Joseph Bottum at First Things doesn’t like the Kindle.
Why is the text on Kindle so awful—hundreds of years of lessons about typesetting, lost in an instant? Bad line breaks, bad hyphens, bad page composition, bad times.
Much of the column is devoted to his affection for Terry Pratchett.
I’ve never gotten Terry Pratchett. I suppose I didn’t give him enough chance. People told me how great he was, so I picked up the first Discworld book, The Color of Magic, to start at the beginning. Didn’t get very far. I couldn’t see what everybody was so enthusiastic about.
I don’t even get the point of most of the citations Bottum includes. I can only assume there’s something very wrong with me.
Besides the passive-aggressive fishing for reassurance, I mean.
Photo credit: Getty Images.
Humor’s a funny thing – to use the old saying. I think whether or not we find someone amusing depends on whether we share their worldview. (That’s overstated I know.) Pratchett at times has quite an anti-christian bias to his stuff. I’ve enjoyed a couple of his novels, but I’m not a great fan.
– You might try listening to one;I’ve found that sometimes I get a very different reaction to a novel when I listen to a good reading of it.
The only Pratchett I’ve read is Reaper Man and, truly, it was hilarious.
The Colour of Magic is his first, and it’s the weakest. Try Weird Sisters instead. Or Guards, Guards, as you like crime fiction. Heh, heh.
I agree about listening. It has saved many a classic novel for me … A Tale of Two Cities, for example, and also right now The Count of Monte Cristo.
Will’s suggestions are good. Or try Witches Abroad or Hogfather. Two of my favorites.
I agree with Will. Judging Terry Pratchett by The Color of Magic is like deciding to read the Bible, starting with Leviticus, and then giving up because sacrificial laws that haven’t been practiced since 70 AD don’t give you a lot of spiritual sustenance.
However, you have to remember that Terry Pratchett is British. Remember the nation that produced C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Chesterton? Forget about it. While Pratchett may have the same ideals, he justifies them differently. His writings about religion would be as attractive to you as those of a sincere follower of Thor or Odin.
Having said that, I think you should do as Julie suggested and read Hogfather. In large part, it is an Atheist explaining the need for religion. If Europe is ever to be re-evangelized I think it would be using that route.
I think my favorite is The Wee Free Men.
Crivins!
The Wee Free Men is outstanding. Indeed, Pratchett has the knowin’ of the writin’.
A few more thoughts on audio; a good reader can bring things out of the text we might miss in a silent reading. We get a kind of understanding of the text through the tone of his voice and through his manner of delivery. (I like to have a text open as I listen.)
– This is something like listening to a poet read one of his poems aloud, and reading it yourself silently.
– I sometimes read bits of dialogue aloud, to try and bring them more to life. (Am I the only oddball that does this?)
– People like to claim that people centuries ago didn’t know how to read silently, but I suspect there was a different reason they read aloud. Number one it’s easier to remember a text if you read it aloud, and I also thinks it makes the reading experience more vivid. (I think this is mainly true for poetry and plays, and some kinds of fiction.)
I third the recommendation of The Wee Free Men.
And why has our wonderful military not seen the value of a gonnagle in modern combat?
I vocalize my words internally a good bit, which is almost like reading aloud. The thing I like best about audiobooks is the pronunciation of foreign or odd words. I’m still listening to Les Miserables, which has tons of difficult language.
Oh, dear: yes, I agree with everyone who says Don’t Start With the Colour of Magic! The Wee Free Men is lovely. (“He’s a lawyer! And he’s got a BRIEFCASE! Oh, waily, waily!”) My husband and I are on book-buying austerity measures, but as soon as we come off, we’re getting that one…
Carpe Jugulum has a very impressive monologue on what REAL religion is like. It’s a pity Pratchett isn’t a believer, because in some sense he GETS it and his resulting books would be outstanding. :-/
Going Postal and Making Money are also really good. I’d avoid Pyramids for now, though. I mean, it’s not even set in the Century of the Fruitbat.