Sir Terry
Pratchett, author of the Discworld series of novels, passed away on the
12th of March 2015. Now, he isn't the first person to die whose works entertained me. Douglas
Adams, Spike Milligan, and Leslie Nielsen are the first ones that I thought of while writing this. I think that shows how much I value humour
in my life. In each case I was sad to hear of their passing, and yet I did not feel sad.
I did not feel my eyes start to water, nor the sensation of starting to lose
control of my thoughts.
This wasn't the case with Pratchett. The more I thought about his death, the sadder I felt. I asked myself why I felt this way and as I thought about it I realised just how much Pratchett and the Discworld series has shaped me as a person. I wanted to write about Pratchett, and so I thought that I would write about how his books changed my life, even if the changes may be small and only matter to me.
I was first introduced to the Discworld, at the age of 10 or 11, by the Headmaster of my School. The book was “The Colour of Magic” and I disliked it. I started to read it but I quickly found it too heavy going and abandoned it.
My next introduction to the Discworld was probably a year or two after that, when I was 12, and it coincided with me becoming an avid reader. Two books started this change and influenced my taste in fiction. The first was “Along Came a Spider” by James Patterson, given to me by my father. The second was given to me by my uncle. It was Pratchett's “Guards, Guards”, and this time I did not give up half way through.
“Along came a Spider” started my interest in crime fiction and developed my interest in TV crime drama and cop shows. I still read crime fiction and watch crime drama but I soon abandoned the books of James Patterson. After 6 or 7 books I lost the connection that I had made with “Along Came a Spider”, so I stopped reading his books. Occasionally I would go back and read another book of his but they never left me with the desire to keep going. I've lost that connection with many different authors or television shows. I never lost that connection with Pratchett.
“Guards, Guards” had me hooked and it started my interest in the Discworld. The mixture of humour, cleverness and really interesting characters connected with me more strongly than anything else that I had read or seen. I practically devoured that book and I soon got through all the Discworld books that my uncle gave to me. I still have those books and I have read “Men at Arms” more times than any other book. So many times that it’s yellowing and dog eared pages led a friend to say “You don’t take very good care of your books, do you.”
I loved the Discworld books at first for the inventiveness and the humour. The series helped to shape my sense of humour. Aided by the Goon Show it created my love for the surreal. Along with Airplane and Police Squad it fostered my love of dodgy puns and word plays, shaping the style of jokes that I have inflicted on friends and co-workers for years. So in this way Pratchett defined my sense of humour and, while I have tired of many comedy shows over the years, I never tired of the Humour of the Discworld books.
The books became a safety net in my childhood: the familiar characters and the gentle humour made the Discworld a safe place to lose myself when I wanted to forget the real world. Even now it’s something that I can go back to when feel the need to laugh and smile. I still laugh at jokes that I must have read over half a dozen times. It’s strange as I've been told a few times that I don’t seem to laugh in peoples company, but every time I go back to the Discworld I can’t help laughing out loud.
Another way that the books helped to change me is that they gave me something to have in common with other people. They gave me something in common with old friends even when our tastes in other things differed. They were something more to talk about while trying to build new friendships. It may not be a coincidence that the two people I think of as my closest friends from University both share a love of the Discworld. After the news of Pratchett's emerged I realised how many friends or acquaintances were also fans of the books, and I wondered if that was just coincidence or something else.
Within a year of reading the Discworld series I “caught up”. There were no more books to read except those that had yet to be written. So it became an event whenever the next Discworld book was published. I would buy the hardback as soon as it came out, and these are the only hardback books that sit on my shelves. I would go as far as leave work, drive 30 miles to the nearest book shop that was still open, and then drive all the way back home. After finally having something to eat I would then start reading and usually I wouldn't stop until after midnight. I had to read the book as quickly as possible and often I would then have to read it again a few days later. Whether that says more about me or the books is for you to decide I suppose.
Coming back to my original point, the Discworld helped shape who I am. It is why I read as much as I do, and it is partly responsible for what I read. It made me realise that I love to laugh, and it changed what made me laugh. It also influenced the jokes that I told, so those who have been subjected to my jokes now know who to blame. The Discworld was a friendly face and a guiding hand, a teacher and a comforter.
Sir Terry Pratchett is gone, but he has left his wonderful, magnificent books. Entwined in those pages are my memories and my feelings, things that I will never forget. I think that everyone fan who had a connection to Pratchett and his books will also have their own memories and feelings captured within those pages. Other authors may do the same for other people but for me it was, and will always be, Sir Terry Pratchett. So for that I say thank you.
This wasn't the case with Pratchett. The more I thought about his death, the sadder I felt. I asked myself why I felt this way and as I thought about it I realised just how much Pratchett and the Discworld series has shaped me as a person. I wanted to write about Pratchett, and so I thought that I would write about how his books changed my life, even if the changes may be small and only matter to me.
I was first introduced to the Discworld, at the age of 10 or 11, by the Headmaster of my School. The book was “The Colour of Magic” and I disliked it. I started to read it but I quickly found it too heavy going and abandoned it.
My next introduction to the Discworld was probably a year or two after that, when I was 12, and it coincided with me becoming an avid reader. Two books started this change and influenced my taste in fiction. The first was “Along Came a Spider” by James Patterson, given to me by my father. The second was given to me by my uncle. It was Pratchett's “Guards, Guards”, and this time I did not give up half way through.
“Along came a Spider” started my interest in crime fiction and developed my interest in TV crime drama and cop shows. I still read crime fiction and watch crime drama but I soon abandoned the books of James Patterson. After 6 or 7 books I lost the connection that I had made with “Along Came a Spider”, so I stopped reading his books. Occasionally I would go back and read another book of his but they never left me with the desire to keep going. I've lost that connection with many different authors or television shows. I never lost that connection with Pratchett.
“Guards, Guards” had me hooked and it started my interest in the Discworld. The mixture of humour, cleverness and really interesting characters connected with me more strongly than anything else that I had read or seen. I practically devoured that book and I soon got through all the Discworld books that my uncle gave to me. I still have those books and I have read “Men at Arms” more times than any other book. So many times that it’s yellowing and dog eared pages led a friend to say “You don’t take very good care of your books, do you.”
I loved the Discworld books at first for the inventiveness and the humour. The series helped to shape my sense of humour. Aided by the Goon Show it created my love for the surreal. Along with Airplane and Police Squad it fostered my love of dodgy puns and word plays, shaping the style of jokes that I have inflicted on friends and co-workers for years. So in this way Pratchett defined my sense of humour and, while I have tired of many comedy shows over the years, I never tired of the Humour of the Discworld books.
The books became a safety net in my childhood: the familiar characters and the gentle humour made the Discworld a safe place to lose myself when I wanted to forget the real world. Even now it’s something that I can go back to when feel the need to laugh and smile. I still laugh at jokes that I must have read over half a dozen times. It’s strange as I've been told a few times that I don’t seem to laugh in peoples company, but every time I go back to the Discworld I can’t help laughing out loud.
Another way that the books helped to change me is that they gave me something to have in common with other people. They gave me something in common with old friends even when our tastes in other things differed. They were something more to talk about while trying to build new friendships. It may not be a coincidence that the two people I think of as my closest friends from University both share a love of the Discworld. After the news of Pratchett's emerged I realised how many friends or acquaintances were also fans of the books, and I wondered if that was just coincidence or something else.
Within a year of reading the Discworld series I “caught up”. There were no more books to read except those that had yet to be written. So it became an event whenever the next Discworld book was published. I would buy the hardback as soon as it came out, and these are the only hardback books that sit on my shelves. I would go as far as leave work, drive 30 miles to the nearest book shop that was still open, and then drive all the way back home. After finally having something to eat I would then start reading and usually I wouldn't stop until after midnight. I had to read the book as quickly as possible and often I would then have to read it again a few days later. Whether that says more about me or the books is for you to decide I suppose.
Coming back to my original point, the Discworld helped shape who I am. It is why I read as much as I do, and it is partly responsible for what I read. It made me realise that I love to laugh, and it changed what made me laugh. It also influenced the jokes that I told, so those who have been subjected to my jokes now know who to blame. The Discworld was a friendly face and a guiding hand, a teacher and a comforter.
Sir Terry Pratchett is gone, but he has left his wonderful, magnificent books. Entwined in those pages are my memories and my feelings, things that I will never forget. I think that everyone fan who had a connection to Pratchett and his books will also have their own memories and feelings captured within those pages. Other authors may do the same for other people but for me it was, and will always be, Sir Terry Pratchett. So for that I say thank you.
