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A review by rachel_abby_reads
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
2.0
This really isn't Pratchett's best offering. It doesn't do much to challenge the apparent status quo (wizard= male, witch= female). It does have some clever bits; I love that witches understand power is best used when least used.
My favorite line comes when the wizards meet a theoretical prodigy, a young man who's thoughts on magic and reality are brilliant and - well, a bit like string theory, really. Astounding even to those who understand it, arcane gargle-goo to those who don't.
The young man has just explained his theories to an stunned body of wizarding faculty. In discussing his presentation afterwards, realizing that they really didn't understand what he was saying, two wizards enjoy this reflection:
They both savored the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were ignorant of only ordinary things.
I thought this captured intellectual snobbery brilliantly. There are so many things that we don't know. Literally everyone we pass knows things that we don't. But how lovely to preen ourselves on being ignorant of higher, neater, more intimidating things than the peasants who are still trying to figure out how to use a smart phone (or the remote control on their new television set, for that matter).
My favorite line comes when the wizards meet a theoretical prodigy, a young man who's thoughts on magic and reality are brilliant and - well, a bit like string theory, really. Astounding even to those who understand it, arcane gargle-goo to those who don't.
The young man has just explained his theories to an stunned body of wizarding faculty. In discussing his presentation afterwards, realizing that they really didn't understand what he was saying, two wizards enjoy this reflection:
They both savored the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were ignorant of only ordinary things.
I thought this captured intellectual snobbery brilliantly. There are so many things that we don't know. Literally everyone we pass knows things that we don't. But how lovely to preen ourselves on being ignorant of higher, neater, more intimidating things than the peasants who are still trying to figure out how to use a smart phone (or the remote control on their new television set, for that matter).