Sir Terry Pratchett has passed away
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Ridcully Mar 12, 2015 4:58 PM EDT |
This has absolutely nothing to do with Linux, but everything to do with my LXer "alias" of Ridcully. Sir Terry created the wonderful fantasy series of Diskworld.....full of satire, laughter, good humour, love, ridiculous situations, unforgettable characters and very often, amazing adventure. His daughter has indicated that she might be continuing to write more diskworld novels. Here's the BBC link: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156 I'm sure there are other LXer readers who will love the work of Pratchett the way I do and will be equally sad to hear of his death. Vale Terry. And as his wonderful character of Death would say: AND NOW SIR TERRY, YOU MUST COME WITH ME. Post Script.......I realised after posting that I had NOT explained "Ridcully". For those not "in the know", Ridcully's full name is "Mustrum Ridcully" and he is Arch-Chancellor of Unseen University, the Diskworld university of magic. He is a pigheaded, stubborn, curiously insightful, full of laughter, robust character who keeps a bottle of whisky in his wizard's hat and loves fishin' and huntin'. He also uses the universlty computer Hex to set up a huge complex of billiards on a table in his study where he practices shots that are impossible in the real world.....and also uses his floor as his filing cabinet. Nothing like me of course.......nooooo......ummmm.......I'll accept the stubborn and pigheaded and laughter. Post Post Script.......LOL........look at the first image on the BBC site and you'll get a perfect starting impression of what Ridcully's study is like. I would like to say that mine isn't quite as floor cluttered as that, but the microscope and book shelves are all present. |
| notbob Mar 12, 2015 7:45 PM EDT |
My condolences to his family. He will be missed, here. |
| Koriel Mar 13, 2015 1:51 AM EDT |
Will be missed by me, I still have my original 1983 copy of The Colour of Magic its a bit tatty but Rincewind, Twoflower, The Luggage and of course the invention of the concept of Fire Insurance will always bring a smile to my face, RIP Mr Pratchett. |
| Ridcully Mar 13, 2015 3:48 AM EDT |
That's great Koriel.......I have a copy also of "The Unadulterated Cat", but in addition his seminal work: "The Dark Side of the Sun". That is a brilliant piece of writing and although it is pure sci-fi fantasy, it contains snippets here and there, of what would be expanded on in the Diskworld.....phrases such as "Klatch" and "Soul Cake Duck"....if you look for them, you'll find them. I won't tell you what the "dark side of the sun" is - if you haven't read the book, it would spoil the whole thing. My wife and I both shed a tear this morning as we read some of the tributes. AS you say, he will be sorely missed........but as he firmly believed and stated, death is not the end. I think the most exciting and sorta kinda bitter part is the fact that at last it appears that there may be a very cheap and simple solution to stopping the onset of Alzheimer's Disease......the work by Australian scientists using ultrasound apparently does work and its so easy to do that a small and cheap unit could be deployed in any home with a sufferer. I hope so. |
| gus3 Mar 13, 2015 1:35 PM EDT |
The motto on his coat of arms: NOLI TIMERE MESSORUM "Don't fear the Reaper." Yes, really. |
| Koriel Mar 13, 2015 2:59 PM EDT |
@Ridcully The first one I ever read was Strata purely based on the cover art and back cover synopsis that got me hooked then I got The Dark Side and the rest is pretty much history this was way back sometime in my early teens, Terry got a lot of my pocket money. Read all the kids stuff as well Diggers, Wings, Trucks and the first 2 in the Johnny Maxwell series plus at least 50% of the Discworld stuff. I may have made Terry a rich man and got to see him in action at World-Con in Glasgow. In fact two of my favourite authors that I got to see at World-Con are now with DEATH its a curse I tell you The Wyrd Sisters are up to something. Oook Ooook also got to see Guards Guards at the theatre starring Paul Darrow (Avon in Blakes 7) that was an absolute hoot. |
| Ridcully Mar 13, 2015 5:05 PM EDT |
@gus3.....Terry did say that he was amazed at the people who more or less expressed the same feelings about his character of Death.....the general trend was that they would be quite content and not afraid if Death was like the one Terry described in his books. Death used to get very indignant about people who accused him of going around killing people. His response was always: I ? KILL PEOPLE ? DEFINITELY NOT ! THEY DO IT FOR THEMSELVES. BUT IT WOULD BE A BLOODY SILLY WORLD IF NOTHING HAPPENED AFTERWARDS, AND I TAKE CARE OF THAT. Death's efforts to ensure the humanity of mankind remains intact is one of the most touching stories of all in "Hogfather" and only Pratchett could conceive of the Grim Reaper going around the world in Santa's Sleigh, delivering gifts and wearing a Santa outfit in disguise......a fantastic film has been made of Hogfather. @Koriel.....his character of the Librarian (Ook) is a classic. What I didn't know until I read his obituary was that Terry was deeply involved in orang-utan conservation, so having an orang-utan for the Librarian of Unseen University was almost an unavoidable outcome. Remember, all libraries are connected in L-space and that it has been proven that a really good library is "just a genteel black hole that knows how to read". My daughter is a librarian technician and she also loves Pratchett and we use allusions all the time in our correspondence. I've never read Strata or the Carpet People.....didn't appeal. I guess I'll have to try again. I'm envious over your seeing of "Guards Guards".......anything with the story of Sam Vimes and his life as a policeman is gripping stuff. You have, of course, read "Raising Steam" ? It's his last book and it is so wonderful, I'm re-reading it at the moment. Anyone who loves steam trains will sit down entranced. |
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