onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
4.0
Not deep, but sweet. More of a “what Pratchett was talking about”, less a hard look at what meaning was there. A labor of love. A nice distraction; don’t feel like I learned much. Validating, I suppose. That these scholars agree with me that these books are worth reading.
Pulls out one of my favorite quotes from the Hogfather, after Susan realizes that the sun would have risen the next day; it just would have been a big ball of flaming gas:
“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need . . . fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
“Tooth Fairies? Hogfathers? Little –“
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.”
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
And in the end, it’s death who saves us from extinction.
Pulls out one of my favorite quotes from the Hogfather, after Susan realizes that the sun would have risen the next day; it just would have been a big ball of flaming gas:
“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need . . . fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
“Tooth Fairies? Hogfathers? Little –“
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.”
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
And in the end, it’s death who saves us from extinction.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
3.0
Not really deep, but still a good read for Pratchett fans. Enjoyed the essays about the Watch and the Witches in particular.
More...