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Jul. 30th, 2012 10:46 pmSo I have been curious to see what I'll make of Hogfather, because a lot of people really like it and somehow I could never remember it.
And . . . I think I'm not actually that surprised that I couldn't remember it. But I'm also not surprised that people like it! It feels a bit like Reaper Man to me -- there's a lot of sort of marking time and muddling around with grumpy Albert and the Death of Rats and some mildly funny-ish wizard hijinks to fill out the book, and then all the real meat of it comes at the very end.
Except Reaper Man has the emotional throughline of Death and Miss Flitworth in the rest of the book, Hogfather doesn't really have that, or at least it feels to me like it doesn't. And I suspect this might partly be because, uh, Christmas is not really a thing that I have strong emotional associations with? I mean, I have some! Trees are pretty and Yorkshire pudding is tasty and all, I am perfectly willing to have Christmas spirit by association. But I think maybe you need some more Christmas feelings than I've got to feel like Hogfather has that emotional pull. And I've gotten used to watching Death develop, in the Death books, and he's not doing that so much here -- which is fine, I mean, he does great! But he's not changing, he's not a protagonist like he usually is. There isn't enough grandfather-granddaughter stuff either, it's all filled in with Christmas stuff. (I was sitting there at the end of the book going "AT LEAST GET HIM A CARD, SUSAN! He tries so hard!")
All of which is not to say I don't love Susan and her poker, because I do. Or the message of "humans need stories," because I do. But there's a little too much book for just that.
I am curious what other people think, though! Your feelings about Hogfather, please share them with me.
And . . . I think I'm not actually that surprised that I couldn't remember it. But I'm also not surprised that people like it! It feels a bit like Reaper Man to me -- there's a lot of sort of marking time and muddling around with grumpy Albert and the Death of Rats and some mildly funny-ish wizard hijinks to fill out the book, and then all the real meat of it comes at the very end.
Except Reaper Man has the emotional throughline of Death and Miss Flitworth in the rest of the book, Hogfather doesn't really have that, or at least it feels to me like it doesn't. And I suspect this might partly be because, uh, Christmas is not really a thing that I have strong emotional associations with? I mean, I have some! Trees are pretty and Yorkshire pudding is tasty and all, I am perfectly willing to have Christmas spirit by association. But I think maybe you need some more Christmas feelings than I've got to feel like Hogfather has that emotional pull. And I've gotten used to watching Death develop, in the Death books, and he's not doing that so much here -- which is fine, I mean, he does great! But he's not changing, he's not a protagonist like he usually is. There isn't enough grandfather-granddaughter stuff either, it's all filled in with Christmas stuff. (I was sitting there at the end of the book going "AT LEAST GET HIM A CARD, SUSAN! He tries so hard!")
All of which is not to say I don't love Susan and her poker, because I do. Or the message of "humans need stories," because I do. But there's a little too much book for just that.
I am curious what other people think, though! Your feelings about Hogfather, please share them with me.
