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Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
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You're describing character traits of a number of his major characters.
I'm just saying maybe his muse takes care of him in its own little way.
Either way, I'm dropping it now.
On a lighter note...
I lol'd.
And I really don't buy the dementia angle. Among other things, my great grandmother had dementia, so I've seen it firsthand. Terry seems like one of those amazingly together dudes with both feet on his ground and a healthy dose of realism and skepticism in his writing. It it's always reassuring to crack open a Discworld book and see that although the bad guys were trying to summon an evil dragon in an attempt to enslave the city, they were a bunch of crotchety old fogeys who spent more time quibbling over petty details and powertrips than anything else. Discworld might have werewolves and wizards, but its stories are firmly rooted in human nature.
That just means your a sane fucking human being.
NO YOU COMPLETE FUCKING MORON THERE IS NO CHANCE OF THAT WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU
No... being funny or eccentric just doesn't cut it.
There's always been something off-center about his sense of humour that goes beyond just being British.
He's not dead yet.
I *refuse* to mourn him.
I've read everything he's ever published, I think. I bought Light Fantastic first, when it first came out, on a whim, then Colour of Magic, Dark Side of the Sun and Strata. Later on I read the re-release of Carpet People (which, by his own admission, wasn't in the same league).
Since then I've read every discworld book and the asides (e.g. Good Omens) when they came out. He's one of the very few writers who'll I'll buy in hardback, because I can't wait for the paperback.
I know it's not the funniest scene, but one that resonated for me, growing up in a Britain that was very British, and seeing all the changes that came with Americanisation and globalisation, was in Good Omens.
Adam and his mates hear about American-style ice cream:
This even silenced Adam, briefly.
"There aren't thirty-nine flavors of ice cream," said Pepper. "There aren't thirty-nine flavors in the whole world."
"There could be, if you mixed them up," said Wensleydale, blinking owlishly. "You know. Strawberry and chocolate. Chocolate and vanilla." He sought for more English flavors. "Strawberry and vanilla and chocolate," he added, lamely.
He should have the Nobel Prize for Literature - would he be the first humourist to do so?
It better be good.
It has pictures too.
I wouldn't have bought it if it didn't have pictures.
It's not being funny or quirky or whatever you think. Unless you think forgetting who your children are and shitting your pants is really funny.
Small Gods for small minds?
I have a lot of those moments, ones that I love not because they're funny but because of how meaningful they are--Like in Lords and Ladies.
Hell, even just Magrat's initial description in that book gets me.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
So P. G. Wodehouse was suffering from some kind of debilitating brain injury when he wrote that infamous story about the country house, the hot water bottle, and the broom-handle with a large darning needle attached to the end? No right-thinking person would ever come up with something that twisted. How about Douglas Adams? I mean, the guy wrote about breeding cattle who actually enjoyed being eaten, and shot themselves to save everyone else the bother. That's pretty demented, if you ask me. Jerome K. Jerome organized that cruise down the Thames because he wasn't feeling well and got lost in that wacky maze while looking for Harris. Maybe it was early-onset Alzheimers. I'll bet Oscar Wilde had a whole host of horrifying and crippling mental conditions. And I suppose John Cleese had some sort of weird neuro-muscular affliction that ultimately led to the Ministry of Silly Walks.
But you are. You're even in one of the clearly-defined stages: bargaining. When faced with the prospect that one of your favorite authors won't be writing your favorite books any more, you're saying "hey, maybe he was a little funny in the head all along, and maybe this won't affect him as badly as everyone thinks!"
The fact of the matter is, there's a long line of humorists and comedians with equally wacky and (dare I say it) demented senses of humor. Reducing the whole thing down to a brain defect is frankly insulting not only to him, but to everyone who has come before him.
edit@Quid: Thud! is one of my favorites, too. It's just so well put together. For my money, though, Hogfather is still my favorite. I read it every Christmas, along with Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Hell, it's the best one period.
It is pretty much flawless.
Oh my g...oh my l...crap.
Seriously, though, this is terrible, the man is one of the few fantasy writers I read anymore, now that Card doesn't write good things anymore and Martin stopped pumping out sequels. Seriously, I'm worried about this, not only because his death would bring along one of the saddest deaths in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, up there with Vonnegut and Dick, but also because when he dies I may very well stop reading fiction.
Pratchett is up there in my books. Top shelf.
But seriously, check out his cover art. Its insane.
That luggage has an insane number of legs and follows around a tourist.
I'm saying, he if continues to write his stories and style may alter completely, but he'll still be Terry Pratchett.
Seriously. Just STOP.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
He's only been diagnosed in the early stages.
I reading an interview with him where he said that he basically tolerated the old artist, but enjoys working with Paul Kidby because he actually understands the books. Also, in terms of character design, he's got Nanny Ogg pretty much nailed (a phrase that she would probably find amusing.)
But at least it seems he'll have time to eventually bring closure to the series.
Man, this is sad. I couldn't imagine how scary it would be, being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Yes, one day we will all die and there is nothing we can do about it. But DEATH is not Evil, he is just very very good at HIS job.
And the fact that he allways TALKS LIKE THIS. Pure genius, so simple yet so definitive. Lets you know all you need to know about DEATH, without any fuss.
And I don't think Mr. Pratchett's writing style is in any way indicitive of a mind unbalanced - he's just a very clever, very funny, exceptionally creative man, and has been for decades.
I think the re-written Carpet People is ace. I think it balances Pratchett's later wit and wisdom with a cracking good adventure yarn set within an intriguing premise. It ws republished in 1993, so pretty much slap bang in the middle of what I consider Pterry's best period staring with Reaper Man in '91 and ending with Feet of Clay in '96.
I think that period contains os of his most profound writing, his best jokes and superiour plots.
Not, that I hasten to add, I consider any of his other work bad, just that '91-'96 was the golden age of PTerry.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
Well, an the author of the character of DEATH. I'm amused that he's friends with Neil Gaiman, who wrote our other modern archetypal image of Death. I still imagine that most of the time they spent writing Good Omens arguing about which version of Death the book's would more closely model. We're lucky they didn't just give up and rip off the Castlevania interpretation.
But yeah, this is tragic news. I haven't been hit as hard by literary news since Adams, though of course that was much more sudden. I mean, Vonnegut's was sad and desrving all the reminiscing and fond "So it goes," it created, but the guy was in his late eighties and probably didn't mind all that much at that point. That was more expected and natural, I felt. This is much too soon. Of course, who knows? He could still have a good decade or two, but a disease like this is horrible and I wouldn't wish it on my worse enemy. Think, there could be a point where he won't remember Rincewind or Vimes. As a guy who spent decades writing about his own characters and video game designs (not that I can do so professionally yet, but still,) I can't imagine much worse a fate.
Yes, there names are so simliliar I always confuse them but the new guy (Kidby?) is awesome. When I saw his Granny Weatherwax my jaw dropped. The man has a talent for reaching into my imagination and ripping out mental pictures I didn't know I had.
Yeah, there are a lot of characters that I never really had clear mental pictures of. Like Rincewind... I just couldn't get a clear image until I saw the artwork in The Last Hero.
I think I'm going to go reread Small Gods.