Is it just me...

Ok, I gave Going Postal a try and gave up at page 120 which I think is a fair chance to give a book. I like the writing, the humour is subtle but at least it's there. The only problem is I can't pick up on any coherent story line or what direction it is going in. Vetinari is still speaking to his "board members" and Moist is still setting up the post office and delivering mail but not sure what else is supposed to be happenening. Should I keep at it? Does it make more sense the more I get into it?
 
I think that by starting so late on in the series, you are missing some of the interplay of character. I personally loved Going Postal, but much did depend on knowing the character of Vetinari and the general set up of Ankh Morpork. I would echo those who suggest you should start with an earlier book.

For myself, I disliked The Colour of Magic - and had I read that first, I probably wouldn't have continued. I'd suggest you read Guards, Guards which will introduce you to Vimes and see if you like that - if so, follow the Watch arc as set out by Ace. If you don't get on with it, try one of the Witches books - the first one is Equal Rites but it isn't typical of the arc, and you might be better off starting with Wyrd Sisters. If you can't get on with that, then I think you just have to accept his humour is not for you.
 
I get his humour now I just don't know whats happening to the plot, it's not really making sense to or is it going to become clearer the more I read?
 
biodroid said:
Because I can't seem to get into Pratchett, he just doesn't seem funny unlike Douglas Adams. Anyone else having this problem?
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Personally, I don't find Adams funny.

Too cynical and too much of a "give the geeks any old crap - as long as it has a joke a page they'll lap it up" attitude.
 
I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to say, biodroid. I didn't have any problems with the plot of Going Postal, and the story line seemed fine to me. I was never confused by it, or worried that it didn't make sense. But then I don't read Pratchett with full critiquing faculties turned on, I just read for entertainment. Are you perhaps over-thinking it, instead of just letting it take you where it wants to go?

Give it another 50 pages and see if you like it any better. If not, then, as I suggested before, go for one of his earlier books and read through an arc - it will I think make a difference to your enjoyment.
 
High Eight said:
Personally, I don't find Adams funny.

Too cynical and too much of a "give the geeks any old crap - as long as it has a joke a page they'll lap it up" attitude.
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I thought the tv adaption of HHGTTG was funnier than the books , but maybe that's just me.

There's very little written material that I foind funny - and none laugh out loud at that; for me comedy is all about timing and delivery and none of that in my opinion can be put into text. I have to say that Night Watch is probably the book I have smiled most whilst reading , but I feel that this is almost a culmination of all of Pratchett's other novels , in much the same way that the Dark Tower stories can only be fully appreciated by reading the majority -if not all- of the writer's previous work (or in Terry's case , all of the Discworld novels).

I have to say that I find TP's work outside of the Disc to be far less enjoyable to read.
 
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a friend told me that I must read 'The Colour of Magic' and 'The Light Fantastic'. This was before there were any other sequels, and I think he did compare them to HHG2G too. Being a good friend, on his advice I went straight out and bought them. I found that I couldn't really get into them. I never read another Prachett book for years and I couldn't see what the fuss was about. So, no it isn't just you.

Since that time, I have now read a few more and I found them better, 'Guards, Guards' I particularly liked. I've actually forgotten which I have read, and which I have not, (you can see I'm still not his greatest fan) but yes, there are some that were very good. So, I guess I'm saying don't read them in any strict order, because that might put you off too, and there are some that are really worth the effort.
 
Just finished one of the Watch books - Jingo and thought it was very funny. There was one particular part - and I can't remember the character that thought it - but which read something like:

"Vimes thought the bottom was dropping out of his world" and then went on, some paragraphs later with "and now he believed the world was dropping out of his bottom!" Hilarious - laugh out loud humour.

What I find, though, is that his humour is quite "rude" but never rude as he describes things and you know darn well what he is talking about but he never actually "says" it. Very clever.
 
I find Terry Pratchett most enjoyable when read as a whole series. The Discworld has some highs ("Guards! Guards!", "Pyramids", "Small gods", "The last continent") and it has some lows ("The light fantastic", "Sourcery", "Reaper man") but it all depends on the reader. Not every book is the same as the last and the formula does fluctuate, so it's not hard to get into the series, given the right moment for it.

Fried Egg said something in this thread, last year, true, but to which I have to disagree strongly. The narration for the "Discworld" may be smug and nudge-nudge-wink-wink but I can't see how these books could function without such a narrator. If he were mellow, he'd be boring; more aggressive, he'd be too plain. What I mean to say is that this is exactly what's needed, to be held by the hand by a narrator that knows how and why everything happens, but has a real sadistic pleasure in keeping above both the characters and the reader.
 
biodroid said:
Because I can't seem to get into Pratchett, he just doesn't seem funny unlike Douglas Adams. Anyone else having this problem?
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That's funny. Everyone has different tastes, but when I've had to describe Pratchett's humor to others, I've often said that Pratchett is what Douglas Adams would have wanted to be when he grew up, and I loved Adam's books too.
 
I just read The Light Fantastic, it was a good book and I finally understand (or am I not supposed too :)) his humour, not the greatest of books but then again Pratchett was described to me as being like a fine wine that gets better with age. I just have to get through some of my other series before I tackle another Pratchett.
 
biodroid said:
I just read The Light Fantastic, it was a good book and I finally understand (or am I not supposed too :)) his humour, not the greatest of books but then again Pratchett was described to me as being like a fine wine that gets better with age. I just have to get through some of my other series before I tackle another Pratchett.
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A word of caution just in case: You'll be a lot better off if you read the books in sequence. There are a few that have very little relation to the others (Pyramids and Going Postal are a couple) or will explain what you need to know about characters you see, but many of the books build on what we learned about the characters from previous adventures. You could still enjoy them, but you'll miss the inside jokes.
 
FWIW, I love the early "Witches" and "Watch" books, but I'm finding his later books a bit... samey. All of his oddly-named male protagonists just blend into one in my memory, and though I laugh at the jokes, by the time I reach the end I've pretty much forgotten the story.

For the uninitiated:

* "Rincewind" series (Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic, etc) - parody of the fantasy genre (CoM in particular is an overt parody of Anne McCaffrey, Fritz Leiber, Robert E Howard and others)

* "Witches" series - lots of fairytale/Shakespeare references/parodies

* "Watch" series - medieval hard-boiled detective fiction, more satirical

* "Tiffany Aching" series (Wee Free Men, etc) - arguably YA, with much younger protagonists

Other early books tend to be more general humorous fantasy, whereas recent ones tend to target and satirise specific modern phenomena: football, mass communications, etc. That's a generalisation, of course, but it's my overall feeling of his development in the past quarter century.

"Nightwatch" is one of my favourites, but maybe I'm biased, as I lean towards this book's blend of light-hearted action and gritty nastiness in my own writing :)
 
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I've found that although HHGTTG (especially the second, RATEOTU) and the Dirk Gently books had me crying with laughter, Discworld books tend to have more subtle humour that make you chuckle at the time and then howl with laughter when you suddenly remember a line.

For me, the best of the Discworld series usually involves the City Guard or Rincewind, so: Colour of Magic, Guards! Guards!, Night Watch and Light Fantastic.
And then also some of the one-off stories, such as Small Gods, The Truth, Thief of Time and Going Postal.
 
Thing said:
Discworld books tend to have more subtle humour that make you chuckle at the time and then howl with laughter when you suddenly remember a line.
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Or groan aloud at the truly appalling puns. Again, some of these don't hit you until much later. It took me a while to work out how he came up with the name Vetinari, for example.
 
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