Pratchett, Terry: Mort
Mort
Writer: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 243
Something might be wrong with me. I know people who roll over, laughing to the point of stitches, over British spec-comedy like Douglas Adams, the new Doctor Who series, or in this particular case, Terry Pratchett. And I can’t say I get it.
It’s amusing and cute, yes. It has heartening moments, yes. But this is my second venture into the mind of Terry Pratchett (the first being his co-authored novel with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens), and I have yet to really sink my teeth into why people love his work so much. I’ve decided it’s because I have very definite tastes in humor and drama and fantasy, and while Pratchett is certainly good at what he does, it’s not the kind of reading I’ll come back to.
He's not a bad writer. In fact, Mort is a very fun, imaginative, creative, energetic and rather original fantasy (yes, fantasy: I see people call Pratchett SF, but just because it's a planet, rather a disk, in the heavens doesn't make it SF), so in that regard, I see why people love Pratchett's work. In this particular case, I was rather fond of Death (who was in Good Omens as well), because he was so damn amusing. His fondness for cats helped too. :) Pratchett's colorful descriptions usually brought a smile, as did his rather blunt way of describing realistic people.
Mort is a quick read. I can't say it's suspenseful or anything, but it's certainly fun to see what becomes of Mort, the apprentice to Death, and I really enjoyed the passages where they were, in essence, switching roles. Death became Mort while Mort became Death. And the capital letters…much love for the capital letters.
Complaints? Sometimes Pratchett's style tripped me up: he'd describe something, and then we wouldn't know what it was until the next paragraph where he named it. Kinda awkward, and sometimes, his construction threw me for a loop and I had to re-read some sentences several times to get exactly what he was saying. The footnotes were cute, and at times, amusing, but I tend to dislike footnotes in any form, so they became more annoying than amusing.
I certainly enjoyed this book, and I'm glad to have read it. But in terms of reading more of his work? Yes, he's a good writer and yes, he's got style, but unless I'm in dire need of reading material and there's nothing on hand that I'm dying to read, I probably won't be picking up another one of his works. It boils down to the humor: it's nonsensical, amusing, and cute, but it's not my kind of humor (this coming from a woman who'll laugh herself to tears while watching shows like "Scrubs", "The Office", and "My Name is Earl"). However, if you love Douglas Adams, or even, say, the new Doctor Who television series--in short, if the humor makes you laugh till your face cracks--you certainly need to read Terry Pratchett's work. I promise: you won't be disappointed.