#discworld thud

[mendedrum]

Beating people up in little rooms, he knew were that led. And if you did it for a good reason, you'd do it for a bad one. You couldn't say "we are the good guys," and do bad guy things.

Terry Pratchett, Thud (via Samuel Vimes)

........

Terry Pratchett's social commentary is impeccable as always. I love these lines. They're so simple yet so raw.

[thesustainedworldatransverse]

I am loving the localised onomatopoeia in these international editions of Thud!

While the Chinese go for the triple-whammy of Peng! Peng! Peng!

[cosmicrhetoric]

can these guys quit it.

[dimity-lawn]

[ggenggar]

[pratchettquotes]

"It's strange that they don't seem to mind you, Otto," he said, calming down a little.

"Vell, I am not official," said Otto. "I do not haf zer sword und zer badge. I do not threaten. I am just a vorking stiff. And I make zem laff."

Vimes stared at the man. He'd never thought about that before. But yes...little fussy Otto, in his red-lined black opera cloak with pockets for all his gear, his shiny black dress shoes, his carefully cut widow's peak and, not least, his ridiculous accent that grew thicker or thinner depending on whom he was talking to, did not look like a threat. He looked funny, a joke, a music-hall vampire. It had never previously occurred to Vimes that, just possibly, the joke was on other people. Make them laugh, and they're not afraid.

Terry Pratchett, Thud!

[mushroom-punk]

???

they are flirting with each other.

[sundancefemme]

obsessed with the summoning dark’s sections of thud. vimes’s subconscious took one look at the quasidemonic eldritch god in his head and said im not trapped in here with you, youre trapped in here with me. and it WAS.

[psychuan]

y'know having read them multiple times i don't understand why people say that Night Watch is the darkest City Watch book when Thud! is right there.

like, Night Watch is pretty grim when you focus on the inevitability of it, but throughout the book the whole like... THING of it is "being told something is inevitable, and fighting it anyway." it's a story about hope and inspiring it in others even when you're not sure you're going to make it through either way. right up until the final melee with Carcer, Vimes does what he can to forestall the inevitable, and for most of the book, he *wins.*

Thud! on the other hand is about fighting against the weight of deep ancient grudges, and the outcome of it SEEMS inevitable. Koom Valley Will Happen Again, and throughout the book there seems no way to stop it. the resolution comes right at the very end, although the book 100% earns the reveal. but it's one man and a small team fighting against bigotry and hatred and figureheads stoking war.

that's not even TOUCHING on the actual Events in the book, which include a hit squad armed with flamethrowers very nearly torching Sam Vimes' infant son to fucking death. then there's the whole thing with the Summoning Dark which keeps trying to push Vimes' rage to the point of murder, there's the part where it *succeeds* and drives him into an unstoppable berserker rage, there's people dying slowly in dark tunnels, and the Vurms which feasting on putrefied corpses.

it's also the first time we've seen Vimes in an actual Murderous rage. every time beforehand he's been angry but it's been "oh i'm gonna arrest the SHIT out of you. i might put the boot in for good measure but you're coming with ME, sunshine." but no, this time he's literally chasing down a hitman screaming "i'll kill you" over and over again.

Thud! is a properly dark book. and yet despite it's unrelenting horribleness... Love Still Wins. Love for your fellow "man." Love wins in all Pterry's books, you can tell, it shines off the page when you read them just how much that man loved humanity, warts 'n' all, but in this one it feels like it's the most optimistic ending. it's the one that goes "in spite of it all, the bigots and warmongers and the narrow minded Will Lose, because there are always people willing to go to the ends of the earth for Love, Love of one another."

i think that's why it's my favourite book in the series.

[reluctanttree]

as a friend said to this description of Corporal Nobby Nobbs,

"i want to be an open book that’s banned in some countries

peak gender"

[alyona11]

Reading book to young Sam vs READING BOOK TO YOUNG SAM 💀

[mendedrum]

Young dwarfs listened to him because he talked about history and destiny and all the other words that always got trotted out to put a gloss on slaughter.

Terry Pratchett, Thud

-----

the way this line was delivered was brilliant. drew a good chuckle out of me. it's so raw and relevant especially when discussing topics such as ultranationalism and well, fascism.

[the-wine-dark-sea]

I love their dynamic lol

[magpiesketchins]

I'm sorry I didn't sign up to be emotionally eviscerated by Sam Vimes reading to his son.

[dimity-lawn]

[thestuffedalligator]

So there’s this bit at the end of Thud! where they’re in the king’s cave, and Bashfullson explains the nature of the Summoning Dark, and Angua says she believes him, and Sam is presented with proof of the dark and he starts. Rationalizing.

…his mind worked fast, flying in emergency supplies of common sense, as human minds do, to construct a huge anchor in sanity and prove that what had happened hadn’t really happened and, if it had happened, hadn’t happened much.

It was all mystic, that’s what it was. Oh, it might all be true, but how could you ever tell? You had to stick to the things you can see. And you had to keep reminding yourself of that, too.

Yeah, that was it. What had really happened, eh? A few signs? Well, anything can look like you want it to if you’re wound up enough, yes? A sheep can look like a cow, right? Ha!

And I laughed when I first read this because it’s very Sam Vimes, but now that I’m thinking about it. I think this is the only time we ever see a Discworld protagonist do this.

Other characters get to see the squiddy, weird underbelly of the universe, the invisible magic and the world of the supernatural and acknowledge it. Moist hears the whispers of the words, Tiffany can see the Nac Mac Feegle and so on but Sam never does. Carrot and Nobby and Fred have all seen Death enough to greet him in public, but in I think? Fifth Elephant? Sam says he’s never seen Death before, and in that case only saw him because he was fighting for his life.

It’s like the opposite of First Sight. Sam has Second Sight so hard that he can look into First Sight, close the door, and block the way with huge bricks of rationalization. The only character who comes close to that is Susan, who tries to ignore the supernatural but knows she never can.