Terry Pratchett

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Who is this Pratchett guy?

 

[Tonguez]

And how many pokes did Soul Music make at the movie The Blues Brothers?
The Auld Grump

Where on a mission from Grod!

Pratchett is way way kewl best author eva!

Discworld ranks as the best series ever (especially the Death series, Susan Sto Helit is a babe).

I do find he does 'explain' his allusions alot and sometimes keeps making the jke so often that it gets stale (notable in Thief of Time or was it The Truth)

The Bromeliad (Nomes) books were good too and pretty much inform my conception of gNomes (along with the smurfs and wee mad arthur)

Anyway another question - a lot of his humour is very 'british' (although it got more worldly as he developed) does the humour translate into different cultural melees? (ie do those of you not of the commonwealth 'get the joke?')

*the example used at alt.Pratchett is of Djellibeybi. Apparently PTerry was concerned Americans would get it and so he named a neighbouring country 'Hersheba'

(then again Enworld readers may be more worldly (and used to British humour) than other Americans)

 

[Zappo]

I know Pratchett has been translated into a number of languages, but since so much of his humour lies in his awareness of language and the way he puns and makes plays on words, I wonder how much is lost in translation. I haven't read Pratchett in anything other than English, so could someone who has read the translations comment on this? Zappo's comment seems clearly a thumbs-down.

I'll be more precise: Pratchett's books are extremely hard to translate and there is probably no way to get them to be as good as the original versions. However, after reading The Light Fantastic and The Colour of Magic in both Italian and English, I feel that the translator did a rather poor job, even while considering the inherent difficulty of the text. Those two books are full of moments where the English reader will laugh, but the Italian reader will go "huh?" at some 100% nonsensical and unfunny passage. Most of my friends who can't read English well enough to pick up the original versions don't like Pratchett for this reason.

It may be that the most recent books have gotten better, but with my current skill at English I see no reason to get the Italian editions anyway.

 

[Look_a_Unicorn]

I loves me the Pratchetty goodness!

*ahem*

Because of Pratchett I now fully understand the term "chocolate books". Just like girls (apparantly) love to curl up somewhere warm and safe and eat chocolate when they're not feeling that great, a chocolate book is one that is such a familiar pleasure that you can pick up and read through at any time and feel both comforted and ..well.. better.

And the British humour translates very well into the Australian conscious, that's for sure.
His books/style/humour have definitely improved over time. I oculd nitpick but it would be like saying "That feast was delicious, but not quite as tasty as the one we had last month"

 

[haiiro]

Because of Pratchett I now fully understand the term "chocolate books". Just like girls (apparantly) love to curl up somewhere warm and safe and eat chocolate when they're not feeling that great, a chocolate book is one that is such a familiar pleasure that you can pick up and read through at any time and feel both comforted and ..well.. better.

What a great term! I was thinking about this very topic while re-reading some Pratchett recently, and realizing that I hadn't read anything to challenge myself in quite awhile. But I couldn't come up with a better term than "reading for pleasure" -- this sums it up so much better.

 

[Felix]

See signature.

I was in the restroom of the law firm I was at when I read that line. On the toilet, actually. The resulting combination of the laughter and the situation produced something not unlike what is described below.

Damn you, Pratchett. Too bloody funny.

 

[ddvmor]

Everything the man writes is gold. Recently he's been knocking out 2 books a year, which worried me somewhat - I was concerned that the quality of his writing would suffer. It hasn't so far, but it's costing me a packet! I haven't bought Going Postal yet in the hope that someone will give it to me for Christmas (you hear me Russ... that's a hint, that is!).

I'd love to see him satirise the building of the British Empire. I don't think he's covered huge corporations or traffic management yet, either.

 

[shilsen]

I'll be more precise: Pratchett's books are extremely hard to translate and there is probably no way to get them to be as good as the original versions.

Even without having read any of the translations, I agree totally. Translation is tough enough as is, and in the case of an author with a real awareness of both the complexity and the arbitrariness of language (as well as aural qualities, which Pratchett is brilliant on), it gets next to impossible. I've always read lines like "Nobby was thrown out of the human race for shoving" or "We're on a mission from Glod" and wondered whether it's possible to tranlsate them effectively in another language. Probably not.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Pratchett is awesome.

Translating his books...man, that'd be like translating Tolkien
Not a job I'd want.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Mustrum, about your sig..."Gummibears also help?" What is the significance? Is it a quote?