I’m one of those readers who have Terry Pratchett firmly placed in the genius category. I own a copy of all his Discworld books and quite a few of the others. Getting my hands on his latest book is always a moment of glee and so it is with Unseen Academicals. This time out its football and celebrity that come under Pratchett’s satirical eye. Along with the excellent characterisation and observations are the usual comic turns and puns. I’m about two thirds of the way through and thoroughly enjoying it. A couple of teasers.‘You mean it was some sort of metaphor?’
Smeens handled this quite well in the circumstances, which included being so deeply at sea that barnacles would be attracted to his underwear. ‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘It could be a meta for something that didn’t look so stupid.’
Truth is female, since truth is beauty rather than handsomeness; this, Ridcully reflected as the Council grumbled in, would certainly explain the saying that a lie could run round the world before Truth has got its, correction, her boots on, since she would have to choose which pair – the idea that any woman in a position to choose would have just one pair of boots being beyond rational belief. Indeed, as a goddess she would have lots of shoes, and thus many choices: comfy shoes for home truths, hobnail boots for unpleasant truths, simple clogs for universal truths and possibly some kind slipper for self-evident truth. More important right now was what kind of truth he going to have to impart to his colleagues, and he decided not on the whole truth, but instead on nothing but the truth, which dispensed with the need for honesty.
I’ll be posting a review shortly.
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