Return of the memes and poems

[hamsterwoman]

Oh hey, it's Terry Pratchett's birthday! (Tumblr has handily taken over the duties of informing me of important world events, now that LJ has gotten so quiet...) So, yeah, happy birthday to Sir Terry! In honor of the occasion, the Discworld meme goes first today:

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

It's very odd about me and Susan, because she is the kind of character I would normally expect to love. And I do like her! Especially her way with children -- I love the governess vignettes -- but to a much lesser degree than I love other PTerry characters. I think it's probably that the Death sub-series on the whole is less interesting to me than the Watch and the Witches, in both the themes and the plots, so Susan probably suffers from that to some degree. But, yeah, Susan is generally my answer to the "character everyone loves and I don't" questions on memes when Discworld comes up. (And Soul Music is one of those Discworld books that don't do much for me at all. But admittedly that's largely because real-world music isn't my thing, so I'm doubtless missing a lot of the jokes as well as the passion.)

Heh, I went searching for Susan graphics, and all these Downton Abbey things started popping up, which is when it occurred to me that she was the same actress I'd seen in Downton stuff (which I haven't watched myself but have been seeing in various places on my flist).

[ikel89]

Joining in the chorus of surprised reactions ^^ Especially so since Susan was my biggest love for a long while there (which is a bit surprising given her governess role, seeing how I'm not particularly kid-friendly, but her awesomeosity was too hard to resist!)

[hamsterwoman]

I dunno what to tell you :P

Soul Music was among the first Discworld books that I read, and it just didn't do much for me -- it's on par with Interesting Times as those Discworld books I read and enjoyed before I stumbled onto the Watch, with Fifth Elephant, and fell irrevocably in love.

I think it's possibly that while I like the Death series better than the Wizards series as books/storylines (Reaper Man being the clearest example of a controlled experiment -- the Death parts of it were so much more interesting and affecting to me than the Wizards and their shopping malls), the Death books actually feature the characters I care about the least. I love the Wizards as characters -- Ponder and Ridcully -- I just prefer them as cameo players in other people's stories. But while I like Death as what he is and am always charmed when he shows up, I don't love him (or Susan, or Mort) as much as a lot of people seem to.

It is especially weird with Susan, because she is the kind of no-nonsense character who would normally be right up my alley. And I do like her in Thief of Time, and Hogfather, too. But not nearly as much as I like a lot of the other characters. I don't know, maybe she's too mythical?

which is a bit surprising given her governess role, seeing how I'm not particularly kid-friendly

I actually don't find that surprising, because I think Susan's approach to kids is quite perfect for people who don't act with children like they're children, which I think a lot of people who are not kid-friendly tend to do (myself included; I was never interested in kids before I had my own, and children who are less, uh, entertaining, let's say, than mine still don't interest me much :P)

[ikel89]

Very interesting, and the last part in particular makes sense now that you've said it:)) Can the reason for you not liking Susan be some similarities to yourself you see in her? Like with Hermione/Athena/etc?

[hamsterwoman]

Can the reason for you not liking Susan be some similarities to yourself you see in her? Like with Hermione/Athena/etc?

That's a good question... It would almost have to be, because she is otherwise the sort of character I would tend to like. But, unlike with Hermione and Athena, I'm not sure what quality Susan has that's similar to mine that is something I don't like about myself... It probably is that, though, just in a way I haven't been able to distill...

[ikel89]

Hmm, allergic to bullshit? pragmatic? has a good imagination, but none of the artsy-shmartsy airs?)

[hamsterwoman]

Yes... but none of these are things I dislike in myself or normally would dislike in a character. (And it's not that I dislike Susan, just... like her less than I would expect to.) Possibly it's some familial coldness (that she gets over to some degree as the series goes on, and I will say I have warmed up to her some over time... but not to a point where she's a favorite.)