#Terry Pratchett's Nation

[alynnl]

I reread Terry Pratchett's Nation this year and I always enjoy it every read.

It takes its themes seriously but also has the lighter moments needed to give a breather in its overall heavy narrative.

What I appreciate the most about it is how human all the characters read to me. And how their beliefs aren't dismissed even when the truth comes out. There is no wrong answer when it comes to faith vs. science, both are given equal credit since they're part of that human experience.

I also see a theme carried on in Nation that I've seen in other Prachett books such as Good Omens and Small Gods.

"Here and now, we are alive." and variations thereof.

In the case of Nation, instead of going to the perfect world, Mau decides he will remain in this one and try to do his part to make it a better one.

It will probably never be completely perfect, but in many small ways we can make life brighter and more worth living.

By connecting with others and finding common ground, we can become more than the sum of our parts.

That's the message I took away from this reread.

And also this is my informal recommendation to read Terry Pratchett's Nation if you haven't yet, or reread it if it's been a while.

I think it's one of his best standalone novels, and it has a message that speaks to all ages.

[dm-me-your-weltanschauung]

henlo! I saw This Post™ from you, and was wanting to know if you could share said list? I got very curious about it!

That is kind of vague, isn't it?

The event's organizer scanned and uploaded the zine here, so anybody who wanted to could print it out and distribute it.

But in case you don't feel like swiveling your head a bunch, my list (in no particular order) was:

Muriel's Wedding (1994, dir. P.J. Hogan)

Castle Waiting Vols. 1 & 2 (2006 and 2010, by Linda Medley)

The Nameless City Trilogy (2016-2018, by Faith Erin Hicks)

Nation (2008, by Terry Pratchett)

Parable of the Sower (1993, by Octavia Butler)

This, of course, was just what I had room for, bounded by the definition mentioned above and the informal rule that I didn't want to include any children's media. As I said before, media aimed at or about children tends to fulfill this definition. But I tried to steer clear of it because there's not much subversive about writing children's media without romance. My aim was to highlight media where a conventional story would take the opportunity to shoehorn in a romance at some point, but these stories did not.

And in case anyone is curious, the story on the list that most explicitly rejects amatonormativity is Muriel's Wedding (although I doubt anyone involved in the movie would describe it that way), and my favourite story on the list is Castle Waiting.

[stvrmaker]

Bildad my beloved.

Your honor, I love her and her fuckass wig.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Vote for Good Omens and David Tennant in the British National Television Awards! :) ❤

>> LINK <<

David is nominated for Doctor Who at the page 7 :)

And Good Omens is nominated in Comedy at the page 14 :) (and Staged is there too! :D <3)

At the end you'll be asked for your email :) You can vote until 31th May.

[theamazingsaraman]

They look familiar…

I have a card with this image on it from the National Gallery of Ireland which I definitely didn’t buy solely because it reminded me of Crowley and Aziraphale 😅 now that we’ve seen them both in angel form together it seems particularly perfect. The Crowley one even has a plant 🪴😌

‘Two Winged Angels in Profile’ 1924, Harry Clarke, Oil on canvas

[tiptopticketyboo]

It's not fun getting sick on vacation 🥺 And yet I'm so thrilled having started the first book written by just Terry Pratchett. I can hardly put it down and worry that I'm going to read it too fast. It's so funny and heartbreaking and subtle and profound. Making sense of the world that will never be the same after the tectonic plates of your worldview shift... I always had a hunch I'm going to love his books and it turned out to be true. I should have started reading them after Good Omens and yet I started with his-who-must-not-be-named ones. I never recommend books until I finish them but this time I do. The thought that the whole universe of Sir Terry's books exists makes me happy right now.

[noirandchocolate]

After a longer silence, the girl asked: 'Would you go back? If you could?' 'You mean, without the wave?' 'Yes. Without the wave.' 'Then I'd have gone home, and everyone would have been alive, and I would be a man.' 'Would you rather be that man? Would you change places with him?' asked the ghost girl. 'And not be me? Not know about the globe? Not have met you?' 'Yes!' Mau opened his mouth to reply and found it choked with words. He had to wait until he could see a path through them. 'How can I answer you? There is no language. There was a boy called Mau. i see him in my memory, so proud of himself because he was going to be a man. He cried for his family and turned the tears into rage. And if he could, he would say "Did not happen!" and the wave would roll backward and never have been. But there is another boy, and he is called Mau, too, and his head is on fire with new things. What does he say? He was born in the wave, and he knows that the world is round, and he met a ghost girl who is sorry she shot at him. He called himself the little blue hermit crab, scuttling across the sand in search of a new shell, but now he looks at the sky and knows that no shell will ever be big enough, ever. Will you ask him not to be? Any answer will be the wrong one. All I can be is who I am. But sometimes I hear the boy inside crying for his family.' 'Does he cry now?' asked Daphne, looking down at the ground. 'Every day. But very softly. You won't hear him.'

--Terry Pratchett, "Nation"

(Hey, if you're a Discworld fan and haven't read this book may I recommend it? Also: hey, if you've heard of this Terry Pratchett guy and how great he is, but think Discworld wouldn't be your thing for one reason or another? May I recommend this excellent book as a gateway to Pratchett's writing? It's about upheaval, and grief, and healing. It is beautifully written, and I swear it'll rip out your heart and then put it back in but different. Or, if your heart has already been stricken, it might offer some solace or hope.)

[rotm-channel]

In-universe This drawing was done by Jamie who managed to find some old tapes of Fireball XL5 while his young mind was captivated by the interstellar adventures of Steve and his crew he minded that it was in black and white so he made this drawing to give it some color.....

For Fireball XL5s 62nd anniversary(This took 2 months of hard work and planning to make so I hope you love it)f

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[aeshnacyanea2000]

Vimes laughed. ‘Well, Clarence, any national anthem that starts “Awake!” is going to lead to trouble. They didn’t teach you this in the Patrician’s office?’

-- Terry Pratchett - Monstrous Regiment

[pratchettquotes]

"In Uberwald the dwarfs and trolls haven't settled their old grievances, there are large areas controlled by feudal vampire or werewolf clans, and there are also tracts with much higher than normal background magic. It is a chaotic place, indeed, and you'd hardly think you were in the Century of the Fruitbat. It is to be hoped that things will improve, however, and Uberwald will, happily, be joining the community of nations."

Vimes and Vetinari exchanged looks. Sometimes Carrot sounded like a civics essay written by a stunned choirboy.

"Well put," said the Patrician, at last. "But until that joysome day, Uberwald remains a mystery inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma."

Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant

[dimity-lawn]

[andromeda3116]

"One day when I was a young boy on holiday in Uberwald, I was walking along the bank of a stream when I saw a mother otter with her cubs. A very endearing sight, I'm sure you will agree, and even as I watched, the mother otter dived into the water and came up with a plump salmon, which she subdued and dragged onto a half-submerged log. As she ate it, while of course it was still alive, the body split and I remember to this day the sweet pinkness of its roes as they spilled out, much to the delight of the baby otters who scrambled over themselves to feed on the delicacy. One of nature's wonders, gentlemen: mother and children dining upon mother and children. And that's when I first learned about evil. It is built into the very nature of the universe. Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being, I told myself, it is up to all of us to become his moral superior."

--Lord Vetinari, Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[twasjane]

I would love to know what first nations people, specifically Polynesians, think of Nation by Terry Pratchett.

He considered it his best work and I'd agree with him. It's one of his few non-comedic books, it deals with colonialism and racism, as well as death and how to heal from loss and trauma.

I'm just curious as to what people who are represented in this story think of it- both critical and positive.

[cbk1000]

I actually think it's so sexy when an author makes me laugh hysterically and then kicks my heart right in the nuts mere sentences later.

[luffysfakebeard]

no one writes man’s struggle against higher powers quite like Pratchett could