(no subject)

[skygiants]

I was kind of hoping whatever alchemy turned Going Postal into a book I really liked would also have occurred to transform Making Money, but my feelings about Making Money appear to have actually undergone a 180 since I first read it, when I seem to have actually liked it better than Going Postal.

I mean, eh, it was fine? I have no specific complaints with the book that I can remember, it's just that I kept waiting for the plot to start, and then I looked down and I was sixty percent of the way through the book and we still seemed to be circling around the setup stages. Like, there was setup and then suddenly there was a CLIMAX and I don't really know where the middle went.

(Then again, I was also reading it during one of the most uncomfortable bus rides I've ever taken in my life, so that probably also influenced my opinion.)

. . . also, as a sidenote, the review from five years ago references the use of "one of my least favorite tropes" regarding Mr. Bent, and I now have NO IDEA WHAT THAT WAS. Clowns? Did I have a passionate dislike of clowns five years ago? WHAT WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT, PAST SELF.

Comments

[thirdblindmouse]

I thought Making Money was Going Postal: The Less Fresh Version. Still a fun read, but not memorable.

[skygiants]

Yeah, pretty much! Second verse, same as the first: a little bit blander and a little bit worse.

[hebethen]

"Secretly raised by X", maybe?

[skygiants]

I don't have a huge problem with "secretly raised by X," though, as far as I can tell! My roommate suggested it might have been "psychologically warped by strict mother," which is actually a good point.

[hebethen]

Ah, that's sensemaking. What did you make of the hired thugs from Hogfather?

[skygiants]

I don't remember them well enough to say! Hogfather is one of the ones that never sticks with me.

[rmc28]

I remember being utterly convinced that Mr Bent was a robot, and going "... huh? a clown? .... huh?"

[skygiants]

I mean, golem would at least have made some kind of thematic sense . . .

[ceitfianna]

Yeah, I reread it not too long ago and its one of the most forgettable Discworld books.

I find this sad as I think Moist is a really interesting character and wish Pratchett knew what to do with him. Oh and to touch on one of your other comments, Hogfather has never clicked for me. I can appreciate it in the abstract but its another I don't reread.

Oh and Rick found me Hidden Turnings and its fascinating to read an anthology chosen by Diana Wynne Jones but so far its nothing amazing. I'm looking forward to Froi of the Exiles next.

[skygiants]

Yeah, it's kind of a shame! Maybe the next one will be better? I think the next one is rumored to be a Moist book.

HAHAHAHA FROI OF THE EXILES. I hope you enjoy it!

[ceitfianna]

I found it for a buck, I had to buy it, but I also have The Masqueraders and Powder and Patch. Oh and I'm almost finished reading A Bad Spell in Yurt then on the 26th, I get to go to ALA.

My to read list will grow hugely. My ebook one is big as I keep buying romance books and not reading them, but I will.

[remindmeofthe]

I don't think I even finished Making Money. I can't remember. I think it's been long enough now that it can be safely said that Discworld peaked with Night Watch and has been gently coasting downward ever since. I mean, it has a long, LONG way down to go before it could possibly hit "bad," it isn't even at "mediocre" yet, but I kind of feel like - I don't know, like it's getting sleepy and it needs to go to bed soon.

[skygiants]

I actually really liked Unseen Academicals when I read it and am looking forward to the reread, but we'll see how I feel when it actually happens, after an accumulated two years of intensive Discworld. Night Watch is definitely better-constructed than anything I've read since, though.

[remindmeofthe]

I didn't finish UA either, though I think that had more to do with the awkward format (I hate when I have to read ebooks on my computer) than lack of interest in the book itself. That wouldn't have stopped me if I'd been enjoying it as much as I enjoy most Discworld, though.

I dunno, I started to feel a little itchy during Thud when the parody got super, super specific, like that takeoff of Blackberries. That's not Discworld's style. That's the kind of thing that dates a parody/satire as it ages, and Discworld has always been the kind of satire that's timeless. Even the stories that are aimed at more modern things, like Moving Pictures, read pretty much the same now as they did twenty years ago. That Bluenose-or-whatever gag gave me the sense that Pterry might have been starting to reach a little. And I mean, it wasn't just that, that's just a moment I can pinpoint as an ". . . oh dear" moment.

Of course, my standards for Discworld are sky-high, so I may just be complaining that my diamond shoes don't fit like they used to. :P Also, NW is one of my favorite books period, one I've read so many times that I realized last time I was actually starting to get tired of it and am thus banned from reading it for probably like another year or two, so comparing the books that come after it to it is not very fair.