Snuff: The Spoiler Thread

As per request, here you go. I picked the book up yesterday, but haven't started it yet.

Now I am 235 pages in. :^D

And it is now 12:09 am and I am finished. It is good, people!

Arghhhh! I clicked absent-mindedly. Seems safe enough for now but I'll try not to come back until I get (and read) my copy.

I've finished! I didn't enjoy it as much as the other Watch books (I would have preferred to see more of Angua, Carrot and the rest). I did enjoy the part where it parodied Pride and Prejudice. By the end I liked it more than when I started, but by far it is not the best.

A BIT SPOILERY! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

I finally finished it yesterday! It's been a crazy week since I got it. I'm with pwaites on this one. I liked it a lot but it was harder for me to get into than any of the other watch books AND I missed the rest of the Watch. I think it might be one of those (like 'Monstrous Regiment') that become so much more brilliant the second time you read it through. I tend to rush and miss important stuff. It wasn't as much of a whodunnit as the usual Watch books and the lack of a goblin to get into the head of detracted from the story IMHO. Remember Dorfl and 'Feet of Clay'? That is the same kind of pathos we should've been feeling here.

I still really really liked it! It had some wonderful comedic moments and as always the mentions of "fanny" which everyone in the book cracks up about leave me somewhat mystified (as an Indian/American fan) but which I have understood through context.

On a side note, who thinks Lord Vetinari will marry the crosswords lady from the AM times *just* so he can win the crossword everyday?

I finished it tonight, at about 4 am even though I knew that I had to get up at 7. I just couldn't put it down. After the last few books (Making Money and Unseen Academicals especially) I was a bit worried that Sir Pterry's writing ability was suffering from his illness, but this is probably one of the best Discworld novels yet.

#6 I definitely was getting the feeling that something will happen between Vetinari and the crossword lady.

#8 I know, right?! I can't wait till this is explored fully. I was a little disappointed that the Carrot and Angua situation was not resolved...this really was just a Vimes book. Not complaining though. :)

I just finished this one yesterday. I was a bit disappointed in it, but overall I thnk it was pretty good. I really had to slog my way through the first half of the book (very unusual for a discworld novel), but the second half picked up quite nicely. I missed the rest of the Watch, as others have said, and I thought the characterizations were a bit off for established characters. I haven't been that thrilled with the recent discworld books, Making Money, Unseen Academicals, and now Snuff, and I hope that any new ones that are written become stronger.

I *really* liked Unseen Academicals and (since I read the YA books), I Shall Wear Midnight but I agree about Making Money and Snuff. After Going Postal, Making Money just didn't seem to be tight enough. I think a large part of this is that there is less editing at this point since that is hard for PTerry to do. His books are still far, far better than anything else out there. :)

As much as I enjoyed Snuff, I was a little disappointed with it. It seems like areas where Pratchett got the point across subtly in the past, are now being hamfistedly pounded in. I noticed this in Snuff and I Shall Wear Midnight, although I still loved both. I think the only works I've really disliked (and am probably alone in disliking) are Monstrous Regiment, Soul Music, and Moving Pictures.

I'm not a big fan of Soul Music or Moving Pictures but I like Monstrous Regiment.

I enjoyed Moving Pictures. Soul Music was a little hard for me to get into and it is one of the few Discworld books that I haven't read at least twice. I like Monstrous Regiment a lot. I liked it a *lot* more when I'd finished reading it the second time.

And on this note, I give you: http://www.librarything.com/topic/126086 to discuss your favourite Discworld books.

Mine finally arrived yesterday, so my day was spent reading …

Definitely better than Unseen Academicals, although I reckon it suffers from exactly the same thing that I commented on in the UA thread – there’s a formula he’s following now. I think I would have enjoyed this one much more if UA didn’t exist.

And I’m with those who’ve commented on the characters being a bit lightly drawn. The closest thing we got to a new character was Stinky, and he was pretty two-dimensional. And our villain didn’t even manage to be that much! Who the heck was he? How did he come to be there, and why did he do the things he did?

But yes, even when not writing at 100%, Pterry still kicks the backside of virtually every other author I can think of, fantasy or otherwise.

#12 " seems like areas where Pratchett got the point across subtly in the past, are now being hamfistedly pounded in"

Yep agree with that. It's a shame as Vimes was great in that regard, wheras now its all a bit obvious. Although I did like the Bronte references.

#15 I think he's had a formula for all the different sub-series. The Watch books generally try to overcome some sort of species/racial hatred. The Witches books used to be about Shakespeare (till he ran out of Shakespeare...:) ) and the Wizard books are about Quantum. Just Quantum. :)

It is a lot more obvious now though. I liked Tears of the Mushroom and Young Sam a lot. Snuff ambled a lot. I really do think it will improve on a second read. I think I suffer from expectations now.

I also think it will improve on a second read. I tend to devour the books wholesale when they first come out, thus missing any subtleties.

#18 Exactly. I do the same thing.

#17 I think the witches are far more about Storytelling in general than just parodies on Shakespeare. The thin dividing line between fiction and truth, and the lies we tell ourselves.

What about the Death novels? They aren't generally about death at all. Somehow they seem closer to the witch ones, about the oddities of the cultural concepts.

#20 Oh yes, he really took that extra leap in Witches Abroad. I was joking about the Shakespeare... :)

Hmm, the Death novels are more about humanisation, I would say (even though I don't think that is a word). Sort of like the TV show Being Human where you try to live human (especially Susan) even though you are other. The early Death books were about him being human, really. I wonder if the Being Human people ever read Terry Pratchett.

#17 through 21...

I somewhat disagree. The underlying themes are the same for Witches, Watch, and Death: they're ALL about making choices and the necessity for doing so. Exploring, if you will, how those choices define not only our Selves, but our position in the (Disc)world. Granny Weatherwax said it quite plainly when she was forced to choose between a mother's life and her newborn infant's. Vimes is constantly railing against the status quo, choosing to follow his sometimes-naive view of How Things Ought To Be; and Death...well, Death is constantly emulating the free will to make those choices that humanity has but he's not supposed to (this is why the Auditors dislike him so intensely...though of course they'd never admit to such an emotion).

The reason I rank Terry Pratchett as my favorite author is because his novels can be read on many different levels...silly comedic fantasy, pithy social commentary, introduction to various classic novels/authors, incisive views on the human condition...

"The reason I rank Terry Pratchett as my favorite author is because his novels can be read on many different levels...silly comedic fantasy, pithy social commentary, introduction to various classic novels/authors, incisive views on the human condition..."

I could not possibly agree more.

While I would put Snuff somewhere in the middle, I did like the way different characters could be seen as variations of Vimes, taken just a little past this point or that, and how Vimes still wonders which way will go.

I finally read this and finished at 2 am. I hoard my Pratchetts like a fine wine, only bringing them out when I really need the comfort of an excellent read.

So, in general I agree with most of the above. I truly did enjoy the story and the Vimes focus, but for me, the Watch is all about Vimes. I feel a strong pull go go back and read Guards! Guards! again. I loved Sibyl and young Vimes in this one, also Willikins (sp?). I enjoyed the Goblins, kept comparing their story to that of the native American history here in the area I was raised, where Ishi lived and died. It is a truly sad tale, and resonated with me.

What I missed; the spewing coffee humor or insane giggles that Pratchett has been known to induce in me. Still, I enjoyed it and was amused, felt it was a fun read. It did seem to be a straight forward story, not as complex as some past novels, but I don't mind that. I do agree about the preachy feel, or as ArmyAngel so adequately expressed, the hamfisted-ness of the point.