The Truth: (Discworld Novel 25) (Discworld Novels)

Product Information

I think I liked this least out of all Discworld novels read so far, maybe because it introduces completely new characters (after just getting attached to the old ones), or maybe because it attempts to poke fun at the media/news system, from an outsider perspective of someone justifiably fed up or frustrated with the inconsistencies promoted by journalists. Pratchett plays with the concept of reincarnation with the fates of Tulip and Pin. Tulip is condemned by Death to watch the deaths of his various victims for "eternity" and becomes a wood worm, one type of which is the "Death Watch beetle". Pin, who believes the "religious symbol potato" will save him from hell is reincarnated as a potato shaped like his face and is then fried. A civilization runs on words, Your Reverence. Civilization is words. Which, on the whole, should not be too expensive. The world turns, Your Reverence, and we must spin with it.” When Mr. Pin finally gets out of the basement, out of habit more than anything else, he tries to strangle William, who accidentally runs him through with a paper spike.

Gardeners like Mr. Wintler and his unusual vegetables are a common theme in local community newspapers - particularly around fall fair time. The unstated sexual component adds the twist, especially when William de Worde is relieved to see that Mr. Wintler's latest offering is only a parsnip shaped like a long nose. In previous centuries before sexual organs could be written about plainly, authors used the nose as a euphemism for a penis. This was particularly popular in Russian literature after the publication of Lawrence Stern's novel, Tristam Shandy which used this idea. The most famous example of this is the short story by Nikolai Gogol, " The Nose". Later in the book, Sacharissa knees Mr. Tulip firmly in "the place that made a parsnip a very funny thing indeed." - often euphemistically called the "produce section". After Terry was diagnosed with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, in 2007, at the cruelly early age of 59, I began to accompany him at public appearances, reading for him when he no longer could, helping him through interviews on stage as “keeper of the anecdote”. We became, of necessity, a sort of double act.Sacharissa says "'Oh? You've signed the pledge?" to Otto the vampire who has pledged not to drink blood and is a member of the Überwald Temperance Movement. This is a reference to the pledge not to drink alcohol that originated with the Women's Christian Temperance movement founded in the 1870s and is still used by Alcoholics Anonymous and other tee-totaling religious movements. The conversation that follows is a series of one liners and quips about the nature of vampirism and plays on "stake" vs "steak" that are typical of Pratchett's style. Later, when Sacharissa faints (the image of fainting virgins a common vampire theme) Otto almost has a relapse and the others rally round him to keep him on the wagon, again a reference to an AA or Christian Temperence meeting. Otto says that he is completely "beetotal" (not drinking blood) a reference to being teetotal (not drinking alcohol). So before long William is the owner of a successful business that employs several dwarfs, a teetotaling vampire, a troll, and a handful of vagabonds. He also has a bunch of money, and a bunch of trouble on his hands. Deep Bone says, "Could be, could be, could very well be". This line is a parallel to the lines from the Monty Pythons "Candid Photography (Nudge Nudge Wink Wink)" sketch. Pratchett uses another reference to Monty Pythons when they are reviewing the "dogs" being delivered to the newspaper office and have to point out to the owners that some are cats and one is a parrot. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: William de Worde thinks to himself, "You've got to move with the Times" (capitalized as a reference to both time and his newspaper.

Newspapers invade the Discworld. After a while it becomes clear that articles don’t always need to necessarily tell the whole truth to sell newspapers. But when a plot to overthrow Lord Vetinari threatens to shake up Ankh-Morpork, they realize only the truth can save them. The novel was published in 2000, many years before the terms ‘post-truth’ and ‘stochastic terrorism’ became common coinage. Yet such is the predictive talent of the best science-fiction authors to notice current trends in world events and extrapolate the most likely outcomes in their fiction.Sacharissa says, "They're undermining us everywhere" in regard to the Inquirer cutting into their business but also undermining their foundations with their shaking presses. Similar qualms on Terry’s part affected the price paid up front for Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman. During 1985, Neil had shown Terry a file containing 5,282 words exploring a scenario in which Richmal Crompton’s William Brown had somehow become the Antichrist. Terry loved it, and the concept stayed in his mind. A couple of years later, he rang Neil to ask him if he had done any more work on it. Neil, who had been spending that time thinking about his series The Sandman, for DC Comics, said he hadn’t really given it another thought. Terry said: “Well, I know what happens next, so either you can sell me the idea or we can write it together.” Neil knew straight away which of those options he preferred. As he said: “It was like Michelangelo ringing up and saying, ‘Do you fancy doing a ceiling?’” A couple of months ago someone had tried to hand William the old story about there being a dog in the city that could talk. (...) The dog in front of William didn't look as if it could talk, but it DID look as if it would swear. Pravda (Russian for "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, formerly the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The world moves on, consider how many fine actors have voiced the words of Shakespeare {admitadly the Bard of Avon was just a middling scrivener of popular entertainments a few hundred years ago in comparison to the masterworks of Pratchett that we listen to here via audible}. Yet, we do not complain when Branagh replaces Olivier in the classic 1944 production in the 1989 film versions of Henery V. The technical improvements that we can enjoy in these new productions are manifold over the earlier recordings, as are the choices in performance that the director provides. Apparently, this book is not classified as part of the City Watch sub-series because the City Watch characters have limited roles and are seen mainly from de Worde's perspective. Personally, I do classify it as City Watch. Where else would it go? I know that many feel loyalty to the excellent work that Nigel Palmer and Stephen Briggs did in the past, reading the Discworld books. I, like many, felt that disconnect when Stephen took over from Nigel, and I took a few books to become comfortable with the change.Gaspode's alias, "Deep Bone" comes from Deep Throat, the anonymous informer who leaked information to the Press.

I have certainly noticed that groups of clever and intelligent people are capable of really stupid ideas" Sacharissa suggests starting a magazine for women called the Ladies Home Companion a take off on The Ladies Home Journal. The other suggestions are obvious take offs on the likes of Playboy, Maxim, Woman, and various knitting, cooking and pet magazines. the Tons acted like society lords" - The Tons are the muscle for the Troll gangs and Tongs are the Chinese Mafia in the real world but the name also conjures up "Ton" which was an eighteenth century Regency term for the upper levels of London Society. This, the 25th Discworld book, is a perfect entry point for new Disc-curious readers. It is largely self-contained, with brilliant brand new characters in one-time starring roles. It explores themes of truthiness, public opinion, justice, the role of the media and how it interacts with government and law enforcement, and racial prejudice. It gives us the Disc's best vampire character to date (NB: not shiny). I don't know that I can pin down quite what makes it the best series book to date, other than its fabulous pacing, interaction of characters new and old, and topical material. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987, he turned to writing full time.Dibbler's remarks, "I could've done all right with the Fung Shooey, though." is a reference to Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese design philosophy where proper placement of objects like furniture and plants within a house influence the fortunes of the house owner.