Thursday, May 01, 2008

Weekly reader

As a general rule I do not like fantasy as a genre. I also do not care much for science fiction, except for real old-school stuff like Asimov and silly stuff like Douglas Adams (both of whom I started reading when I was about 10). At one point I did like both of these genres, but that point has long been over.

However, I've recently discovered Terry Pratchett, who seems to be to fantasy what Douglas Adams is to science fiction. Over the past few weeks I've read Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad, both of which I enjoyed thoroughly. (I'm a little embarrassed that it took me so long to get through them, as normally I'd be able to polish both off in a single afternoon--but "normally" here means "if I did not have a small baby.")

For Christmas, Chip sent us Hogfather. (Thanks, Chip!) I started it today. Anyway, the whole point of this entry is that I would like to share the following quote, from its page 24:

"Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on."

Genius, man. Freaking genius.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

For me, the best novel in the series is Small Gods, wich takes place about 100 years prior to the rest of them. Two other good "Witches" stories are "Carpe Jugulum" and "Lords and Ladies"

Anonymous said...

"Equal Rites" introduces Granny, but the coven had not formed yet

Sam said...

i've been totally sucked into terry pratchett lately; the books have gotten me through many a busride. i LOVED _going postal_ and _making money_. both can be read without having read the rest of the series. _night watch_ is also good, as is _thud!_. yay!