Live data from Hacker News

Sir Terry Pratchett has died

bbc.com

161–170 of 234 posts

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#161

I was introduced to Terry Prachett by watching Terry Pratchett's Hogfather as done by Sky One. Really late to get into his stories, but since then I had started with book 1 of Discworld. Are there authors who write similarly?

Robert Rankin perhaps? Try the Brentford Triangle. I've been the Griffin Park (not that i'm boasting or anything).

I couldn't get into the Brentford Triangle personally, but I really enjoyed Armageddon the Musical.

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#162
post #160

One of my bands, the Feng Shui Ninjas, wrote a song about the Nac Mac Feegles, who appear in several of Terry Pratchett's books. In his memory, we're making it available for free on Bandcamp. Any payments for the song or the album will be donated for Alzheimer's research. This hit us really hard. https://fengshuininjas.bandcamp.com/track/livin-every-dae-as...

The drummer and I also have a side band named Carpe Jugulum, after another Terry Pratchett story. And another bandmate was on the concom for the Discworld convention. Like I said, it hit us pretty hard.

I hope he's drinking, fighting, and stealing his way through the amazing afterlife with the Feegles. He deserves it.

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#163
post #132
post #98

Damn! Won't some millionaire here get him the cryogenics treatment. The world should not lose a man like Terry Pratchett.

Apparently that's pissing people off. Too bad for those who feel offended. I'll stand by my statement. Pratchett has had a profoundly positive impact on the world including my life in particular. I wanted to see him cured and flourishing to a ripe, very old age. If I could have brought about even a moonshot possibility of having that happen eventually I would. But I failed. I was too late. Some others needn't have be…

Alas it's too late, for his brain is dead and warm. There was a nice 'translation of a song' on today's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality chapter (http://hpmor.com/chapter/120), I'll repost here:

    Even if the stars should die in heaven,
    Our sins can never be undone.
    No single death will be forgiven
    When fades at last the last lit sun.
    Then in the cold and silent black
    As light and matter end,
    We'll have ourselves a last look back
    And toast an absent friend.

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#164
post #13

Read http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/24/terry-pratchett... if you want to understand him. Read http://www.lspace.org/books/pqf/ if you want a quick reminder of what we have lost. Goodbye Terry, you will be remembered fondly.

I don't think we have lost anything. I think we gained something incredible over a short time. Nobody lives forever. What Terry Pratchett has given to us will live longer than any person. I'm not sad that he has died. Everyone who is born dies, and there's an infinite number of potential people who are never born. What is important is that we live, and while we live some of us do extraordinary things. I'm reading Gua…

Does she like music? Play her this song... It's about the Nac Mac Feegles. I think she might like it.

https://fengshuininjas.bandcamp.com/track/livin-every-dae-as...

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#166
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp." — Terry Pratchett

'He was the sort of person who stood on mountaintops during thunderstorms in wet copper armour shouting 'All the Gods are bastards.' - Terry Pratchett

"He says gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at."

I love Small Gods :-(

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#168
Incredibly sad news.

Plenty of people on this thread have recommended some of his best books(Small Gods, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment) but nobody has brought up Jingo yet. It's a wonderful satire of extreme war nationalism, it's part of "The Watch" series of Discworld books so it helps if you've read the previous books ( Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay ) but reading it by itself is fine.

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#169
post #156
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mort is my go-to suggestion for a starter book. The Death books in general are pretty damn good.

I agree. The Death books are by far my favourite ones of the Discworld series.

Was The Watch for me but now it just might be The Witches.

I liked the character of Granny Weatherwax but the Tiffany Aching series really brought out her essential nature in a way the other books didn't.

Damnit now I feel sad again.

Re: Sir Terry Pratchett has died

#170
post #61

Words to live by: "There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who, when presented with a glass that is exactly half full, say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs , however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was f…

Related Far Side comic:

http://imgur.com/Gi2dtEz

Post reply on HN