First Impressions

[tealin]

Just finished Making Money ... that lasted, what, all of two days?


So ... what ... exactly ... was it about?

What do you mean 'what was it about?' Why does it have to be about something?

I dunno, it just kind of feels more ... whole, that way.

All right then, what was Going Postal about?

Um ... the Post Office? And the internet, kind of. Um ...

And wasn't this one about economics and banks and ... and golems?

I ... suppose ...
Wait, no, GP was really about Moist, because we spent most of it in his head, and it was his character arc that really sold the story as a whole.

You've already said you couldn't expect MM to be as good because there was no way it could have that sort of character arc again. So what were you hoping for?

I don't know, really. Something with one central plotline? Or for them all to meet up by the end?

Look, how often have you liked a new Discworld book the moment you put it down? You didn't much like The Truth when you finished it, and actually disliked Monstrous Regiment, but now you love both. You weren't even nuts about Going Postal until a few days after reading it! What makes you think this one will be any different?

Well ... nothing ... I suppose I just need to let my brain envelop this piece of grit with some mother-of-pearl before I judge it against the others which have had several years' accretion. I just ... something about where it's going, just doesn't feel right ...

You disliked the clacks until GP...

Touché. But ... in this ... the lighting was off, somehow. It was too stark.

You are a loony.

It was!

Just wait and see. You laughed uproariously several times, including when you were all alone in your apartment with no radio or TV on, which must have made the neighbours wonder; that must be worth something.

Right ... I just wish my occipital lobe was more ticklish, lately. And I can't help thinking it would all have been better if Moist had walked off with Drumknott's pencil one more time at the end.

Comments

[dried-frog-pill.livejournal.com]

I'm rereading MM for icon-quote-purposes, but I get where you're coming from. The book feels more about Vetinari than about Moist, or I guess Vetinari-through-Moist's-eyes. It's a good book, but it's not one of the best. I dunno, it's niggling in my head too, and I'm hoping the reread will help me make up my mind about it.

Also, I think someone posted to discworld that Pratchett nixed the Moist-for-Patrician idea? Something about him not being cruel enough to kill the people who needed to be killed handle the job? I could be mistaken, though.