Going Arc-y

[tealin]

Realization of the day:

No matter how good Making Money is, I cannot expect it to best or even equal Going Postal because a big part of what makes Going Postal so awesome is the brilliantly executed character arc. You don't even notice it until the end, when it sort of comes and hits you in the face, but it doesn't feel like it was just thrown in at the end artificially* because when you do get smacked in the face you realize that it's been there all along,** and while it's vastly significant, character-wise, it's subtle enough to be believable. How could Making Money surpass that? DON'T ANSWER THAT, LUCKY YANKS.

I was thinking, yesterday, of making a list of all the things that make Going Postal so awesome. This resulted in a smirky grin being plastered on my face for a couple of hours. I think this is when someone calls professional help.


*"And then he was good! The End."
**And then you get ridiculously giddy, if you're me.

Comments

[karwei.livejournal.com]

My lips are sealed.

[beckychan.livejournal.com]

Oh, do it! Make the list! Then I can point my Going Postal loving friend at it. XD I think he'd enjoy the read.

I'm about halfway through Making Money now, and the way I've described it to my sister so far is, "It's full of Moisty-goodness." Which, when I think about it, sounds odd when you're talking about a book. Normally, you want your books NOT to be moist.* XD

I won't spoil anything for you, but let me say that even -I- am getting flashes of characters I want to draw, and I'm not usually much good at it.





*Yes I know, I can't be the first person to have ever thought of that joke.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Hello from Orlando, FL.

I sure am looking forward to reading this. Sadly, I have been in places like the North Icelandic highlands and the Faroe Islands. Yup, I have been hiking or horse trekking using old postman routes, but no bookstores en route selling copies of Making Money.

Now I am back in the USA, I have to score a copy. Yes, I worry Making MOney will not be as good as Going Postal, but I look forward to reading it.

I sure would love to see that list of why GP is so great!

[linda-lupos.livejournal.com]

Aah, Going Postal. How do I love thee, let me count the ways. And I don't even really know why... Except that...
- Moist;
- It's an Ankh-Morpork book and I <3 AM;
- Moist;
- It has cool Vetinari scenes and I <3 Vetinari;
- Moist!;
- It has to do with the public services of AM and I'm oddly fascinated by a fictional city that WORKS;
- Moiiiiist;
- Seeing the Watch from the 'bad guy's' POV (loved that bit where Moist was comletely resistant to Carrot's charms);
- Did I mention Moist (which incidentally is a pretty funny name/word once you've typed it several times)?

I NEED Making Money!!!!! (<-- yes, five exclamation marks.)

*Checks online store*

...

OCTOBER 24?! Alright, I'm going to pester a real-life salesperson at a real-life store tomorrow. This is ridiculous. I CAN'T wait that long. :( And else I'll just have to order it from Amazon.co.uk. Sorry bookstore, but some books I just NEED. NOW. ;)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm actually re-reading Going Postal in preparation for Making Money, although I've read it so many times by now I pretty much have it by heart.

And you're completely right about the arc of his redemption - it's so subtle that neither Moist nor the reader sees it happening - it just kind of reveals itself all at once.

On the other hand, Pratchett just moves from strength to strength in his writing. I have faith, Terry!

-Karla

[chainedwind.livejournal.com]

That good? :P

Well, it is one of my favorite Discworld books, same as you.

And it isn't unbelievable because it isn't unbelievable. I mean, halfway or possibly three-quarters-way through the book, he's still filching stuff, and he did solve the big problem using pretty sketchy methods. Eh? Damn right!

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

My adoration for Going Postal also extends beyond the limit of what might be called sane. I'll list some of the things I love about as they come to me... so it'll be kinda all over the place, point-wise.

Such utterly Vetinari-ish Vetinari scenes. Dear God, that man ranks high on the scale of cool; only a hair or two below Vimes, who, for me at least, reigns supreme. :D

I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but this book holds more imagery for me than all the other Discly books. Maybe because it related to e It was the first Disc book I ever read, and it's still my favourite.

Moist is such a complex character. He doesn't even know what the hell side he's on until the end, which is probably why it hits everyone else in the face too. Now, I don't know about you, but I have SUCH a thing for antiheroes.

He also has a very interesting perspective. He's always trying to outwit everyone all at once, and as such he's always looking for weaknesses. I love how he is completely convinced that people can outwit themselves for him, if given the proper stimulation, and how it works up to the point he meets Gilt...

...who is the most awesomist bad guy. Because everything he does is either perfectly legal or so obscured by the fine writing that it appears to be. He is the PERFECT opponent for Moist. Which makes me wonder WHO exactly the opposition could possibly be this time.

Final point: there is no physical battle as the climax here. It is entirely a battle of wits. A surprisingly rare occurrence for the Disc books.


PS: I was going to deke into the US of A for a copy (our dollar's at par with theirs now! Hooray! Cheapness in the States for Canada!), but then I realized just HOW COOL the Kidby cover is... and realized the error of my ways and decided the wait would be worth it. ^^

PPS: Did I assist in spurning this sudden discussion of Making Money with my previous comments? :DDDD If so, I am greatly amused.

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Maybe because it related to e

Eh? Where was I going with that? Waaaay to leave in half-finished thoughts/sentences, me. XD

[bakurakrazie.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see a list. And you can edit it with things you might have forgotten that commenters remind you of.

. . . I still less than three Stanley. Like, a lot.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

You c'n 'ave 'im... I've been crushed on by too many Stanleys. :P

[rhianimated.livejournal.com]

After feeling a void in my fictional-world quota (and on the recommendation of absolutely everyone), I borrowed my first 4 Discworld books from the library a week ago and have since read Going Postal, Nightwatch and The Wyrd Sisters, (with Lords and Ladies next), and am thouroughly a Pratchett convert! Just wondering, though I'm sure they're all good and I'll get to them eventually, any recommendations on which ones I should read next?? :D Also, should I run back to the bookstore and grab myself the $10 copy of Thud! I saw today?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Umm... Well, you've already read Night Watch which is the only one I tell people not to read first... :) I highly recommend the $10 Thud! but you might want to put it on hold for a while after you buy it and seek out The Fifth Elephant which'll give you a more thorough grounding in Dwarf...ism. And then read Thud. Um ... aside from that ... just go back to the library and read the blurbs on the books they have and see what appeals to you.

[jesidres.livejournal.com]

I don't want to know how many copies of Going Postal I've gone through, since I keep chucking it at people as a Pratchett oneshot, and then they like it so much they run away with it.

As for the MM versus GP, I have to say, now having had time to process and reread, to say that, as impossible as it sounds, Making Money made me love Going Postal MORE. It makes the book even better- taking what I thought were the little throwaway moments and make them count.

I'm going to look forward to your viewpoints on it, and hope it causes eve more fantabulous doodles from you. Because while I'm getting better at Moist, you have such an amazing ability to capturing Pratchett perfectly.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Hi ya.

I like your Moist van Lipwig artwork very much. Both of you do this really well.

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

Well, I have a copy of Making Money now! It was not in the Orlando airport bookstores yesterday but I got it at a Borders here in Baltimordor- on sale, too! Other than that I shall not say more about the book.

I like reading everyone's lists here as well. So many points are ones I second.

If I had to summarize why I liked Going Postal so much it would be for the following reasons:

1. Very libertarian points of view- more so than Pratchett's other books. Vetinari's views on freedom of choice are priceless.

2. Moist von Lipwig- GREAT character! He seems like he somehow jumped over to the Discworld from a Robert Heinlein novel- kind of like a flawed Lazarus Long who winds up on the odd side of good. His philosophies and observations on life are hilarious. I like also that he uses his mind and personality rather than violence and threats for his schemes.

3. The whole concept of the Golem Trust and golem culture

4. The book came out at a good time in the USA with the Enron problems and corporate corruption. Gilt's pirate persona and the corporate spin PR are so spot on. It was so therapeutic to see a world where the underdog can take on a corporate giant like that.

5. Nice relationship between Moist and Adora Belle. She is really an interesting character - she has a lot of depth to her and you like her in spite of yourself.

6. That whole "Anything You Can Do I Can do Better" thing going between Moist and Reacher Gilt.

7. Some other Discworld books have spoofed American culture, but this book to me comes closest to capturing US history- so much of it rings true for the age of the Robber Barons, the Gilded Age, the 1920s labor movements with a bit of the frontier Wild West thrown in.

8. I finally got to see a book where the Pony Express beats out the telegraph system (a secret fantasy of many Americans).

9. Details about the every day workings of the clacks and the post office and the
lend the book a lot of realism

I should stop here before it becomes a waaay too long!

[hritza.livejournal.com]

Reasons 'Going Postal' is great:
-Stanley
-SWALK
-Reacher Gilt is utterly swoonable.
- Mine is signed! :)