Re: Highlights and Lowlights - June 2024

On 7/5/2024 6:24 PM, Titus G wrote:

On 6/07/24 02:29, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

On 04/07/2024 08.13, Tony Nance wrote:

On 7/2/24 10:11 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

Most agree that the first few written aren't as good as later ones
PTerry
was learning his craft.

>

...I found this to be the case for me as well. Combined with the facts
that I need to read humor novels differently (can't read too many
pages at once), and space them out pretty far apart, here I am only
finishing my 9th Discworld book.[2]

>
Back in the early 1990s, I heard (right here in rasw) about this amazingly
funny British author. Not Adams, but Pratchett. I eventually got around to
picking up a couple of his books, and found that they were, for me at
least,
mildly amusing.
>
Watching the occasional Pratchett thread, I got the impression that it was
only his early work that was hilarious. I haven't encountered any of it on
the shelves yet, although I do keep half an eye peeled. Now, I'm seeing
folks say that his early work wasn't that good.
>
So, what's the verdict? Are his early works funny but not very good? Are
his
recent works as funny as he gets? Something else altogether?

 I classify his humour as silly and like Xmas cracker jokes they should
be enjoyed with a groan on rare occasions and not too many at once. (I
suggest one.) He is very clever and when first introduced to his humour,
there was novelty value as well. It might just be British humour which
NZers of Pratchett reading age were raised on. I suspect that if
originally found "mildly amusing", they will get no better for you.
My favourites are Small Gods and Guards! Guards! but when I read them I
had a good background knowledge of Discworld which might be relevant.
 

He got a lot deeper as time went on, delving into matters of social
justice, and ethics in general.
pt