181–190 of 234 posts
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?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 ou…
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…
telnet discworld.atuin.net 23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting, etymologically. "Good bye" is a contraction of "God be with ye (you)", which isn't quite so abrupt. "Au revoir", literally, "until (we) see again". Similar to "Hasta manyana" (until later), or "bis später" (same), Spanish and German, or "zài jiàn" ("see (you) again", Mandarin Chinese) . Farewells (literally, "fare thee well", be well) in many languages share similar attributes.
Never mind "bis später", what about "auf wiedersehen"... and "à bientôt" - see you soon. Strangely, I don't really say "goodbye" all that often - it's either "later" or "'til next time.".
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…
I've never read any of his books, although I've been meaning to for some time. Can anyone who's read through them comment? According to the Discworld wikipedia article, publication order may not be the best way to go through the series. This[1] page recommends reading a plot/chronological order. Personally I prefer reading books in publication order, since I get to follow the mind of the author. Given that, there are…
Read the very short story 'Troll Bridge' - http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/athenia/stories/pterry/troll... Then buy the lot, you will not regret it. Some are better than others, naturally, but even his worst is like Tom Holt on top form. I'd read them in order, personally. Though that might just be because that's been my experience of them. As others have said, the style changes after The Light Fantastic, but the fir…
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/snowgumfilms/terry-prat...
I've never read any of his books, although I've been meaning to for some time. Can anyone who's read through them comment? According to the Discworld wikipedia article, publication order may not be the best way to go through the series. This[1] page recommends reading a plot/chronological order. Personally I prefer reading books in publication order, since I get to follow the mind of the author. Given that, there are…
I started with Pyramids half my life ago, back in my early teens. It's the only novel not to have started its own mini series, which I have always felt is a bit of a shame. But it did hook me and made me want to read all of the others. I think by the time of Pyramids TP was really getting in to his stride, so when I went back to The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic and found them less polished I wasn't put off…
As for Pyramids, for me as someone who's first programming language was an 8-bit BASIC variant, and was amidst calculus and trig etc. in his later high school career the camel's thought processes were totally mindblowing.
For all I know, Terry Pratchett accidentally rigged reality through writing this book in order to turn me into a software developer...
--
"The silence that followed was by way of being a standing ovation.
The landscape began to distort again. This was clearly not a place to linger. You Bastard looked down at his front legs.
Let legs equal four.
He lumbered into a run. Camels apparently have more knees than any other creature and You Bastard ran like a steam engine, with lots of extraneous movement at right angles to the direction of motion accompanied by a thunderous barrage of digestive noises.
'Bloody stupid animal,' muttered Ptraci, as they jolted away from the palace, 'but it looks like it finally got the idea.' "
This hits hard. Pratchett has been a constant in my life ever since I picked up my first Discworld book at 13. I'll be reading "Guards, Guards!" tonight in memory of him while eating a hot meat pie of questionable origin.
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…
--- Mort