Great Insight from Terry Pratchett

[Diat60]

I'm rereading "Jingo" for the third or fourth time and came across this passage. In light of all the troubles going on in the world right now I thought it was very appropriate. The background is there's a war brewing between Ankh Morpork and Klatch and the Commander of the Nightwatch, Sam Vines, is investigating:

"Someone’s behind this. Someone wants to see a war. Someone paid to have Ossie and Snowy killed. Someone wanted the Prince dead. I’ve got to remember that. This isn’t a war. This is a crime.
And then he realized he was wondering if the attack on Goriff’s shop had been organized by the same people, and whether those same people had set fire to the embassy.
And then he realized why he was thinking like this.
It was because he wanted there to be conspirators. It was much better to imagine men in some smoky room somewhere, made mad and cynical by privilege and power, plotting over the brandy. You had to cling to this sort of image, because if you didn’t then you might have to face the fact that bad things happened because ordinary people, the kind who brushed the dog and told their children bedtime stories, were capable of then going out and doing horrible things to other ordinary people. It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I’m one of Us. I must be. I’ve certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things."

[Rosaboobie]

Ashamed to say I have never read any Terry Pratchett books!

[draclvr]

Oh, my, Diat. If that doesn't put the world today in a nutshell. Very, very thought provoking.

I have a feeling you would really like them, Rsoaboobie. I need to get back to them... the Krampus, The Yule Lord book made me think I need to start reading Prachett again. I've only read a couple of his books, but loved them.

[skeeter]

I got his last one for my birthday and I started reading it, but can't bring myself to get back to it, knowing it's the last time I shall ever read a new Discworld book by him.

[LadyKestrel]

When I was in London in January, I picked up some books at Foldor's 3 for 2 sale. One of them is A Slip of the Keyboard: Reflections on Life, Death and Hats by Terry Pratchett. It's a collection of his essays, articles, and speeches from various times in his life with his own comments as to why and when they were written. The back cover summarizes it well:

With his trrademark humour, humanity and unforgettable way with words, this collection offers an insight behind the scenes of Discworld into a much loved and much missed figure - man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orang-utans and the right to a good death.

I'm 2/3 of the way through it and recommend it highly. Neil Gaiman, another favorite writer of mine who co-authored Good Omens with Pratchett, wrote the forward.

[draclvr]

Ah, what a perfect description of a life well-lived!

[Diat60]

Love "Good Omens", I must have read it 3 or 4 times already!

[LadyKestrel]

I loved it, too, Diat. I also plan to savor the last Discworld novel, and after I finish it, I want to start the series all over again. Reading them for the first time and in the order they were written was a great experience, and since it has been over 7 years since I finished the next to last one, I thought this would be a good time to revisit them all. I also played the first Discworld game last year and had a blast with it, so I'm definitely in the mood for his humor and insights.

[Diat60]

LadyK, how did you get it to play? I struggled for a while then gave the game away!

[LadyKestrel]

It plays well in ScummVM, Diat. It was a community playthrough over at Adventure Gamers. If I remember correctly, there was a discussion about how to run it in this thread:
DISCWORLD

[Bacardi Jim]

This is my iPad lock screen.

[LadyKestrel]

That's a good one, BJ.

[skeeter]

Love Terry Pratchett... I am rereading through the Discworld series, though I have stalled at The Last Continent... I really want to replay the games, maybe I will dig them out.