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There are many beginnings in my life, but one that has been prominently on my mind  during the recent weeks is when I first started reading the works of Terry Pratchett. I got my almost very last few novels for my collection for Christmas, and have been pacing myself all through the holiday so as not to read through them too quickly. It got me thinking about the very first time I read one of his books.

The year was 1991 and I think it might have been ”Moving pictures”. It is definitely not one of his best books, but in spite of that I instantly loved the prose! The wit, the puns, the subversion of tropes, or rather using the tropes in a new more interesting way. It was an instant love affair that has kept up during the years. But now there are no more Terry Pratchett-books forthcoming… Which makes reading these last few at the same time uplifting, as with all his books, but also tinged not a little bit by melancholy. His books have never been more bittersweet to me like now that I know there will never ever be any more of them.

No more Ankh-Morpork-stories. No more Vimes, no more witches, no more Librarians and no more Tiffany Aching.

I had no idea that one author could have such impact on my life, and one that on the surface seemed so trivial at that. But the books are anything but trivial! If you want you can read them for their comic effect, for the surface, because the wit is dry and the puns are abundant and you are guaranteed some laughs. But scratch at the surface and levels of philosophy appear.

To paraphrase sir Terry: Sometimes you need to tell lies to tell the truth.

That is the purpose of some of the fantasy literature. To take us to different worlds or time periods or alternate realities, and strip away all that makes us not see the truth. You visit a world with witches and wizards and goblins and trolls and ordinary extraordinary people, and all the regular prejudices of our sometimes too real world disappear. What’s left is often the truth, or the author’s version of it.

How to be a grown up. How to be responsible. How to be true to yourself. What stories do to us. What the essence of different phenomena is. What love is. What the purpose of stories is. What life is.

Terry Pratchett was a comical writer on all accounts, but a deeply philosophical at that.  His books started out as a parodies on fantasy books, but pretty soon took on a life of their own with every book containing at least one big theme that he explored using comedy, wit and above all, a lot of emotion. He satirized current events and phenomena in a way that made you really think. I  think he was a pragmatic romantic at heart, just like me, and his authorship was the perfect fit for me.

At the core: philosophy, a bittersweet look on life and great emotions. On the surface: wit, comedy, laughter instead of tears. Sometimes laughter mixed with the tears, like in the beginning of ”I shall wear midnight”.

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I read a new Terry Pratchett-novel every year during the last twenty-five years. But now that era is coming to an end. I think I might have skipped two novels by mistake, and am looking forward to reading them next Christmas (or birthday). Terry Pratchett-books are Christmas books to me, or books to read when I am feeling especially stressed out or anxious.

I read one of his books all through the night when my grandfather died.

I read one of his books when I was preparing to give birth. The water broke in the middle of a hilarious chapter (but not on it, thankfully, although that would have been perfect!).

I read them when life feels difficult, and I need a laugh. I read them when life is sunny and sweet, and I just want entertainment. I read them to remind myself what life is all about. I read them, and I find myself in them. In the romantic heroines when I was younger. Definitely in Nanny Ogg now that I am an adult! She is the Mother, and much smarter than everyone thinks, and is much more than she appears. She loves life and to laugh, and parts of her wants to strip of her clothes and run naked in the rain! (metaphorically or not)

But books, like all sorts of art, is not everyone’s cup of tea. These particular books do not appeal to everyone, but they do to me. Millions love the books of Terry Pratchett, myself included, but not everyone as I’ve figured out over the years. Hundreds of thousands of people loved the Christmas Calendar of this Christmas, ”Selmas saga”, but not me – there was just this grating to sugary quality about it that I couldn’t get past. So I get it – sometimes something that you love so dearly just doesn’t click with other people. Like the novel the Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, which is one of my all time favourite novels, but one that someone once mentioned in an interview as the only book they have burned because it was so bad…!

I think that when me and my geek buddies read the books when we were at school, we mostly read them for the great vocabulary and puns. It was fun to drive the English teacher mad with having such an extensive vocabulary, and I wouldn’t have had it if not for the Discworld novels! Not only did Terry Pratchett have an excellent language, he also twisted it and used the words unexpectedly and gave them new meaning – things I am certain tickled my brain and made me a better reader of both English and Swedish. I instantly fell in love with looking at words, turning them over and thinking about what they really mean, what they really say and what people really mean to say. Which definitely is a useful tool for a psychologist, and one that drives my kids and husband nuts sometimes!

Beginnings and endings. For me these last few books are my ending, but at the same time my husband is discovering the Discworld for the very first time. He is starting on ”Small Gods”, the book I recommend to anyone who is unfamiliar with the works of Terry Pratchett. It is one of sir Terry’s best books in my opinion, a real showcase for both the wit, comedy and philosophy that he was so great at.

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My eldest son is reading Game of Thrones for the first time – another kind of beginning. George R.R.Martin’s books have been hugely successful, and I am one of those fellow nerds who applaud  themselves on having read the books before they were an international hit (nerd cred). But however much I loved the Game of Thrones-books, it is nothing compared to my love for the Discworld. GoT is the raw glossy side of fantasy, but with not much substance if you really analyze it. GRRM uses violence as an effect, but hasn’t got any deeper messages hidden in his books. They are pure entertainment, with the challenge being to discover what was really happening, what he is hinting at and the realization that the story didn’t start at the beginning of  the first book. The Discworld is also entertainment, but underneath all that levity is always a message.

Sometimes you need lies to tell a truth so that people can understand you. People don’t listen with their minds – they listen with their hearts, and the heart need stories instead of truths.

 

This was sir Terry Pratchett’s favourite piece of music – the one he wanted to die listening to – I hope you got your wish, sir Terry:

Through his books I got to know someone who was a romantic at heart. A person who enjoyed life – all aspects of it, both the good and the bad. Bittersweet, but always genuine and passionate, just like me. Which is why when I have finished with all his books, I will simply begin again. A new beginning, all over again.

 

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6 kommentarer

  1. Paljon alkuja mahtuu yhteen vuoteen!

  2. Det är alltid upplyftande med Pratchett. Lärorikt och roligt. Som med Douglas Adams… det är djup inbäddat i humor. ?

  3. pappilanmummo

    Uudet vanhat alut – uusi vuosi ja paljon uutta tulossa – muistellenkin.

  4. Kauniit lähikuvat!

  5. Lukemisen ihanuutta 🙂

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