The Illustration of Discworld is by Jacob Proszowski.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) has had a huge and enthusiastic following for many years. I am a latecomer.
Ariel Wulff, a terrific author and part of our Barking Planet family, had urged me to write about Pratchett and his books some time ago. And now it's happening. I had to first find my balance after I learned that a major turning point in Pratchett's career was The Color of Magic (1983) , the first in a series of over 40 Discworld books that take place on the back of a turtle moving through space -- illustrated above.
I continued my journey into the world of Terry by watching him in many You Tube videos and reading The Color of Magic. I simultaneously turned to factual information where I encountered more awesome surprises. Here are some of the things that I learned:
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Prolific, Unpredictable, Fantasy Humor
"Pratchett,wrote over 70 books with more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages; he was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009 and was knighted for services to literature.
There are over 40 books in the Discworld series, of which four are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal.
Pratchett's earliest Discworld novels were written largely to parody classic sword-and-sorcery fiction (and occasionally science-fiction); as the series progressed, Pratchett dispensed with parody almost entirely, and the Discworld series evolved into straightforward (though still comedic) satire." Courtesy of Wikipedia
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"Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can." Terry Pratchett
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Discworld
"Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different.
Particularly as it’s carried through space on the back of a giant turtle.
It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.
Unfortunately, the person charged with maintaining that survival in the face of robbers, mercenaries and, well, Death, is a spectacularly inept wizard. . . "
The above sounds to me like it was written by Terry. It is from his Website.
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'I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.' Terry Pratchett
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The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
"Terry won the Carnegie Medal for his children’s book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. Despite the many other awards, honorary degrees and knighthood that followed, he always said that this was the award he was most proud of."
The story follows Maurice, a streetwise cat, who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe and has his very own horde of rats, who are strangely literate and articulate (IMDB).
An animated movie, featuring the voices of Emelia Clarke, Hugh Laurie, Gemma Arterton, Himesh Patsi, and David Thewlis is now in production and scheduled for release in 2020. An illustration of Maurice is on the left, above.
Here is a link to Michael Chanbon's interview of Neil Gaiman's tribute to Terry Pratchett.
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"Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own . . . he is a satirist of enormous talent." The Times
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Terry 2007 Alzheimer's
"Terry was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s, Posterior Cortical Atrophy. He decided to tell the world, and began his campaign to raise awareness of the disease, donating a million dollars to Alzheimer’s research the following year."
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Terry kept writing to the end. His passion for story telling never diminished. His talent remained intact. He had made many delightful videos (You Tube) over the years. After his diagnoses he made videos tracking his life, and raising awareness by sharing his experience. The video mentioned below, the Dimbleby Lecture, is quite extraordinary. Here is the link : Shaking Hands With Death
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Shaking Hands With Death
In 2011, Terry delivered the annual Dimbleby Lecture on BBC1, with the help of his friend Tony Robinson, who presented his speech for him. In a piece entitled Shaking Hands With Death, Terry was candid about his struggle with Alzheimer’s and his campaign to reform the law on assisted dying. The lecture attracted a record TV audience, the highest there had ever been for a Dimbleby Lecture.
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“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.” Terry Pratchett
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Fantasy
"Fantasy is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. It is not antirational, but pararational; not realistic but surrealistic, a heightening of reality. . . . Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe." Ursula K. Le Guin
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”
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The illustration for the cover of Terry Pratchett's The Colour Of Magic is by Josh Kirby.
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Magic Realism
"Magic realism often refers to literature in particular, with magical or supernatural phenomena presented in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting . . .while fantasy stories are often separated from reality." Wikipedia
The Floating Reality Club
"I joined the Floating Reality Club and so did Selma, my old classmate, I have been asked why I wanted to join an association with such a strange name. I used to reply that it was just a momentary whim, but it really was not that simple. . .
As Selma and I walked home from that first meeting of the club, she said to me, 'I don't know why this club makes any sense. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be a member of the floating reality club.'
'How so?' I asked.
'There simply isn't anyone whose reality doesn't doesn't change, twist and turn, and not just once, but over and over again.'
Selma was right. There are people whose reality changes slowly, imperceptibly at first, but soon accelerating in an irrevocable manner.
As I got ready to retire that evening, it occurred to me that Night, that strips away norms, habits, routines, also is another reality. Activity has ceased, the hand does not grasp, the foot is at rest, the eye sees only its own dreams, and human activities sink into night as if they had never happened. . .
No one, not even the most dreamless, the most afflicted, can endlessly resist the call of the dreams."
Excerpted from the Bee Pavilion, A Story About Swarms, by Leena Krohn.
The painting is by Andrea Kowch.
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Tales of Wonder
"It is the celebration of wonder that constitutes its major appeal. No matter what the plot may be, this type of tale calls forth our capacity as readers and potential transmitters of its signs and meanings to wonder. We do not want to know the exact resolution, the "happily ever after," of a tale - that is, what it is actually like. . . We want to be given opportunities to change, and ultimately we want to be told that we can become kings and queens, or lords of our own destinies. We remember wonder tales and fairy tales to keep our sense of wonderment alive and to nurture our hope that we can seize possibilities and opportunities to transform ourselves and our worlds.” ―
Spells of Enchantment: The Wondrous Fairy Tales of Western Culture
The illustration of Alice at the tea party is by John Tenniel.
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Jack ZIpes New Mission -- Little Mole and Honey Bear Publishing Lost Children's Books
Jack Zipes is on a mission to breathe new life into old fairy tales that deliver important messages. I have posted, in the past, about many of the books uncovered by Zipes and published by Little Mole and Honey Bear, the publishing company he recently founded. Zipes' discoveries of meaningful lost books have ranged from Keedle the Great and Yussuf the Ostrich (both books relevant to WW2), to the Giant Ohl and Tiny Tim.
He recently uncovered and published two delightful books for young kids, Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, and The Magic Herb. Both books are written and profusely illustrated by a formerly highly regarded, gifted illustrator, Dorothy Burroughes. Teddy, The Little Refugee Mouse, which related to children's lives in Europe in WW2, is timeless. The Magic Herb is the story of a badger family's urgent and dangerous quest to find the cure for their sick child. They must cross the sea to an enchanted island and find their way through magic spells that protect the herb.
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On Writing
"There are certain things where the only way to feel like you don’t miss the point entirely is by shifting the story into another register, another world." -- Rivka Galchen author of the acclaimed book Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch.
The photo of the raven is by Greg Rosenke.
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Vivo
A musical film to delight young kids and set their feet a-tapping with Latin inspired music. This is an animated musical with excellent songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, that features top notch animation, a kinkajou, a quest, and an upbeat ending. From Sony and Netflix.
"A warm, colourful, family-friendly tribute to all things Cuban directed by Kirk DeMicco."--Nicholas Barber BBC
Link to see the trailer and visit a musical world: Vivo.
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Exceptional Independent Animation
Alfred Fauchet
Surreal humanity, a smile, original.
Created by Mathieu Georis
Produced at: Atelier de La Cambre
Here is a link to: Alfred Fauchet, adroit, agauche Time 6.34
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Our Fractal Brains
Fractal dream, surreal.
Brilliant alternate reality.
Created by Julius Horsthuis
Music by Patrick O'Hearn
Here is a link to Our Fractal Brains Time 3.41
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Terms of Surrender
Music inspired images.
Directed and animated by Cady Buche and Travis Barron of Unlimited Time Only.
Official music video for "Terms of Surrender" by Conditioner.
Here is a link to :Terms of Surrender Time 3.31
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C.A. Wulff is a lifetime animal advocate. Her books focus primarily on her caring relationships with dogs and the rewards that she receives in turn. Born Without a Tail ranges from her youth through maturity. A compelling memoir, it speaks to both children and adults. Here is a review:
An energetic page-turner that catches the reader by surprise. What seems, at first, to be a simple memoir about pets becomes an astounding love story about commitment and responsibility in the face of insurmountable obstacles. Ironically, Cayr Ariel Wulff's riveting adventures with animals - some hilarious, some heartbreaking - become lessons in what it means to be truly human. -- Amazon reader Review by Marse
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One of the great needs of Negro children is to have books about themselves and their lives that can help them be proud. Langston Hughes
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I Believe I Can
I believe that this is a book that the great poet Langston Hughes would appreciate as a book that would indeed make Negro children proud.
Grace Byers has created a wonderful rhyming book that entertains, surprises, and embodies pride and confidence for all children. Keturah A. Bobo has created colorful and imaginative illustrations for every page. You can see them in this delightful book as well as in a video where the book is very nicely read by Sankofa.
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Refugee Children -- Afghanistan
This is a humanitarian disaster unfolding in front of the world’s eyes,” said Christopher Nyamandi, country director for Save the Children in Afghanistan. “Families already living in Kabul have brought the food they could spare to help the displaced, but there’s just not enough. And more families are arriving every hour. We will start to see children going hungry or even sliding into malnutrition very soon.”
“People are drinking water from dirty containers, the circumstances are unhygienic. We’re one step away from a disease outbreak.”
“The people of Afghanistan not only need the world’s attention, they need the world’s help to get through this. These are families with children, old people. . ."
The message above is an excerpt from Save The Children They, and other NGO's, offer at least some assistance in an overwhelming, desperate world.
The photo is by Muhammed Muheisen, AP.
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The Planet Of The Dogs series...Long ago there were no dogs on planet earth.
A time came when invaders were taking over farmlands, villages and towns.
Dogs, who were living in peace and happiness on their own planet, came to earth to help people find peace.
Here is an excerpt from a review:
"There are so many stories about battles between good and evil, and at times it’s hard to know who’s on which side, when so many lives are lost. So it’s a breath of fresh air to see a book presenting a peaceful resolution. Planet Of The Dogs may be a fairy tale, but it gives us hope that peace may someday be restored on earth through kinder and gentler means. Dog lovers and those who love a nice story will really enjoy this book."
Reviewer: Alice Berger, Berger's Book Reviews
We have free reader copies of the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians and teachers...simply send us an email at planeto[email protected] and we will send you the books.
The illustration from Planet Of The Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty
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“Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.” – Kinky Friedman
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