I think old TP is getting very lazy as an author. He seems to just be reusing the same few "one trick horse" characters in increasingly weak situations padding out the whole lot with so many in-jokes that to get half of them you have to have memorised eah and every preceeding novel.
I used to really love Discworld books but now I don't enjoy them anymore. Do you agree or do you think they get better as they go along?
2006-11-08 04:46:09 · 10 answers · asked by monkeymanelvis 7 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I think that they are getting more mature and so they contain less jokes, but they're very good in a different sort of way. I don't think that's out of laziness. It's just that writers evolve (we readers too).
For example, in Thud!, some old characters are made more round, like old Chrysophrase or even Nobby. Themes are more serious, but the beauty of having created such a complex world is that you can explore many, many things in it.
Anyway, I too was a bit dissappointed after the Fifth elephant and some of the newer ones because they didn't make me laugh so much, but rereading them after a while gave me a new perspective. Sometimes it's just your own mood. My advice is that you read them again, this time without thinking "This is too serious", just concentrating in the new themes.
Besides I don't think Terry Pratchett could ever write badly, not even at gunpoint. He's just talented. He's an intelligent and witty man and whatever he writes is worth reading.
2006-11-08 20:06:15 · answer #1 · answered by Doppelgangland 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, sadly I agree. I think ever since 'Night Watch' they've been getting a bit crap. The earlier ones were so, so brilliant - especially 'Hogfather', 'Lords and Ladies', 'Wyrd Sisters' and 'Soul Music' - probably my top four - that it really pains me to say I've been liking them less over the past while. TP was the first author I really fell in love with, and I've been a devoted fan of the Discworld all my life; I know I'll always be a fan, even if only for 'the good old days', but I've been disappointed with the last few. I thought the first two Tiffany Aching books were great, but the latest one, 'Wintersmith', was basically writing by numbers - I thought all the way through that he was being lazy with the story. Such a shame!
2006-11-08 08:27:12 · answer #2 · answered by Sinead C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having just read Wintersmith i cant agree.I was worried about it as i couldnt get on with the illustration but the story drew me in.I read it in 3 sittings.I think i could have read it in one if i hadnt fallen asleep at 3am.I think the characterisations are much stronger now.Sure some of the outright laughs are missing but the humour is still there.I really enjoyed meeting Mistress Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg again.I love the Nightwatch but i rate the witches after them.And this latest book is really very good.
I have a friend who has only just started reading the discworld books.She says you dont need to know all the characters but that its nice to see them mentioned in other stories. It makes it all like a jigsaw.You dont need all the bits to see the picture.And yet you can add bits as and when you find them.
2006-11-08 08:22:38 · answer #3 · answered by greyfoxx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've always had a 'Love / hate' relationship with Discworld books. A few of the early one are good, but some seem dire eg Moving Pictures.
I haven't read one for years, for me there are other authors I'd rather spend my time on. From what you are saying I've done the right thing !
Although I am looking forward to seeing the Sky one version of HOGFATHER later this year.
2006-11-08 08:14:23 · answer #4 · answered by David 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stopped reading them around "Small Gods". Mainly through spite - I wrote a book, and got touted by radio programmes as "the new Terry Pratchett". Ultimately, didn't get published, and stopped reading Pratchett in case I picked up stuff from him. Haven't cared about the books since then, so couldn't tell you if they've gotten worse since then, but I think they were already on the slide by that point.
2006-11-08 06:18:31 · answer #5 · answered by mdfalco71 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definitely not, I think he's developing as a writer in new and exciting ways - he's trying to do more than just write a stream of puns.
Thud was the best I'd read for a long time - subtle and full of insight.
2006-11-08 10:25:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i in my view take exhilaration in Terry Pratchett's artwork too, notwithstanding i've got no longer study the Discworld sequence. i in my view recommend good Omens it particularly is coauthored via Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. it is so stunning and quite humorous. it particularly is unquestionably one of my well-liked books, ensure to attempt it!
2016-10-03 10:17:57 · answer #7 · answered by schnetter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've found that the books are becoming less funny, but the stories are more exciting. Thud!, Postal Service, and The Fifth Elephant were not very funny, but I found the stories very compelling.
2006-11-08 06:28:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The most recent one I read (I think its called Thud) is actually the best one I've read since the first one I read - Small Gods - so, I do not think that they are getting worse at all.
2006-11-08 05:48:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
i never liked them
2006-11-08 04:54:40 · answer #10 · answered by That 70's Show Gal 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋