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checkers65477I'm trying to post about the books I like, so a few words about Mort by Terry Pratchett. It's the fifth Discworld book I've read, and my favorite so far.
Death takes a boy named Mort on as his apprentice. Mort goes to live in Death's home and learns the ropes of escorting people out of this life and into whatever comes next. Death is not always fair, but he's just doing his job--and someone has to do it. Soon, Mort is comfortable enough to borrow the horse and go out claiming souls on his own, while Death begins to enjoy some human pleasures in his free time. Mort ill-advisedly saves the life of a young women he has been sent to claim, setting events in motion that could have terrible consequences.
The Discworld books are always clever and funny but I found this one even more so than the others. Death talks IN ALL CAPS and I'm not sure why that is always so funny, but it is. Little amusing tidbits abound--Death's horse ("His name is Binky. It just goes to show, you can never tell."), Death loves kittens. Mort's name is French for "death", etc.
Aside from all the cleverness, the book has deeper messages as well. Death longs for companionship, a family, a nice home, to be INVITED to a party now and then, rather than always being an unwelcome guest. He finds happiness as the ultimate short-order cook for awhile, but he knows it can't last. It's his destiny to be the grim reaper. Mort grows and changes from a clumsy boy to a decisive young man, and learns a lesson about trying to change history. (Anyone who's ever watched a Star Trek series knows this can't be done.) All the characters were fun, and the writing is brilliantly done, poking fun at itself with footnotes and some over-the-top descriptions. I shared this use of similes with a group of students (Mort is entering the city of Ankh-Morpork for the first time):
"People have tried to describe Ankh-Morpork. They have failed. Perhaps it's the sheer zestful vitality of the place, or maybe it's just that a city with a million inhabitants and no sewers is rather robust for poets, who prefer daffodils and no wonder. So let's just say that Ankh-Morpork is as full of life as an old cheese on a hot day, as loud as a curse in a cathedral, as bright as an oil slick, as colorful as a bruise and as full of activity, industry, bustle and sheer exuberant busyness as a dead dog on a termite mound."
Death takes a boy named Mort on as his apprentice. Mort goes to live in Death's home and learns the ropes of escorting people out of this life and into whatever comes next. Death is not always fair, but he's just doing his job--and someone has to do it. Soon, Mort is comfortable enough to borrow the horse and go out claiming souls on his own, while Death begins to enjoy some human pleasures in his free time. Mort ill-advisedly saves the life of a young women he has been sent to claim, setting events in motion that could have terrible consequences.
The Discworld books are always clever and funny but I found this one even more so than the others. Death talks IN ALL CAPS and I'm not sure why that is always so funny, but it is. Little amusing tidbits abound--Death's horse ("His name is Binky. It just goes to show, you can never tell."), Death loves kittens. Mort's name is French for "death", etc.
Aside from all the cleverness, the book has deeper messages as well. Death longs for companionship, a family, a nice home, to be INVITED to a party now and then, rather than always being an unwelcome guest. He finds happiness as the ultimate short-order cook for awhile, but he knows it can't last. It's his destiny to be the grim reaper. Mort grows and changes from a clumsy boy to a decisive young man, and learns a lesson about trying to change history. (Anyone who's ever watched a Star Trek series knows this can't be done.) All the characters were fun, and the writing is brilliantly done, poking fun at itself with footnotes and some over-the-top descriptions. I shared this use of similes with a group of students (Mort is entering the city of Ankh-Morpork for the first time):
"People have tried to describe Ankh-Morpork. They have failed. Perhaps it's the sheer zestful vitality of the place, or maybe it's just that a city with a million inhabitants and no sewers is rather robust for poets, who prefer daffodils and no wonder. So let's just say that Ankh-Morpork is as full of life as an old cheese on a hot day, as loud as a curse in a cathedral, as bright as an oil slick, as colorful as a bruise and as full of activity, industry, bustle and sheer exuberant busyness as a dead dog on a termite mound."
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Date: 2008-02-03 09:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-03 10:26 am (UTC)ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. i love that book.
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Date: 2008-02-03 08:07 pm (UTC)*goes to look*
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Date: 2008-02-03 07:25 pm (UTC)*is glad you're enjoying them*