Discworldathon 2017 discussion

So for those who want to join in with a readalong in January the title as voted for by you is Wyrd Sisters!

Technically this isn't actually a first book but a second, but I think it's close enough to the beginning of the Witches to count for January's theme of 'In the Beginning'!

Because Terry Pratchett doesn't do chapters I've had to divide the weekly reading by page numbers. I'm reading from the old Corgi paperback (with the Josh Kirby cover) but hopefully page numbers will tally up at least roughly! People can chat here any time but I'll also be posting weekly on Sunday nights on my blog (www.anarmchairbythesea.blogspot.com) and will leave a link up there in case anyone else blogs about it!

Here's the schedule:

January 1st - 8th - Beginning to P82 "and to think she had expected it to be small..."

January 8th - 15th - P82 - P171 "and grinned a set of gums that were more menacing than teeth"

January 15th - 22nd - P171 - P248 "And as for thinking it could be controlled..."

January 22nd - end - P248 - end of the book!

Obviously these are rough guidelines - if you read more or less one week or finish the book really quickly or not at all that's also totally fine!

If you're planning to take part feel free to say hi/wave etc below!

My breath is bated!

One of my faves.

Here's the schedule on my blog as well as a place to link up your own blog or wherever you'll talk about the book if you plan to do that outside of this group, just so everyone can make sure they're following you - http://anarmchairbythesea.blogspot.co...

Hello!
(That's me, waving on my side of the pond, responding to Bex's invitation to say hi and wave.)
Started reading this edition of Wyrd Sisters (1990) yesterday and haven't stopped smiling.
Nanny Ogg.
Granny Weatherwax.
Magrat Garlick.
Nuncle!

Also fun -- the plugs:
"Terry Pratchett is fast, funny and going places. Try him!" (Piers Anthony)
"If Pratchett had put quill to parchment before Douglas Adams, Ford Prefect would still be stranded somewhere in the galaxy with his thumb in the air." (Time Out)

Hello Bardbooks. *waves back*
I also started Wyrd Sisters yesterday. Its not one I've read before and it had me laughing aloud from page 1.

Nice! I finished the first Witches novel (Equal Rites) yesterday. Will dig into Wyrd Sisters as soon as I'm done polishing off my current (unrelated) book.

If anyone's wondering - ER is 100% worthwhile, and a more solid read than the first 2 Discworld books.

Hello. I started reading Wyrd Sisters this morning and am in love with it so far. It has had me crying with laughter in a few places and I'm only 100 pages in.

Hello:

And wave. I haven't started rereading Wyrd Systers yet but I want to mention that I got it for my Kobo today at the affordable price of $3.49.

I haven't received my book yet....will jump in when it gets here. Reading The Light Fantastic while waiting.

Just read Equal Rites today, will start the Wyrd Sisters in the next few days

When I read Equal Rites, I had just picked it up from the library not knowing anything about it or that it was the first of the witches. I had read other books in the witches series before (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Carpe Jugulum, and some of the Tiffany Aching Books) and it struck me how different Granny Weatherwax is in it. I was perplexed until I found out it's her first appearance and she grew into her character. Did anyone find her to be a very different Granny?

Granted, to me she's different in the Tiffany Aching series to how she is in Witches Abroad and so on. She seems to be coloured by the other characters around her and that's why there's an abrupt change from the Equal Rites to The Wyrd Sisters. She really comes alive when she has Nanny as her comedic foil, otherwise she can appear kind of stodgy. Nevertheless, I still say I'm going to grow up to be her one day.

C.nick wrote: "When I read Equal Rites, I had just picked it up from the library not knowing anything about it or that it was the first of the witches. I had read other books in the witches series before (Wyrd Si..."

I haven't gotten more than 10% into Wyrd Sisters - but Granny could well be an entirely different character from what we've been given this far. One of the major developments at the end of Equal Rites hasn't even been mentioned yet - and it represented a major shift in the wizard/witch dynamic in Discworld...

You have more experience with her than me, though. Maybe this is acknowledged later in WS.

I'm also left with the impression that Tiffany was a way to expand on the character arc/idea behind Esk... but I could be off base with that as well.

I absolutely agree with you on Tiffany being a continuation/exploration of Esk. While they're clearly different characters they're so close that they're a bit like what happened with Greek turned Roman mythology, same god, slightly altered function, completely different name.

When I read Equal Rites I thought Esk was a character whose story was dealt with - there was a doorway left open for her to return (and she did, over twenty years later!), but I was glad when Granny came back, even though she was a changed character. I just assumed that some time had passed and she was older which was why she changed.

As far as that change in the witch/ wizard dynamic went - it's never really dealt with again: I mean it's touched on 38 books later and a lot of the same issues arise again, although it does get handled better by the characters concerned.

Very cool - I like the idea of going along w/ the more experienced Pratchett to explore that territory at a leisurely pace :)

Forgot to comment on another of your points, Nic:

"...to me she's different in the Tiffany Aching series to how she is in Witches Abroad and so on."

She's not a POV character in Wee Free Men and its sequels, so we see her only through the lens of Tiffany. I think that Granny also behaves differently around other witches than she does on her own or with Nanny and Magrat - and later Tiffany. It's all "headology" to her to make her look more impressive.

(It's also something that comes up in The Truth with Vimes: for the first time we see him from someone else's perspective and it's not a pretty sight...)

Ian wrote:
She's not a POV character in Wee Free Men and and its sequels, so we see her only through the lens of Tiffany. I think that Granny..."

That's very true, Ian. Good point!

C.nick wrote: "When I read Equal Rites, I had just picked it up from the library not knowing anything about it or that it was the first of the witches. I had read other books in the witches series before (Wyrd Si..."

(disclaimer - I'm not as familiar with the Tiffany Aching series but have read a lot of Discworld before)

I accidentally finished Wyrd Sisters within 48hrs of picking it up - I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it after not reading it for a few years. I picked up Equal Rites straight afterwards and devoured that as well.

Having read these back to back, I agree that Granny seems a different character between ER and WS. It could be a simple matter of author confidence in the character, but...
[spoiler warning ahead - some plot points discussed]
...in the course of ER, Granny goes from being a witch that is well respected in her local village and doesn't ride a broomstick (so presumably is in her element in the Ramtops but hasn't travelled).

...to a witch that has travelled from the Ramtops all the way to Ankh-Morpork;
has gone from a few hundred respectful (intimidated) followers and appreciators to at least the population of the Shades if not even more beyond;
has been rewarded with more old clothes than she knows what to do with - she's even wearing a reddish shade of black now;
has gone from being a broomstick refusenik to a proponent of the technology, and travelled much faster than she ever intended to (oh, and successfully carried a pillion and landed 2-up on a temporary iceberg on one);
took on and bested* the worlds leading/most senior wizard in a duel in front of his peers, in the great hall of his university;
educated the worlds first female wizard who went on to save the worlds first Sourcerer in hundreds of years and jointly created a whole new field of magic;
Who knows what adventures she came across on the way back to the Ramptops, but its not that surprising she is a different Granny after all the events that she's been through :)

*Whilst technically it was a draw, from a Headology perspective, Granny clearly wanted the assistance of the wizards at this point and therefore beating the Archchancellor in the duel wouldn't have been a victory - you can see the choices she made in the battle were only neutralising the Wizard, not trying to eliminate him. As such, Granny got the result she wanted, which is clearly a win!

Anyway, I enjoyed them so much (thanks Bex for reminding me of these books), I'm planning on reading Witches Abroad and Lords and Ladies before the month is out now :)

Matthew wrote: "C.nick wrote: "When I read Equal Rites, I had just picked it up from the library not knowing anything about it or that it was the first of the witches. I had read other books in the witches series ..."

"accidentally finished Wyrd Sisters within 48hrs of picking it up" LOL!!!

I zipped straight through, too. :)

Your detailed characterter study is fun!

Matthew wrote: "C.nick wrote: "When I read Equal Rites, I had just picked it up from the library not knowing anything about it or that it was the first of the witches. I had read other books in the witches series ..."

Matthew all of that is true and laid out like that is brilliant. :) I just feel that in ER Granny's spark isn't there, which makes me lean towards the idea that Terry Pratchett hadn't fully developed her character yet. Though to be fair that 'spark' isn't fully there unless Nanny is the book, at least in my opinion it isn't.

I've just attended my weekly calligraphy class and was stumped for something to write. I fished around in my bag and brought out Wyrd Sisters. The opening paragraph was made for a gothic script!

I haven't read Equal Rites so I can't comment on how characters may have evolved, but I'm enjoying Wyrd Sisters so far.

Kate wrote: "I've just attended my weekly calligraphy class and was stumped for something to write. I fished around in my bag and brought out Wyrd Sisters. The opening paragraph was made for a gothic script!

I..."

That is awesome! I give kudos to anyone who does calligraphy, I tried it in my teens and it takes dedication.

Apologies for being entirely awol in my readalong hosting duties, I'm battling flu and my phone weirdly won't let me post here so I have to be on the laptop and keep forgetting. Anyway!

I love Wyrd Sisters! It's been a lot of years since I last read it and I just had a kind of vague feeling that I liked it more than Equal Rites but couldn't remember why. Reading all of your comments about Granny makes me think that might have been the reason, although I have to say although I love Granny Weatherwax for me it's really all about Nanny Ogg. She's literally laugh out loud hilarious.

I'd also sort of forgotten (as much as you can forget) how good Pratchett is with words, which sounds silly but his descriptions of things are just brilliant, and unlike anything else I've ever read as far as I can remember. I'm still telling people things were 'as dark as the inside of a cat'. Love it!

Due to the fluey awful I'm probably not going to post weekly on the blog but will pop up in the discussion here randomly and then do a wrap up at the end of the month.

Also I totally agree with Nic, calligraphy definitely takes dedication! I'm hopeless at it!

My copies of Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters were lost in the mail for a few days....so I started The Light Fantastic while I was waiting. Books finally arrived today. I'm going to finish TLF and then join in on the read-along. :)

Thanks Nic and Bex. Calligraphy certainly can't be rushed! If I manage to write a decent TP quote then I'll post a Pic for you. :)

Reading on, I think one of the things I really love about this book is the way that magic/ witchcraft is demystified and made out to be just another career path. The sections on Magrat being a research witch, or how they summon a demon in Nanny's copper (a variation of a joke used in The Light Fantastic but still funny) are brilliant and almost make you think about this being just a quasi-historical novel (set on the back of a giant turtle). And, of course, Granny makes a huge thing out of not doing magic even though she's very good at it.

Another thing I love are Hwel's play fragments. When I first read this I was a huge theatre nerd (I was actually in rehearsal for a production of Romeo and Juliet when I first read it, which was a nice 'life-imitates-art' moment (I played Mercutio, if anyone's interested)) and the bits about scripts and acting were brilliant.

I've sped on a bit and am nearly finished. Opps!
One of the things I love about these novels is what TP doesn't say! e.g. Nanny's drinking song lyrics. So many authors seem to spell everything out to you, its refreshing to have to think!
However, on the flip side, I often scratch my head when introduced to a new character thinking that there must be something hidden in their name that I haven't "got". Does that happen to anyone else?

Today I can begin to reread the Wyrd Sisters. I am looking forward to doing this again as I have since seen the play being performed at The Sir Thomas Mills Theatre, Ipswich, Suffolk. Excellently performed and the humour gets across brilliantly. The rock 'n' roll songs did come across very well and added to the whole experience.
I thought the 2 armoured guards were terrific, how they stayed so still for so long and then coming alive on stage was brilliant. What a masterpiece! I didn't think they could make the book come alive on stage, but was proved totally wrong. So now I'm going to read again and maybe see even more from the book that I may have missed the first time. Very happy to be apart of this as wanted a good reason to reread them all again. Just finished reading WS and I did get to read and understand more of, not just the jokes, but the story line as well. Brilliant and funny!

That sounds like an amazing and hilarious experience!

I just finished my reread of Wyrd Sisters and once again loved it. I just put a post about the readathon up on my blog and will write a post about Wyrd Sisters soon too. https://livingmylifeonline.wordpress....

C.nick wrote: "That sounds like an amazing and hilarious experience!"

If you ever get the chance to see this staged by any one, please buy tickets, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. I was also surprised to hear so many people in one place talking about Terry Pratchett, Discworld and the Characters from the books. Very well loved by so many!

Finally finished. It took me a while to find a copy, eventually I borrowed the fancy new hardback and I must say I missed the cheap paperback editions. Somehow in this beautiful edition the humour and comments felt a little out of place. Never-the-less, this is a brilliant book, there is more to discover each time you re-read a Pratchett book, I must say I had never payed much attention to the Hedgehog song before....... oh dear.