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a_reader_is_me2011-02-05 08:51 pm
catness) wrote in a_reader_is_me2011-02-05 08:51 pm
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Book post: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Title: Hogfather
Author: Terry Pratchett
Number of pages: 384
Genre: fantasy
Book Number/Goal: 5/50
My Rating: 4.5/5
Review:
It's a Discworld novel about an attempt to eliminate the Hogfather (an analog of Santa Claus). The writing style is awesome! The book is light, amusing, hilarious at times, and full of profound philosophical insights - I especially appreciate the thoughts about the relationship between reality and imagination, and about the nature of belief / religions. Of course it's a comedy and not a philosophical treatise but every joke contains a bit of truth ;)
What I found lacking is the plot - it's totally unengaging and seems to exist only as a way to stick all these wonderful quotes together. Same for the characters - there's a lot of them but only one is intriguing/loveable (Mr. Teatime, the Assassin) and he doesn't appear often enough. (Though the God of Hangovers deserves a mention, too)
I think all Discworld books are more or less like that, and that's why I could never get into Pratchett. I had enjoyed "The Wit & Wisdom of Discworld" which is simply a collection of quotes without any pesky in-between scenes. But I see that it makes sense to read all the original books, at least for a lot more quotes which can't be included in such a small collection.
Author: Terry Pratchett
Number of pages: 384
Genre: fantasy
Book Number/Goal: 5/50
My Rating: 4.5/5
Review:
It's a Discworld novel about an attempt to eliminate the Hogfather (an analog of Santa Claus). The writing style is awesome! The book is light, amusing, hilarious at times, and full of profound philosophical insights - I especially appreciate the thoughts about the relationship between reality and imagination, and about the nature of belief / religions. Of course it's a comedy and not a philosophical treatise but every joke contains a bit of truth ;)
What I found lacking is the plot - it's totally unengaging and seems to exist only as a way to stick all these wonderful quotes together. Same for the characters - there's a lot of them but only one is intriguing/loveable (Mr. Teatime, the Assassin) and he doesn't appear often enough. (Though the God of Hangovers deserves a mention, too)
I think all Discworld books are more or less like that, and that's why I could never get into Pratchett. I had enjoyed "The Wit & Wisdom of Discworld" which is simply a collection of quotes without any pesky in-between scenes. But I see that it makes sense to read all the original books, at least for a lot more quotes which can't be included in such a small collection.