Read By: Stephen Briggs
Length: 7h 10m (400 pages)

Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy

Started: 09 July 2008
Finished: 17 July 2008

Summary: Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching is a shepherd's daughter who has never left the grassy turf of the Chalk that is her home, reads the dictionary, makes cheese, is generally overlooked by her busy parents, and is forced to watch her sticky younger brother who can do nothing but yell for sweeties. Tiffany has also decided that she wants to be a witch. When her brother is kidnapped by the evil Queen of Fairyland, Tiffany must get him back, despite the fact that she doesn't know any magic, and is armed only with her wits, a frying pan, and her grandmother's copy of Diseases of the Sheep. But Granny Aching was more than she appeared, and Tiffany will not be going alone - she'll have the help of the Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men, a band of rowdy, thieving, drunken, six-inch tall blue Scotsmen.

Review: Before this, I'd only read two of Pratchett's books (three if you count Good Omens): The Light Fantastic and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, and while I didn't hate them, I found them to be pretty much "mildly amusing fantasy lite." There are tons of slavering Pratchett-o-philes out there, so I figured there had to be something I was missing. I think I found that something in The Wee Free Men - I don't think I've made the conversion to Prachett-o-philia, but at least now I kind of get it. The Wee Free Men was charming, funny (laugh-out-loud at times), and had some real heart and emotional depth to it. Tiffany is not only a real heroine, but also a very relatable character, and had I read this when I was younger, I would have recognized myself in her instantly (still did, to be honest). There are parts when the writing slips a little bit - either trying too hard to be witty or trying to hard to impart its moral lesson. I also felt like the tone of the later chapters was a little out of keeping with most of the rest of the book (plus I missed the Feegles, even though I get why Tiffany had to face the Queen alone). Overall, though, I really enjoyed listening to this book - Stephen Briggs did an excellent job with the narration, giving perfect voice to the Feegle's heavy Scottish dialect. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: A funny, enjoyable read for young adults and adults alike, and a good starting place if you are unfamiliar with (or unenchanted by) the rest of Pratchett's books.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Links: Feegle Free Fall

Other Reviews: A Chain of Letters, Adventures in Reading, Outside of a Dog, Bookslut, Books for Ears, Read This!

First Line: Some things start before other things.

"Ach, no. That's typical bigjob thinking. First Sight is when you can see what's really there, not what your heid tells you ought to be there."

 – Terry Pratchett

First sight has its disadvantages, but it’s certainly preferable to what my “heid” currently forces me to see. Whether it’s that I need to paint my skin with coffee to be forgiven for the “sin” of being white or that the most rational explanation for someone not answering the phone is that they’ve been burned to death, my head’s version of events isn’t very comfortable.

I have been drawing a lot lately. Mainly, I have been drawing pictures of wood.

When I was a small child, I would sit and draw for hours. The drawings would be exclusively of things I had imagined. I didn’t see the point of drawing the things around me. What was the point of drawing what I could already see?

A less than inspiring art teacher, other interests and my frustration with my inability to accurately reproduce the pictures in my head on a piece of paper meant that I gradually drew less and less.

It is only recently that I have started taking interest in drawing the things I could see. And I drawing them, I discovered that though I could see them more often than not, I didn’t see them. For years I have walked past the same masterpiece of swirling lines on a chairleg without seeing it. It was only when I had to draw those same lines that I saw them. It was only by forcing myself to notice each ripple in the grain of the wood, how they grew thicker and thinner, the pattern of flecks, straight lines and curves, that I truly saw them. I never noticed the shadows falling across the table until I smudged them onto paper with charcoal.

Sometimes, it takes more imagination to see what is really there than to imagine something unreal. To imagine something unreal, you have to throw together ideas and fit them together to make something that doesn’t exist. To see what is really there, you have to force your mind to abandon what you think is really there. You have to have the magical ability which the witches of the Discworld refer to as First Sight – the ability to see what is really there. You have to see the detailsyour brain filtered out because it didn’t think they were important, and then realise how beautiful and important they really are.

I hope I develop the power of First Sight. Not just because my sight distorts things to ugliness, but because things as they are are beautiful.

I am now Spirit-Rider. I rode a horse for the first time on Friday. It was awesome. The horse I was on was named Spirit, making me Spirit Rider. Spirit was lazy. Calling myself Spirit-Rider makes me sound mystical, though, so I'm going to call myself that for a while.

I just got yarn (and cast on) foar a new project. It is the Flower Tied Cardigan from Vogue Knitting. The main color is an ocean blue, and the contrast color is a dark teal-ish color. Yum.

We are leaving for Morro Bay tomorrow. I should have internet there, they have DSL. I'm hoping I can plug in correctly, so I will have (if albit slow) internet. I'm not sure if I can last a full week without checking in to knittyboard or checking my e-mail. Yes, I know I'm addicted. No, I don't care.

I love Discworld. Terry Pratchett is awesome. I made the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat. Everybody loves it. I love it. The yarn I used is nice and soft and squishy and wool-y.

By the way, "non sequitur" means "does not follow", if you didn't know that, you would probably be lost.

(someone on knitty posted the picture of the sign, I photoshopped Zaphod in)

Semana passada foi a Telefônica, hoje é a BrT - mas num universo mais restrito e que gerou dedo no olho também por parte do provedor:

Apesar de a Brasil Telecom recomendar que o assinante entre em contato com o UOL, basta que o usuário reinicie o computador e o modem para que a navegação volte ao normal. [...]
A página que impede o acesso à Internet é de inteira responsabilidade da Brasil Telecom. O UOL aguarda uma solução para o problema.

Por falar em Brasil Telecom, o ministro Hélio Costa garantiu que a prisão de Daniel Dantas não interfere na venda da BrT para a Oi/Telemar, pelo que ele viu e pelo que ele entendeu. *Ufa, que alívio!*

Já a notícia da compra da Editora Conrad pela Ediouro "pode ser" anunciada no final de julho. A intenção da Ediouro, que já comprou a Pixel, é tornar-se a maior editora de quadrinhos do país, concorrendo com a Panini.

De minha parte o que interessa é: isso vai significar mais agilidade no lançamento de novos títulos de Terry Pratchett?

Gehört ihr noch zu der Kategorie Bücherwurm oder hat die Multimedia-Welt euch fest im Griff?

Nunja, in meiner Kindheit und Jugend war ich auf jeden Fall eine echte Leseratte! Die Jungendbücherabteilung der örtlichen Leihbücherei habe ich fast komplett abgegrast, vor allem "Die drei ???" und die diversen Enid Blyton-Reihen ("Fünf Freunde", "Geheimnis um ...", "Rätsel um ...", "... der Abenteuer", etc.) hatten es mir angetan. Auch sehr interessant waren die Sachbücher aus der "Was ist was?"-Reihe von Tessloff. Und als Teenager war ich dann ziemlich begeistert von den Fantasy-Romanen von Wolfgang und Heike Hohlbein.

Mittlerweile ist mein Lesekonsum aufgrund zunehmender Konkurrenz durch alternative Medien (Film, TV, Internet und Musik) bei gleichzeitig weitaus weniger Freizeit bedauerlicherweise stark zurückgegangen. Zum Lesen komme ich eigentlich nur noch morgens und abends in der Bahn, auf dem Weg zur Arbeit bzw. nach Hause (jeweils eine knappe Stunde Fahrt, allerdings unterbrochen durch 2-mal Umsteigen). Dort lese ich aber meistens nur diverse Computer-, Entertainment- oder Sportmagazine (PC Welt, GameStar, SFT, Eishockey-Magazin, SportBILD Fußball-Sonderhefte ...) - man will ja schließlich auf dem Laufenden bleiben, was seine Hobbies angeht. Oder ich treffe einen von zahlreichen Bekannten, mit dem ich mich dann unterhalte und komme überhaupt nicht zum Lesen!

Zuhause sitze ich dann - zugegeben - die meiste Zeit vor der Mattscheibe (TV oder PC) denn das regelmäßige Lesen diverser Blogs, Filmrätsel, das Coachen eines virtuellen Eishockey-Teams, die Recherche nach neuer Musik, etc. benötigt ja auch einiges an Zeit, ganz abgesehen von einer weiteren Leidenschaft, den Computerspielen, die in letzter Zeit leider auch viel zu kurz kommt.

Man kann also durchaus behaupten, dass mich die Multimedia-Welt fest im Griff hat. Ein handfestes Indiz dafür ist auch die Tatsache, dass ich jeweils bei weitem mehr DVDs und CDs im Regal stehen habe als Bücher ...

Darf es also ein spannender Roman sein oder eher die abendliche Fernsehserie?

Wie der vorangegangene Abschnitt bereits vermuten lässt, tendiere ich hier fast ausschließlich zum Fernsehen. Mein TV-Konsum beschränkt sich überwiegend auf Spielfilme oder Serien, in beiden Fällen bevorzugt aus US-amerikanischer Produktion. Oder Konzerte - aber die laufen leider meistens irgendwann mitten in der Nacht ... mit diversen Soaps oder Reality-TV kann man mich hingegen jagen!

Herkömmliche Bücher, Ebooks oder Hörbücher?

Also wenn schon Buch, dann bitte richtig! Ein komplettes Buch möchte ich wirklich nicht am PC lesen (müssen) und hören tue ich dann doch lieber Musik bzw. lese das Buch lieber selbst.

Hardcover oder Taschenbuch?

Die genannten Hohlbeins stehen allesamt als schöne Hardcover (immer noch) im Regal, mittlerweile bin ich aber fast ausschließlich auf Taschenbücher umgestiegen, weil sie einfach günstiger, sowie leichter und kompakter sind. Wenn nur die unschönen Knicke im Buchrücken der Paperbacks nicht wären, die sich selbst bei vorsichtigem Lesen kaum vermeiden lassen ... ja, auf solche Äußerlichkeiten lege ich durchaus Wert! Ebenfalls wichtig ist für mich, dass eine Reihe zusammengehörender Bücher durchgehend einheitlich im Regal steht - also entweder als Hardcover oder als Paperback, nicht gemischt - und wenn möglich auch im selben Design.

Bestseller oder Klassiker?

Tendentiell eher Bestseller, würde ich sagen, wobei ich die Klassiker nicht komplett ausschließen möchte, bzw. es auch darauf ankommt, wie man Klassiker definiert? J.R.R. Tolkiens "The Lord of the Rings", den ich sehr mag, dürfte ja wohl auch in diese Kategorie fallen, gleichwohl er natürlich auch ein Bestseller ist! Und z.B. die diversen deutschen oder griechischen Heldensagen haben es mir auch schon immer angetan. An den im Motto referenzierten Shakespeare habe ich mich bisher in gedruckter Form ehrlich gesagt noch nicht herangewagt. Allerdings an diverse Verfilmungen seiner Werke, die sich zumeist ja auch an das Original-Versmaß halten. Und die wussten durchaus zu gefallen ...

Sachliteratur oder Belletristik?

Eindeutig Belletristik! Fantasy, Science-Fiction und Krimis/Thriller waren schon immer meine bevorzugten Genres.

Seht ihr im guten, alten Schmöker eine Zukunft oder werden Bücher kommenden Generationen bald gänzlich fremd sein?

Eine schwierige Frage. Ich denke, dass Bücher an sich immer eine wichtige Rolle spielen werden, die Frage ist nur: in welcher Form? Die Bedeutung von Ebooks könnte in Zukunft zunehmen, wenn es wirklich komfortable und kompakte, portable Geräte zur Anzeige von elektronischem Content gibt. Doch selbst ausgehend von der derzeitigen Innovationsgeschwindigkeit in der Unterhaltungselektronik dürfte es noch lange Zeit dauern, bis solche Geräte sich endgültig durchgesetzt haben und flächendeckend verfügbar sind oder gar irgendwann die Ebooks Ihre gebundenen Vorläufer vollkommen verdrängt haben ...

Habt ihr literarische Vorbilder, Lieblingsautoren- oder -romanfiguren?

Einer meiner Lieblingsautoren ist Terry Pratchett mit seinen "Discworld"-Romanen. Der Mann hat einfach einen unglaublichen Wortwitz, der natürlich vor allem im englischen Original zur Geltung kommt. Die skurrilen Charaktere, sowie die Verbindung typischer Fantasy-Clichés mit Themen der modernen Gesellschaft machen den besonderen Reiz der Scheibenwelt aus.

Ebenfalls gerne lese ich Tom Clancys Romane aus dem Jack Ryan-Universum. Auch wenn Clancys Detailverliebtheit manchmal in Form von seitenlangen technischen Beschreibungen den Leser auf eine harte Probe stellen kann, erzählt er doch stets spannende Geschichten. Und auch die zahlreichen Nebencharaktere, die wiederholt in den unterschiedlichen Romanen auftreten, wachsen einem mit der Zeit ebenso an's Herz wie Hauptprotagonist Jack Ryan, der im Laufe der Reihe vom einfachen CIA-Analysten bis (eher widerwillig) zum Präsident der USA aufsteigt.

Und was ist das letzte Buch, welches ihr gelesen habt bzw. was lest ihr zur Zeit?

Das letzte Buch dürfte Dan Browns "The Da Vinci Code" gewesen sein (womit wir dann auch wieder den Bogen zum offiziellen Titel der Blogparade gespannt hätten), das ich kurz vor dem Kinostart der Verfilmung mit Tom Hanks & Co. angefangen habe zu lesen. Das wäre dann also etwa 2 Jahre her! Wobei ich eigentlich nie verstanden habe, wieso man nicht zuerst "Angels & Demons", Robert Langdons erstes Abenteur, verfilmt hat. Das habe ich nämlich schon früher gelesen ...

Oder war es doch eher Pratchetts "Jingo"? Ich weiß es nicht mehr genau, jedenfalls ist es schon viel zu lange her!

Im Moment lese ich gerade kein Buch, aber ich habe bereits den Entschluß gefasst, demnächst endlich mal wieder die Scheibenwelt zu besuchen, genauergesagt den "Last Continent" ...

Wouldn’t it be great if we all had robot filing cabinets following us around, reminiscent of that trunk that follows the wizard from Terry Pratchett’s discworld whom for the life of me I forget the name.

I sit once again on a train. It seems the best thinking can be done on here.

Isn’t it strange how when you have no money, you have no social life, you work constantly that there’s not a lot to talk about, that’s ‘going on’ in your life that’s more exciting. You could presume that’s the case for me, as that has been my few weeks since the last blog. Although, things do happen in my life, and that’s what makes everyday bearable in the end.

It is true that having no money makes me walk 45mins to work and back every day, which gives me around 90mins exercise a day. Check that out. Go on, for me. Although by working as a kitchen porter & there’s loads of food to spare, you put more on that I wish to lose. It’s all fun & games up on campus though. The language schools have arrived!! Yes that’s Italians, Germans, Spanish and French I believe. Their leaders are fantastic & some have great taste in music!

The reason why I went out last night was to mildly celebrate my birthday 3 days in advance in the most Cornish of ways with my work mates & the IP crew (language school leaders). A Great night & totally unexpected but thoroughly deserved.

Why you say? Why should I deserve a night on the said ‘razz’? Well... it was a rough day.

Got up far too early to pay rent, type up & collect all the information I have received from various acquaintances that include promoters, compares, comedians, performers and students. Then straight into work, then had one of the most important meetings this year. The events committee meeting which involves next year’s entertainment, and it feels like things will be mighty fine. Back to work soon after the stressful but interesting meeting... we are faced with over 450 to serve at dinner. That’s a shit lot. Pardon my language but I’m not bothered. In fact if you have such a problem with cursing then go milk a cow.

450 kids & leaders kicking off at extremely petty things. This one dude was a right nut job and blew his cork at a seemingly very innocent IP leader. It angered me, got right in there , told the guy to calm down before there were fists flying. I somewhat wish everyone went quiet and it was some sorta big faceoff & i’d walk in between them and go ‘Back off man, im a KP. Situation got me very angry, the pure cheek of him. I warn you now people if you don’t know me that well. I can be an angry person, easily tempered. My personality differs... I usually give an upbeat & friendly aura about the place & people assume I’m harmless. I keep emotions inside cause I don’t have time for arrogance & aggression. Doesn’t bother me, it’s who I am. One of the other KPs saw me striding around ready to throw old concrete bread rolls at that xenophobic Englishman & told me to go back into the kitchen.

I suggest the people of this web check out Vampire Weekend & their debut album & of course one of the best summery tunes ‘You! Me! Dancing!’ by Los Campesinos. If you don’t got it, get it. Excuse my grammar. This is a blog & I write how my mind speaks, its continuous prose.

Just saw this person whom looks like a man, but is very much woman, think monster and turn left. It’s not me being discriminatory, if you only saw. you’d cack yer pants. I apologise if this blog is too detailed into my goings on, the next shall be far more profoundly surreal!

So here I go, home, on this train. When I return, I will be 21.

This book continues on from Going Postal, with the ex-fraudster Moist now bored with his position has Postmaster General. Lord Vetinari transfers Moist from the Post Office to the Royal Bank, to sort things out there.

This is where the story went elsewhere from my expectations. I had thought I would read a similar story to Going Postal, except set in a bank. In Going Postal, developments over decades in post offices here were compressed into just a few days. All high-energy fun. There's nothing really similar here. Moist’s first big idea has barely gotten going by the time the story ends.

In many ways Making Money is more about Vetinari than about Moist. Who is this man who can exercise such effective control over a vast city like Ankh-Morpork, and how does he do it?

Making Money is another enjoyable Discworld book, but on balance one of the lighter ones. The tension of Thud! is absent here, likewise the drama of Wintersmith. An enjoyable read, but unlikely to make anyone's 'top 3 Discworld novels' list.

Ideas come and go, but wild ideas need to be kept under confinement, because if they break loose, anything could happen. One wild idea escapes from a place out in the wilds, a place called Holy Wood. Soon after, one of Ankh-Morpork's alchemists makes an... enlightened discovery. Soon all manner of people are congregating around Holy Wood, making moving pictures. Unfortunately, this is making reality unstable (not that reality in the Discworld was ever that stable to begin with) and unspeakable creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions are waiting for their chance to come through.

I think this book also marks the first appearance of Ponder Stibbons, the nerd wizard. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Like a lot of Prachett's early Discworld books, Moving Pictures makes a fine entry point, no previous knowledge is required to make this book enjoyable. So enjoy it.

Les hele intervjuet her.

Se også Neil G blogge om intervjuet.

Og les hva Pterry sier om religion og guder og sånt til The Daily Mail.

At han begynner å bli litt susete vet han ikke om er Alzheimeren eller alderen som gjør, men det virker nå som at humoren er intakt.

I am moving on to a 1939 city guide for New York written by out-of-work writers under the WPA. Of course I am reading it more as history than as a guide, but it seems to be very well written, as well, beyond being informative. And some great illustrations.

Vielleicht ist ja die nächste Verfilmung besser: "The Colour of Magic" (dt.: "Die Farben der Magie")
DVD-Release: Oktober 2008 (engl. Fassung)

Schonzeit, für Dich und alle Pratchett-Fans da draußen, der Trailer - mit der EINZIG WAHREN STIMME FÜR TOD: Christopher Lee.

I think that it is necessary to be of a certain intellectual maturity to "get" these books, and I am not sure I am even there yet, but I am determined to persevere. I feel as though I need a cheat sheet to really understand it all, but perhaps I am being too hard on myself.

I was told that I would devour these books, like candy, as they are small, funny, and I am a fast reader, but I really didn't get terribly drawn in. I loved the book, it was witty, hilarious, engaging, and well-written. I hear they get even better. I think that there are 2 reasons why I didn't get sucked into this book enough to read it in one sitting:

A: The characters aren't very realistic. I like them, and I think that they suit the genre of Pratchett's satirical Sci-Fi just fine. Perhaps I will have a better feel for the recurring characters as I get farther along in the series

B: It is a very episodic book, I felt it was kind of like the Odyssey. This can be a benefit, as you have a lot of good places to take a break. If you don't like reading for long periods, or don't have the time, then this is perfect. However, once I put it down, I wasn't itchingly compelled to dive back in again.

I think that if I rush through them, I might just burn out on the Universe. There are a lot of books in the series, and I am perfectly happy to spread them out a little for now. Although, sometimes I get a sneaking suspicion that Pratchett can write faster than I can read. ;-)

At first, I wasn't so sure about this novel, and I must say that having finished it, I do still prefer the Discworld books, but the little rat characters are so endearing that you can't help but be entertained by their plight. I never thought rats could be so appealing. Maurice the cat also provides some humour, although the laughs don't come as frequently as in some other TP novels.

Reading this made me reflect on my childhood reading material: all I kept thinking as I read this was..ooh isn't that a bit dark/shocking for a kid's book. But then you remember reading Roald Dahl, an author who left such an impression on all of us because he wasn't afraid to delve into the dark side now and again. This story does not play it too safe, although a happy ending is secure.

There's quite a few layers to this tale actually. Adventure story aside, TP looks at the circle of life, spiritual belief, the conscience, the effect of humans on the world and the art of storytelling. Yes really! All these topics are touched, making this a novel ripe for discussion.

Carta Capital: As histórias são hilárias a não mais poder, mas os personagens de Pratchett são mais do que caricaturas. É possível se identificar com seus problemas, crenças e aflições e encontrar neles os contra-sensos da vida real. Por trás das máscaras cômicas, as personagens centrais têm vida, consistência e sentimentos com os quais é possível se identificar, às vezes até admirar. Seu mundo, por mágico e estranho que pareça, tem uma lógica própria e seus problemas são examinados, enfrentados e superados de maneira mais perspicaz e conseqüente do que em muito da literatura dita realista.

Como eu disse no poste anterior, às vezes vou na contramão da crítica especializada - mas não me importo se a crítica especializada concorda comigo.
;)

Aiai... Se não fosse a falta de grana + a falta de tempo + a pilha enorme de livros que ainda tenho de ler em 2008 [27, atualmente], eu arriscaria comprar Small Gods e Lords and Ladies pra matar a vontade [os próximos dois títulos da série]. Ou roubar.

Em sua pátria, só J. K. Rowling é mais vendida, sem o merecer – e sem conseguir superá-lo no ranking dos autores mais roubados das livrarias britânicas.

Here’s a lovely set-of-three meme – my very first! I’m quite proud to be tagged, but I don’t think I’ll be doing any/many more. I’m also not sure of the etiquette required, but I’ll link to two other bloggers at the end and… that’ll be a tag, right? Oh, well. They don’t have to do it. Here goes (I have ‘We Three Kings’ stuck in my head now, dammit!)…

Three names you go by (that won’t give away your identity): Duck (long story there), Trashmouth (ever read IT by Stephen King?), Snubby (probably easy to guess… I have a snub nose, ‘kay?)

Three screen names you’ve had: Uh… I don’t use MSN or IM or whatever, so I’ve never had any, actually.

Three physical things you like about yourself: (long silence falls) uh… my turned-up nose, my creepily flexible joints, and my ability to rub my stomach and pat my head at the same time.

Three physical things you don’t like about yourself: OK, well, my toes (but I don’t like toes in general), the fact I chew my fingers to little shreds, and, uh, right now? My insanely frizzy hair. It’s not usually like this…

Three parts of your heritage: English, Zimbabwean, and Scottish (nice mix).

Three things you are wearing right now: baggy jeans, purple shirt, and my glasses because I haven’t got round to putting in my contacts yet.

Three favourite bands/musical artists: Laura Marling! And Kraftwerk, and – hard to choose! – CSS? Steve Harley and Cockney Rebels? The Jam? Kate Bush? – OK, let’s say the Boomtown Rats. That way there’s a representative from folk and electronica and old-skool rock! (I’m just joking…)

Three favourite songs: ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ by the Boomtown Rats; ‘My Manic And I’ by Laura Marling; and ‘Psycho Killer’ by the Talking Heads (what cheery music, girl! All three to do with mental illness! But it’s honestly coincidental…)

Three favourite books: Oh no, very tricky! But IT, by Stephen King (I’ll just choose one of his, to let other authors get a look-in); The Testimony of Taliesin Jones by Rhidian Brooks (I only took it off the shelf ‘cause my friend’s called Taliesin, but it’s amazing); and (drumroll!) The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, which is an incredible beautiful wonderful book over which I let my adjectives all unfurl like they just did, and people beg me to shut up about it, and I don’t… and of course I have to include Red Dragon and Hannibal and Hannibal Rising now, don’t I? So there you go – I just did.

Three things you want in a relationship: Eh? I’m fourteen… and I’m not answering that because I don’t have the necessary worldly-like knowledge of such things to be able to.

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeals to you: On the other hand, I can answer this one… sort of: curly hair. I love curly hair. It makes me smile like a fool.

Three of your favourite hobbies: Karate and reading and writing. That was an easy one!

Three things that scare you: Me, you, and everybody else. I used to be terrified of fire but I overcame that – in fact, I went to the other side and got obsessed with it. Which I also overcame. Eventually. As briefly and mystifyingly referenced in the title of the post Liar liar pants on fire - because I used to be pyro, which probably confused everyone except me, who'd just done this meme at the time.

Three of your everyday essentials: Er… breakfast? Computer access, and penandpaper (let’s pretend that’s just one thing – it can be our little secret!)

Three careers you have considered/are considering: When I was in infants I wanted to be a marine biologist, then a vet, and now I just want to write. Actually, recently I decided I was gonna be a biochemist but then I realised chemistry was involved; if it’d just been biology I would have been happy.

Three places you want to go on holiday to: Trondheim, Tokyo, and the Discworld… but I’m not expecting that to happen any day soon.

Three kids’ names you like: Jenny, Adam, and – don’t hurt me! – I love the name Tarquin, just for how it sounds… I heard it before I knew it had such heavy connotations and I still love the way it sounds – I just don’t tell people this anymore, because I don’t always wake up in the mood for being mocked till the end of my life.

Three things you want to do before you die: get to be known by people; get to be published (confession time: not just by any publishing house, but a big one… I want to be famous, I do, it’s some kind of dirty secret nowadays but I do, I’m not denying it here); live a little.

Three ways you are stereotypically a girl: My hair is past my shoulders, I have been known to cry over books (especially ones by Jodi Picoult), and my self-image often gets shot to shit.

Three ways you are stereotypically a boy: I don’t wear make-up, I hate shopping, and I had drastically short hair for a few years (I liked it, but no one else did).

Three celeb crushes: David Tennant, Simon Amstell, and Mika… note the last two have beautiful curly hair… hah, I’m sitting here smiling like a fool over it already! Or Dante from Child Genius because he makes me laugh so much it's ridiculous.

OK, that’s my meme done, and I’m tagging Chouette, Ruth and Mariah.

You'll need RealPlayer installed (free) to hear the interview.

Discworld é um mundo plano, em forma de disco, que navega pelo universo nas costas de uma tartaruga, a Grande A'Tuin. A cidade principal desse mundo é Ankh-Morpork, uma grande metrópole de fantasia, com todos os problemas das metrópoles atuais -- e alguns outros, uma vez que nós não temos trolls andando pelas ruas. Em Ankh-Morpork há a Universidade Invisível, onde (supostamente) estudam os magos. O mais inepto dos magos é Rincewind, que só aprendeu um feitiço, e nunca o usou por medo das conseqüências. Rincewind precisa acompanhar DuasFlor, um turista de quatro olhos (ele não usa óculos) do continente Contrapeso. A cor da magia é a oitava cor, octarina, que apenas os magos podem ver. Magos também são visitados pessoalmente por Morte na ocasião derradeira. Rincewind não é muito um mago, mas tem essas duas capacidades. A última, em especial.

Este livro dá o tom da série Discworld, que já conta com mais de quarenta livros publicados. Anti-heróis, esquisitices, citações em contextos inusitados e muita analogia com as situações que enfrentamos nos dias de hoje. Os livros da série costumam ir fundo -- de uma maneira bem cômica -- em coisas que encaramos todo dia: preconceito, religião, economia, e até física quântica.

O humor é um pouco mais escrachado que os livros que o seguem e, em minha opinião, é o piorzinho da série -- ou o menos melhor. Era de se esperar que o escritor vá perdendo o pique conforme suas idéias vão acabando. Mas, com Terry Pratchett, isso não parece acontecer -- nos livros mais novos, o autor cria situações muito complicadas com o único objetivo de fazer graça, mas transforma as situações em enredos bastante complexos. "A Cor da Magia", no entanto, apenas reúne alguns contos de Rincewind e DuasFlor. Em contos mais novos, outras linhas de história se abrem.

Em todo caso, este livro é obrigatório. Não custa muito, e vale a pena cada linha da leitura, além de abrir o apetite para todas as seqüências.

O diretor Vadim Jean [o mesmo de ambos] reuniu os dois primeiros livros da série, A cor da magia e A luz fantástica, num filme só - o que faz todo sentido porque um é a seqüência do outro. Ele também colocou os acontecimentos em ordem diferente do que está nos livros para facilitar a compreensão pra quem não leu: outro ponto a favor. É claro que, por mais que o filme dure três horas e 10 minutos, são dois livros espremidos ali - e livros cheios de detalhes - então muita coisa ficou de fora.

Minha sugestão é: esqueça tudo e curta o filme! É impossível não ser fisgado logo na primeira cena, quando Grande A'Tuin, Berilia, Tubul, Grande T'Phon e Jerakeen aparecem na tela. É de prender o fôlego... Os efeitos especiais são tão bem-feitos e tão bem inseridos que a gente nem percebe que são efeitos. A voz de Brian Cox [Willian Stryker, de X-Men 2] na narração é bem interessante e a de Christopher Lee [Saruman, de O senhor dos anéis] dublando o MORTE ficou maravilhoso!

MORTE perseguindo Rincewind e Rincewind recusando-se a morrer é a coisa mais hilária tanto nos livros quanto no filme e a transposição não perdeu nada do humor.

DEATH: YOUR LIFETIME IS UP, RINCEWIND. I CAN'T HANG AROUND ALL DAY.
Rincewind: I can. What have you done with the tourist?
DEATH: NOTHING. HE WAS LURED BY THE ATTRACTION OF THE WYRMBERG.
Rincewind: So at least the Patrician won't be sending out his men to kill me just yet then?
DEATH: THERE IS A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY THAT HE MAY NOT NEED TO.
Rincewind: What are you grinning at?
DEATH: OH, I'M SORRY. I CAN'T HELP IT. NOW, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO LET GO? IT WON'T HURT.
Rincewind: Being torn to pieces by wolves won't hurt?
DEATH: IT WOULD BE OVER VERY QUICKLY. AND OF COURSE, THEY ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

O ator que fez Rincewind, Sir David Jason, também fez o papel de Albert em Hogfather. Se eu não tivesse lido nos créditos não ia acreditar nunquinha: totalmente convincente tanto num quanto noutro! Duasflor foi interpretado por outro ator de O senhor dos anéis, Sean Astin [Samwise Gamgee]. Acho que ele tem uma cara de ingênuo que coube direitinho no papel.

Rincewind: That's old Twoflower for you. He just appreciates beauty in his own way. I mean, if a poet sees a daffodil, he stares at it and then writes a long poem. But Twoflower would wander off and buy a book on botany, and then as he reads it he would tread on the daffodil.

Mas o filme é de dois atores que geralmente só aparecem em papéis pequenos, quase sempre minúsculos, que roubaram todas as cenas em que apareceram: Cohen o Bárbaro, interpretado por David Bradley [o Argus Filch, de Harry Potter] e Trymon, o mago ambicioso de Tim Curry. Curry tem um rosto tão mefistotélico e uma voz tão característica que ele pode fazer qualquer papel mais complexo e roubar a cena de qualquer ator. Eu lóvo ele!

Agora, quando o Patrício apareceu eu dei um pulo. Lord Havelock Vetinari é, por enquanto, um dos meus dois únicos Top Letrinha Fazível. Eu não tinha visto em nenhum lugar que o personagem apareceria no filme. Nem no site oficial ele está listado no elenco. E de repente ele surge *cataploft* e é Jeremy Irons *duplo cataploft!!* Quase morri.
:)

E, permita-me dizer, apesar da lista de sugestões para o personagem ter uns nomes que eu também amo, Jeremy Irons ficou perfeito, não precisa mudar nada!

Vale totalmente a pena amassar a bunda durante mais de 3 horas pra assistir The Colour of Magic - se não por tudo o que comentei acima, pelo menos pela meia hora final. Os desfechos das subtramas são de aquecer o coração [sem excesso de melosidade, claro, no estilo Terry Pratchett de ser].

Oh, e o autor aparece de novo neste filme, no começo e no fim: ele é o astrozoólogo número 2.

V. cena de Jeremy Irons como O Patrício no Youtube.

V. teaser trailer Qual é a cor da magia? no Youtube.

V. cena terna [New Worlds, final do filme] baseada no livro A cor fantástica no Youtube.

How do they rise up, rise up, rise up,
How do they rise up, rise up high?

I took this photo (somewhere) about here. It's available on Redbubble: Lilac in Germany.

Yes, technically, this is part of the Germany series of photos: but mainly I was thinking of Terry Pratchett.

He looked up.

Overhead, a lilac tree was in bloom.

He stared.

Damn! Damn! Damn! Every year he forgot. Well, no. He never forgot. He just put the memories away, like old silverware that you didn't want to tarnish. And every year they came back, sharp and sparkling, and stabbed him in the heart. And today, of all days . . .

He reached up, and his hand trembled as he grasped a bloom and gently broke the stem. He sniffed at it. He stood for a moment, staring at nothing. And then he carried the sprig of lilac carefully back up to his dressing room. - Night Watch, Terry Pratchett, 2003

Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's. Sooner or later, every writer must stop writing: Death is the ultimate writer's block. Alzheimer's will steal not life but memory. Dementia - of which Alzheimer's is just one form - steals memory, transforms personalities, kills everything that makes a person themselves before they die. Dementia is the Auditor: Death is only the end.

If you live in the UK and have the money to spare, please consider making a donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust.

(If you are a UK tax payer, as a registered charity they can claim the taxes you would have paid on this, which adds to the value of your gift: so, if you live outside the UK, please look for a research charity in your own country and donate there.)

They rise heads up, heads up, heads up, they rise heads up, heads up high!