30 Days Book Meme, Day 03
The road so far:
Day 01 - Best book you read last year Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita
Day 02 - A book that you've read more than 3 times Stemmle, The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes
Day 03 - Your favorite series
Day 04 - Favorite book of your favorite series
Day 05 - A book that makes you happy
Day 06 - A book that makes you sad
Day 07 - Most underrated book
Day 08 - Most overrated book
Day 09 - A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 10 - Favorite classic book
Day 11 - A book you hated
Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't anymore
Day 13 - Your favorite writer
Day 14 - Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 - Favorite male character
Day 16 - Favorite female character
Day 17 - Favorite quote from your favorite book
Day 18 - A book that disappointed you
Day 19 - Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 - Favorite romance book
Day 21 - Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 - Favorite book you own
Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
Day 24 - A book that you wish more people would've read
Day 25 - A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 - Favorite title
Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time
Day 03 - Your favorite series
:D ........ well, take a wild guess:
'And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head.'
Yes, that's right. And that's how it happened: My friend Dominique had tried to convert me to Sir Terry's awesomeness for a while, to no avail. I have a clear picture of my taste in books, and I was NOT CONVINCED, you see. the_rainking is a sneaky, sneaky person, that's why he elegantly circumnavigated the desperate "it's better than it sounds!" (really, try summing up any Discworld plot and tell me with a straight face it doesn't sound insane) and just straight-out told me I reminded him of Tiffany Aching. Curiosity and vanity, two unavoidable pitfalls for me. I still don't know why I reminded him of someone hitting other people with frying pans (just kidding, I totally do), but I'm eternally thankful that he brought me to Discworld.
I'm not even going to try and sum up the plot, because a) it really does sound insane and b) it's friggin' Discworld. It's too amazing for plot summary. Pratchett takes well-known literary tropes and with cruel, merciless logic thinks them through to the end; thanks to his magnificent eye for absurdity and his spot-on comedic timing, hilarity ensues. But here's the thing: his characters start out as cardbord-cutouts and transform into characters that feel real and relatable. Take Cheery Littlebottom, for example, the dwarf who discovered femininity, wearing ridiculous dresses and too much make-up along with her dwarf beard, ax and helmet. With a lesser writer, she would have been just a cheap laugh (and oh, the unfortunate implications of that!), but Pratchett actually shows her struggle and pain to find and accept her identity - as a girl, who is allowed to be girly and like girly stuff - in a culture where masculinity is the only thinkable option. She makes me laugh, she does, but she also tugs at my heart strings a lot.
And don't get me started on the fact that Pratchett proves all those narrow-minded macho writers wrong who claim a man can't write believable, strong female characters ... because: Esme Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, Tiffany Aching, Susan Sto Helit, Angua, Adora Belle Dearheart, Eskarina Smith, Polly Perks? Your argument is INVALID. (And that's only the main characters so far.) I think it's quite telling that there are only few memorable villains in Discworld - for me, Wolfgang from The Fifth Elephant and Jonathan Teatime from Hogfather come to mind. The reason is that it's not necessary - the protagonists can carry the weight of the plot alone, thank you very much. I can, for that matter, never decide which series I like better, the Witches or the City Watch. I could never warm to Rincewind and, don't hit me, the Death and Susan Sto Helit books are hit and miss for me. Granny Weatherwax is my favourite character of pretty much all time, but I actually think I like the cast ensemble and the story dynamics of multi-ethnic Ankh-Morpork from the City Watch books better (plus the darker tone of the later books) (well, except for "That! Is!! Not!!! My!!!! COW!!!!!").
Day 01 - Best book you read last year Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita
Day 02 - A book that you've read more than 3 times Stemmle, The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes
Day 03 - Your favorite series
Day 04 - Favorite book of your favorite series
Day 05 - A book that makes you happy
Day 06 - A book that makes you sad
Day 07 - Most underrated book
Day 08 - Most overrated book
Day 09 - A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 10 - Favorite classic book
Day 11 - A book you hated
Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't anymore
Day 13 - Your favorite writer
Day 14 - Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 - Favorite male character
Day 16 - Favorite female character
Day 17 - Favorite quote from your favorite book
Day 18 - A book that disappointed you
Day 19 - Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 - Favorite romance book
Day 21 - Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 - Favorite book you own
Day 23 - A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven't
Day 24 - A book that you wish more people would've read
Day 25 - A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 - A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 - The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 - Favorite title
Day 29 - A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 - Your favorite book of all time
Day 03 - Your favorite series
:D ........ well, take a wild guess:
'And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head.'
Yes, that's right. And that's how it happened: My friend Dominique had tried to convert me to Sir Terry's awesomeness for a while, to no avail. I have a clear picture of my taste in books, and I was NOT CONVINCED, you see. the_rainking is a sneaky, sneaky person, that's why he elegantly circumnavigated the desperate "it's better than it sounds!" (really, try summing up any Discworld plot and tell me with a straight face it doesn't sound insane) and just straight-out told me I reminded him of Tiffany Aching. Curiosity and vanity, two unavoidable pitfalls for me. I still don't know why I reminded him of someone hitting other people with frying pans (just kidding, I totally do), but I'm eternally thankful that he brought me to Discworld.
I'm not even going to try and sum up the plot, because a) it really does sound insane and b) it's friggin' Discworld. It's too amazing for plot summary. Pratchett takes well-known literary tropes and with cruel, merciless logic thinks them through to the end; thanks to his magnificent eye for absurdity and his spot-on comedic timing, hilarity ensues. But here's the thing: his characters start out as cardbord-cutouts and transform into characters that feel real and relatable. Take Cheery Littlebottom, for example, the dwarf who discovered femininity, wearing ridiculous dresses and too much make-up along with her dwarf beard, ax and helmet. With a lesser writer, she would have been just a cheap laugh (and oh, the unfortunate implications of that!), but Pratchett actually shows her struggle and pain to find and accept her identity - as a girl, who is allowed to be girly and like girly stuff - in a culture where masculinity is the only thinkable option. She makes me laugh, she does, but she also tugs at my heart strings a lot.
And don't get me started on the fact that Pratchett proves all those narrow-minded macho writers wrong who claim a man can't write believable, strong female characters ... because: Esme Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, Tiffany Aching, Susan Sto Helit, Angua, Adora Belle Dearheart, Eskarina Smith, Polly Perks? Your argument is INVALID. (And that's only the main characters so far.) I think it's quite telling that there are only few memorable villains in Discworld - for me, Wolfgang from The Fifth Elephant and Jonathan Teatime from Hogfather come to mind. The reason is that it's not necessary - the protagonists can carry the weight of the plot alone, thank you very much. I can, for that matter, never decide which series I like better, the Witches or the City Watch. I could never warm to Rincewind and, don't hit me, the Death and Susan Sto Helit books are hit and miss for me. Granny Weatherwax is my favourite character of pretty much all time, but I actually think I like the cast ensemble and the story dynamics of multi-ethnic Ankh-Morpork from the City Watch books better (plus the darker tone of the later books) (well, except for "That! Is!! Not!!! My!!!! COW!!!!!").