all the music swells up, and then Angel gets sucked into hell! I BAWLED!"

But the worst ones are when the spoilers are given away just by how long the white bit is. For instance:
"That episode where there weren't sure whether the werewolf was Larry or Oz, and then it turned out to be Oz."

So very frustrating...




I currently have front-row seats for some business executives being breathtakingly rude, through a series of increasingly nasty emails.

It's fantastic, really, because every time a new email gets sent it's getting ruder and ruder, but it's all happening in very formal business language (like in Yes Minister: "With the greatest possible respect, Minister, but your proposed course of action is a little unwise." instead of "You stupid bastard! That's such a dumb idea!"), and it just makes me crack up laughing...




snowpuppies has now (unintentionally) got me reading all the Discworld novels, in order.

This is a new experience for me.

Oh, not reading them. I've read them all before. But I've never read them in order.
And I haven't read the first few for years.

It's quite interesting seeing how very different the first couple of books are (Death being nasty! The Patrician saying "thee"! The Broken Drum!).

I also found it quite bizarre opening up The Light Fantastic, purely because, on page 12, it introduces the current Chancellor of Unseen University... and his name is Galder Weatherwax.
I'd never actually noticed that before.

Comments

[silveronthetree.livejournal.com]

I'd never thought of reading the Discworld in order.

and his name is Galder Weatherwax

I remember noticing that and at the time thinking that it explained everything. Although it has been such a long time since I read the Light Fantastic, I can't quite remember quite what it explained. Was he slightly more competent than the usual wizard or am I completely off base?

[deird1]

I'd never thought of reading the Discworld in order.

I know! It's so weird!

(Have just looked at a list of the books, and tried to remember what order I first read them all in. I think it was something like this:
Moving Pictures
Soul Music
Guards! Guards!
Men At Arms
Witches Abroad
Eric
Reaper Man
Sourcery
Feet Of Clay
Mort
The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Wyrd Sisters
Maskerade
Jingo
Interesting Times
Equal Rites
Pyramids
Small Gods
Hogfather
Lords and Ladies
The Last Continent

So... it was all a bit confusing. I kept wondering why the Bursar was constantly switching between being normal and completely off his head.)


Was he slightly more competent than the usual wizard or am I completely off base?

Very competant, by the looks of things. Until he accidentally summoned the Luggage, anyway...

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I read the Discworld books in order because I bought each of them as soon as they were published. You youngsters today. Hmph.

Also, my copy of 'Mort' has "To Stephen, all the best, Terry Pratchett" written on the flyleaf. :-)


Re spoilers: on atbvs we used ROT-13, which had the interesting effect of turning posts into something that sounded like a magical conjuration. The problem was that after a while you started to recognise character names like Ohssl and Natry and Fcvxr even when they were ROT-13ed, so the spoiler text didn't really work too well any more...

[deird1]

*feels very young*

The first Discworld book I read was Moving Pictures - and I'm pretty sure that, at the time, Soul Music was out but Interesting Times wasn't yet. So I must have been twelve. :)



ROT-13 is very helpful and non-spoilery, and I like it. But it is a bit of a pain when people are using it on forums without saying what it is, and you don't have a clue how to figure out what it says...

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Oh! Also, just remembered. There's a scene in 'Lords and Ladies' where Granny Weatherwax tels Ridcully that Galder Weatherwax was a distant cousin. Yay for continuity. :-)

[mabus101.livejournal.com]

I've never read a single one of the Discworld novels....

[deird1]

Oh, they're great!
*loves the Discworld*


(If you feel inclined to try them out, I'd recommend Guards! Guards! or Reaper Man, to start with...)

JL disagrees about Reaper Man - sorry ,deird1...

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

With respect (hehe) I'd like to recommend against 'Reaper Man' as an opener.
I KNOW Death is just lovely, but I think he takes a bit of getting used to. You have to know what he's like already to 'get' 'Reaperman', I think. I don't think it'd be a good introduction to Discworld to begin with a Death-centred book.


'Guards, Guards!' is pretty good, I guess.



But my vote for a good first one is 'Moving Pictures' - you don't need to know any characters and yet it effectively introduces:

Ankh-Morpork, the idea of Guilds, the idea of Wizards, the University, the Dungeon Dimensions (and Klatch and the mountains rate a mention) which gives a really nice overview of the World, I think;

And "also starring" roles for:
Gaspode, CMOT and Detritus;
the Dean, Ridcully, the Bursar, the Librarian, Ponder, the RRLecturer, Windle;
and Death (and even the Patrician, Nobby and Colon rate an appearance).

i.e. all ongoing sideline characters who aren't generally central, but are usually hanging around somewhere, so you get a good feel for the Disworld peoplescape.

Plus, it's a good one in being clearly relatable back to real!world stuff (i.e. the movie thing), so it's easy to get into, humour-wise.

Re: JL disagrees about Reaper Man - sorry ,deird1...

[washa-way.livejournal.com]

I always tell people to start with Small Gods, which is one of the very best Discworld books anyway, but is also fairly self-explanatory.

I started with Mort, couldn't get through it, and a few years later picked up Reaper Man and quite enjoyed it.

I think Pterry may be the only writer on earth whose series got better as he went along.

[deird1]

I never really liked Small Gods that much, actually...

My Discworld love increases the more Vimes, Death, and Granny Weatherwax are around.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

When we read them to our daughter we started with Equal Rites - it was easily accessible to her as it 'starred' a young girl (D-d was about 6 or so, I think,). It worked very well as an entry point though.

These days, of course, I would have started her at that age with Tiffany Aching.

[deird1]

Tiffany is great!
Although Maurice and his Educated Rodents are even better, IMO.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I read the Discworld books in order because I bought each of them as soon as they were published. You youngsters today. Hmph.

(This is only the second time in all of recorded history that I've ever agreed with stormwreath about anything).

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

I started with Reaper Man and (see discussion above) wouldn't recommend it - I enjoyed it enough to read others, but I knew I was missing something, and *crucially* I didn't laugh much. Any votes for Wyrd Sisters? It's early, but it's not so far off what becomes later canon that it would throw you. Guards Guards is definitely my other one of choice.

A friend of mine, also Discworld fan, interviewed TP for a local paper and he agreed with her (not for the interview) that Rincewind isn't much of a character, which managed to put me off rereading the first couple. Also: Eric. Bah.

[deird1]

As I understand it, pretty much the entire point of Eric was to get Rincewind out of the Dungeon Dimensions, because so many readers were appalled at him being stuck there...