Going Postal
What is it about some books that lets them get under your skin and not leave until you've read them from cover to cover? I've barely done anything today (essay currently stalled on 1,829 words) but I've read all 474 pages of Going Postal by Terry Pratchett *worships* I want to get started on Thud! but if I do that my essay simply won't get finished because Thud! is a Vimes book and he is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite Pratchett creation. If I could write even one of my characters half as well as Pratchett writes Vimes... and I want to re-read all the Guards books too. Damn. I don't have time for this!
But Going Postal was fab. I love Pratchett's sense of humour and even though there were a lot of things about the plot that reminded me of The Truth (the whole unsuitable young man taking on a job far too big for him and it escalating out of his control thing), it still worked, it didn't feel like a re-hashed plot even though you knew Moist would end up with Miss Dearheart in the end. And it had Vetinari in it. I love Vetinari, I love the way he's always pulling the strings so well that the puppet doesn't know the strings are there and he admitted it! He actually played the tyrant-card.
'You can't do that!' Greenyham protested weakly.
'Can I not?' said Vetinari. 'I am a tyrant. It's what we do.
...
'On what charge?' said Greenyham, still managing to find a last reserve of hauteur from somewhere.
'There doesn't have to be one!' Robe swirling like the edge of darkness, Vetinari swung round to the omniscope.
...
'The Grand Trunk will remain closed in the interim,' said Lord Vetinari.
'It's private property!' Greenyham burst out.
'Tyrant, remember,' said Vetinari, almost cheerfully.
If Pratchett ever lets anything happen to Vetinari, I may have to hunt him down. Ditto for Vimes. Becs and I were talking about the pair of them (and Discworld in general) the other day and they just work so well together. They don't necessarily like each other but there's a form of respect there (buried very deeply mind and you'd never persuade Vimes to actually admit it. Not aloud certainly) and they know that the other is necessary. Vimes wouldn't actually want anyone else being Patrician and Vetinari needs Vimes as his Commander of the City Watch. No wonder the Assasin's Guild have taken them both off the active list.
And now it's gone midnight and I need to do some proper work. Back to the essay *sighs*