Will Discworld Endure Like Lord Of The Rings Other Famous Books and Series ?

soulsinging said:
No offense, but having seen your posts
Click to expand...
Sounds like a compliment to me.
Actually three of my sons are writing too.
I don't mind at all if the HP books endure. They were over hyped by media. But IMO quite as good as many other perennial better titles from Enid Blyton, Noel Streatfeild etc.
 
Funnily enough, a friend of mine has been watching the old Twilight Zone series. His view is that there are some excellent episodes, quite a lot of fairly good ones, and a few that feel like duds. A lot of the duds, he reckons, are comedy that has aged badly. I suppose there are a few older comedies that age quite well - Tom Lehrer's songs, for instance, or the better Bob Newhart monologues - but they were unusual for their time and are hardly mainstream now.
 
Ray McCarthy said:
Sounds like a compliment to me.
Actually three of my sons are writing too.
I don't mind at all if the HP books endure. They were over hyped by media. But IMO quite as good as many other perennial better titles from Enid Blyton, Noel Streatfeild etc.
Click to expand...
It was intended as such, but the internet doesn't always carry tone and it's always wise to exercise caution when discussion the parenting of others :)

I'm a bit touchy about Harry Potter for some reason. It came out when I was like 15 at the time so I was very snobbish about it and way too cool for some kids book at that age. I wound up reading the first 3 in a week over a holiday from uni because my brothers all had them and it's in some sense the work that made me see the value of simplicity and let go of some of my aspiring lit-major pretensions (I was reading a lot of the names I listed a few posts ago and man was it making me depressed). I think I tend to see the argument against HP the way a lot of SFF fans see genre criticism as a whole, a dismissal of a good work based on pre-conceived notions of it being childishly escapist. Glad you're not so afflicted!

Also, I definitely stand by my comments on the breadth of your reading... I have never even heard of Blyton and Streatfeild and I did a thesis on Tolkien and spend more hours than I should here, so I'm not exactly ignorant of the fantasy world!
 
Toby Frost said:
Funnily enough, a friend of mine has been watching the old Twilight Zone series. His view is that there are some excellent episodes, quite a lot of fairly good ones, and a few that feel like duds. A lot of the duds, he reckons, are comedy that has aged badly. I suppose there are a few older comedies that age quite well - Tom Lehrer's songs, for instance, or the better Bob Newhart monologues - but they were unusual for their time and are hardly mainstream now.
Click to expand...
Interesting observation. I've heard classic Doctor Who described similarly, even by big fans of the new series... the old episodes have moments of brilliance, but some of it seems very dated and not in the effects sense. I'm a huge fan of comedy in all its forms, and even I struggle sometimes to really love some of the older standup comics or classic films/tv. I even think of rewatch value... I can't listen to a Bill Hicks cd as much as a Beatles cd, because once the punchline is revealed, it loses its punch (for lack of a better word). When you add a few decades of changing sensibilities, it becomes even harder for material to remain relevant without the element of surprise.
 
soulsinging said:
I have never even heard of Blyton and Streatfeild
Click to expand...
Enid Blyton #1 Children's author (for maybe 30 years, UK and Ireland?) Teachers and Librarians were suspicious of her and some wouldn't stock her.
(Capt. W.E. Johns of Biggles fame, and not actually a Captain was #2 for many years)
Noel Streatfeild is EXTREMELY famous for the shoe books, so much that even though an English Author she is mentioned in an important scene in film "You've got Mail". I've 11 of her books (for research purposes, we sadly didn't have them when kids growing up.), the less known Gemma books were more useful for my research for the "Talent Universe" series, which is vaguely hard SF with some Psi powers chucked (there is a special school, so I read loads of Ballet books and School story books dating back to 19th C. Enid Blyton didn't write that many school books compared to earlier authors such as Angela Brazil and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, there are about 61 Chalet School books and an unknown number of shorts published in comics and magazines. Angela Brazil didn't really write series, hence perhaps why less popular, but they are probably the best.).
Enid Blyton's two sets of School stories obviously inspired by the earlier authors.
J.K. Rowling certainly must have been seriously influenced by Enid Blyton. Not sure how much by the Jill Murphy Worst Witch Series, but if not an amazing co-incidence.

Anne Digby "Trebizon" series must have been almost the last major School Series.
The fourteen novels were published between 1978 and 1994. Like Enid Blyton's much earlier creation, Malory Towers, Trebizon is located in Cornwall.

The novels follow the protagonist Rebecca Mason from when she joins the school in the second form through to the end of her fifth year. A major theme throughout the series is Rebecca's burgeoning talent for tennis. Other major characters include Rebecca's two best friends, Tish Anderson and Susan Murdoch, and her boyfriend Robbie Anderson.

Despite their more recent publication dates, the later books in the series are substantially harder to obtain than the earlier ones. This may be because fewer copies were printed during the 1990s recession in the UK book trade. The series is currently out of print but retains a dedicated fan base and titles frequently change hands in a thriving second hand market.

Some of the rarer books in the series are currently being reprinted by Fidra Books. All fourteen books are currently available on Amazon Kindle.
Click to expand...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebizon
I have eight original paperback got at 50c each in a charity shop

There are a few US stories ALMOST like the British style, and maybe one German. But the style of boarding school in UK and Ireland in 20th C (some still survive) that the School stories mostly depend on seems unknown elsewhere. I'm not talking about Public Schools, but sort of Boarding Grammar schools that better off Middle Class parents sent kids to. By 1960s many were day schools only. In Ireland some connected to Protestant denominations, Convents and Monasteries survive.
 
Last edited:
Actually I think "Tom Brown's Schooldays" is the clearest link with JK Rowling's Hogwarts than any other boarding school story.

Dr Arnold - Dumbledore
Flashman - Malfoy
George Arthur - Neville or Harry
Diggs - Ron
etc

I also wonder if that is why Stephen Fry narrates the audiobooks.
 
AnyaKimlin said:
Actually I think "Tom Brown's Schooldays"
Click to expand...
I'll have to re-read it. It's on Gutenberg. Sooooo long since I last read it.

So will some other writer now write a series about Malfoy? :D

Interesting idea. I still think she knows Enid Blyton off by heart even if it is more directly inspired by "Tom Brown's Schooldays"
 
Ray McCarthy said:
Interesting idea. I still think she knows Enid Blyton off by heart even if it is more directly inspired by "Tom Brown's Schooldays"
Click to expand...

Give me any British person over a certain age who read avidly as a child who doesn't know either Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl off by heart? It would be more strange if she wasn't in some way influenced by Enid Blyton. I know she influences my work. As does He-Man and She-Ra, Agatha Christie and no doubt the Chalet School books, and Jane Eyre and....I can see Enid Blyton in some of the ways Pratchett writes. And I suspect people will read mine and point out where the Harry Potter influences are.

HOWEVER as much as the Faraway Tree was one of my favourite stories and every one over a certain age says this from my children's stories is too close it. It has another source. Those who watched children's TV at the same time as I did tend to get it immediately especially as they are usually in pjs when I write them:
They are hurtling down the inside of a tree on the hurly, wurly, burly, gurly, super-duper, round the bend and then again Helter-Skelter. Their ears are popping, their hands are in the air and the boys are yelling with delight until they fly out and land on the pile of cushions at the bottom. Both of them stand up and brush the seat of their jeans. From out of their pockets they remove their SVSS badges and pin them onto their t-shirts.
 
Last edited:
I don't see quite so many copies of his book on stories as earlier years.:(
 
Bick said:
NBFB, I'm not sure what you're suggesting or referring to here, Baylor.
Click to expand...
It used be you'd see most of his books on the shelves in the science/fantasy section. Now , I only see a few of them. :(
 
Given there's a movie of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents with serious star power out now, I'd say things are trending up on this question.
 
Lord of the Rings is timeless. As has been mentioned, humour often isn't, and many of TP's Discworld novels depend on contemporary references, which may still be understandable in 20 years. But perhaps not 50-100 years, when Tolkien's work will be just as well known. It could be argued that the LOTR 'franchise' (not a word that I enjoy) will only increase, whilst the last tv show relating to the Discworld series (The Watch) could potentially be the last we see for some time.
 
I'd like to think that it'll have a core group of fans, but as others have said, humour ages badly.

I wouldn't mind a re-read of the series, though. I reckon that would be hilarous.

RIP Sir Terry. You are missed.
 
paranoid marvin said:
…the last tv show relating to the Discworld series (The Watch) could potentially be the last we see for some time.
Click to expand...
I’m glad you used the words “relating to” there, rather than “based on” or “adapted from”.
Rhianna Pratchett, who now owns the rights to the whole shebang, has publicly stated that the production company (BBC America) and everyone associated with The Watch will never have anything to do with her father’s work ever again .
 
paranoid marvin said:
Lord of the Rings is timeless. As has been mentioned, humour often isn't, and many of TP's Discworld novels depend on contemporary references, which may still be understandable in 20 years. But perhaps not 50-100 years, when Tolkien's work will be just as well known. It could be argued that the LOTR 'franchise' (not a word that I enjoy) will only increase, whilst the last tv show relating to the Discworld series (The Watch) could potentially be the last we see for some time.
Click to expand...

It also explain why James Branch Cabell who books were once widely read, is now forgotten by almost everybody. He was the Terry Pratchett of his era and every bit his equal . He was a master ironic humor and satire . He was witty and funny as hell. Cabell wrote 50 fantasy novels, the most famous is Jurgen A Comedy of Justice


He's a writer I wish more readers in there her and now, would rediscover. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
The Judge Paul Kidby -- Designing Discworld Terry Pratchett 4
Harpo Discworld stamps Terry Pratchett 1
redzwritez Which Terry Pratchett novels are the best starting point for readers new to the Discworld? Terry Pratchett 26
Werthead The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett Reviews & Interviews 67
Mike J Nagle Terry Pratchett's Discworld Reading-Order Flowchart Terry Pratchett 3

Similar threads


Back
Top