Helpful Score: 1
"Going Postal" is one of the amusing Discworld novels I have read to date, written by Terry Pratchett.
The discworld is a fantasy world Pratchett created in "The Color of Magic." As befits its name, the discworld is a flat world, borne upon the backs of four enormous elephants who stand astride a cosmic turtle as it swims through the universe.
"Going Postal" chronicles the adventures of a conman named Moist von Lipwig, hanged for his crimes but given an on-the-sly pardon by the patrician of the city as long as he consents to make the Ankh-Morphok post office an institution to be proud of.
It's a rollicking fun tale, with corporate intrigue, inspirational razzle-dazzle, golems who are earning their freedom by hiring themselves out to employers, some clever parallels to computer hackers and geek culture, and a searing portrayal of corporate excess and corruption.
Writing in 2004, Pratchett takes a decidedly prescient view of the economy, showing the inevitability of collapse in any system where profit rather than service is the primary motivation. Reacher Gilt, one of the primary antagonists, would be right at home at Enron, Arthur Andersen, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs or any number of other businesses that made the news in 2008.
When my daughter was disappointed today not to find a copy of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" at the library, I got her to check this out instead. As expected, she found it right up her alley.
The discworld is a fantasy world Pratchett created in "The Color of Magic." As befits its name, the discworld is a flat world, borne upon the backs of four enormous elephants who stand astride a cosmic turtle as it swims through the universe.
"Going Postal" chronicles the adventures of a conman named Moist von Lipwig, hanged for his crimes but given an on-the-sly pardon by the patrician of the city as long as he consents to make the Ankh-Morphok post office an institution to be proud of.
It's a rollicking fun tale, with corporate intrigue, inspirational razzle-dazzle, golems who are earning their freedom by hiring themselves out to employers, some clever parallels to computer hackers and geek culture, and a searing portrayal of corporate excess and corruption.
Writing in 2004, Pratchett takes a decidedly prescient view of the economy, showing the inevitability of collapse in any system where profit rather than service is the primary motivation. Reacher Gilt, one of the primary antagonists, would be right at home at Enron, Arthur Andersen, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs or any number of other businesses that made the news in 2008.
When my daughter was disappointed today not to find a copy of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" at the library, I got her to check this out instead. As expected, she found it right up her alley.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book not knowing it was part of a very large series. The way the series works, though, is that you can start pretty much anywhere within them. They don't all follow the same characters and whatnot. I believe there are three about the main character in this book, and this is the first. It was VERY entertaining. I've rated this one 4 1/2 stars (5 full stars should be RARE) and will likely pick it up again one day. In fact, when I was done reading it, I immediately went out and bought 3 more books from the series--the one immediatley following this one, and books 1 and 2 of the entire series.
Helpful Score: 1
Pratchett never ceases to amaze. He has an extraordinary knack for developing characters in a very few pages. He has so many versatile and fascinating characters, discworld is like a play house. He just picks up two or three toys he likes and rolls with it. Lipwig von Moist is a welcome addition to the disc world family. It also features some of the beloved characters from other story arcs on the ginormous disc. Noby Nobbs and Colon are two that make appearances, as well as Corporal Carrot. Vimes makes a brief cameo and as always, Vetinari is haunting the world with his unique brand of politics. An excellent read!!
