Imagine a locomotive, powerful and trusted. It is a famous beast, carrying millions of people through harsh terrain and making them overjoyed from the wonders they experience in this travel.
But if it has a flaw, it is that it leaves you where you started, with wondrous sights and memories but still you were never moved.
This locomotive is the literary powerhouse of his majesty the king Terry Pratchett. His art has touched hearts and lifted souls the world over, from plays to terrible films and his mammoth, legendary Discworld series. His witty style, comprehensive ability to connect with a reader and almost supernatural gift for layering humor so subtly on the text that you get each and every joke you see... Because you don't see the ones you don't get.
These, speak for themselves, anyone who values their pride as an intellectual and lover of the written word should indulge in these books. But they do not shift your world-view. They can make you chuckle and laugh at the world, with satire of parody. They can make you see things in a new light. They can make you sit back and think. But to actually shift your perceptions? It is done so rarely in the literary world and is so powerful that those books that achieve it are rightly called classics.
Nation, ladies and gentleman, is a classic.
Not set on the Discworld, the novel follows the journey of Mau, a boy on a ritual to become a man. Whose everything is swept away by a great tsunami, his entire village and all villages around him destroyed by the mountain of water.
As he seeks to save himself from despair and come to terms with what has happened, he meets a shipwrecked European girl and together they survive, supporting a growing number of survivors as they forge a new nation in on the Island.
I cannot go further without spoiling the plot, and i could never live with myself for doing so, and so i will cease to expound upon it... You'll need to read it for yourself... But i can tell you of what the book is. And i will, because what it is represents the achievement that one novel in a million can reach. It changes you.
I spoke to others on the novel, and they spoke to me on what the book was about:
"Its about the evils of religion on a society" Nothing could be more wrong "Its about the need for progression to survive" Scratch that last one, this is a wrong as it gets "Its about people and what they do when confronted with change" So very, very close...
Nation is about people.
Nothing more. Nothing less. It is a book that celebrates the splendor, the majesty, the grandeur, the wonder, the triumph that is humanity. In a world where any internet intellectual worth his bollocks knows that 'people are stupid and hopeless' Pratchett laughs at them all and shakes his head. Nation covers so many things in its span i could write for days. Religion, morals, ethics, mysticism and countless more.
But the mastery comes from the fact that it is woven seamlessly into one of the greatest narratives i have ever read. And i have read much. The simpleton can read and be content... but those who look further will never find themselves wanting. For the only messages in its pages are the ones you realize for yourself... hence they are countless. Nation is a book that celebrates what it is to be human, where we have been, where we are going and the not-so-trivials of what's in between. It acknowledges religion as something glorious in our past and a wondrous thing, and never criticises... But asks questions.
And here is where Nation changed me. I have spent much time defending religion over the years, as something beyond the dogma that people blame it for and its downfalls, i thought it something woven tightly into humanity that we could not budge and should not. I never believed in a higher power, but i never saw religion as anything but a benefit.
Nation did not tell me otherwise, but it made me think, and through hat thought and the glorious narrative it was captured in i came to a reliasation. Religion was not evil or good, not something that i needed to defend. Religion is something we do not need. Like a hermit crab in its shell, goes the metaphor used in Nation, we scuttle from shelter to shelter as is right and proper. But we do not need them. We can have the sky as our shell and grow unlimited. Religion is a benefit, but not one we need anymore, one we can move beyond.
Now, do you understand what i just said? This book did what the internet In its entire lifetime had not managed to do. Change my opinion. And im a stubborn son of a bitch. Nation is not a book of messages and preaching, it is a story at its heart that allows you to see further with what you already knew and take away refined all your preconceptions. Nation is something that happens once every hundred thousand years ago, when the moon doth shine, grass grows ect.
Nation is not a book about religion. Nation is a book about Humanity, and from it i took this realization... i have no doubt it has many more in further readings as well as a superb story i cannot recommend highly enough.
You may read this review in confusion and wonder what i am trying to convey... And i cannot capture in words the marvel that this book truly is here, i could type on the infinite subtleties and triumphs of its writing and thematic brilliance for years and never be done.
But i will suffice to say this. Don't judge it on my ramblings, but read it for yourself.
I would, on narrative alone, claim Nation as one of the Classics of our time. But for the deeper 'messages' it holds (nothing so pretentious, really) i hold it as the single best thing i have ever read.
Nation is what Pratchett has said is his penultimate book, and given so many ends he has loose in Discworld, i await eagerly to see how he pulls off the impossible one last time.
I can never capture what nation is here, but i can tell you to get off your ass and get it if you value your self-worth as a reader.
On another note, proceeds from this book go towards research towards the horrific affliction that is Alzheimer's (Something Pratchett himself is suffering from)
Pratchett says he has one more book in him, i can guarantee closing its pages upon conclusion will be one of the saddest moments of my life. Its proceeds will also go towards the aforementioned cause.
This is not so much a review as a gushing wank over the book, i regret nothing as i have found no flaw in it yet.
Thoughts? On the book if you please, i know the review is lacking somewhat and i don't need telling.
I recently discovered the Discworld series and instantly fell in love with Pratchett's work. On holiday recently I was trawling round a supermarket and saw Nation staring me in the face in a huge display, and upon seeing the author instantly snapped it up.
I whole heartedly agree with Ultrajoe, based on narrative alone it is brlliant, which when combined with its ability to change the way you think puts it quite firmly in masterpiece catergory.
I love this book, I love Terry Pratchett and you should read his work.
I didn't know it was out yet, thanks for the heads up and to any one who has not read Pratchett it's almost as bad as having never read a single book. It's something that no matter what you read you should read.
Good work Ultrajoe, no spoilers and you got across how good Pratchett is as an author, and how this sort of differs from his other books. Nice.
PurpleRain: Ha good review. I regretably haven't read any of Pratchett's books.
I wont say your missing out, some people don't like him. But if you haven't looked into them then i encourage you to do so. Its more than just a good book, reading and becoming a part of a world more expansive than Tolkien, more involved than dune and more lovable than Wall-E.
Good work Ultrajoe, no spoilers and you got across how good Pratchett is as an author, and how this sort of differs from his other books. Nice.
If i had put in more spoilers (And god could i have put in a bunch of spoilers) i would have ended up reflecting on everything discussed in the Book! The review would take weeks to read, as the book would probably need to be broken down on a word by word basis... its that full of content... not a page is wasted.
Fragamoo: I whole heartedly agree with Ultrajoe, based on narrative alone it is brlliant, which when combined with its ability to change the way you think puts it quite firmly in masterpiece category.
I have read it three times in as many days... its just so full, it's pratchetts ability to compress jokes and quips into a narrative... but turned to the purpose of making people think.
Why isn't this required reading in schools already?
And thanks for the comments on the review, apparently it wasn't the disaster i thought it was.
I recently started reading terry pratchett's books, admitedly i don't have much right to an opinion on this topic as Nation is only the 5th Book by Terry that i have read. But i found myself greatly dissapointed with Nation, it simply did not hold my interest like the other books did, i was happy to put it down and do something else wheras with the other books i did not move till had finished them.
quickpaw: I recently started reading terry pratchett's books, admitedly i don't have much right to an opinion on this topic as Nation is only the 5th Book by Terry that i have read. But i found myself greatly dissapointed with Nation, it simply did not hold my interest like the other books did, i was happy to put it down and do something else wheras with the other books i did not move till had finished them.
True, it was a change of pace from his other novels and that can lead to a shock when it comes to the shift. Was it because of this shift? I have found that reading more Pratchett can help, as some of the themes solidified in Nation are present in his other books as passing sentiment. Do you know what caused this lapse in interest? I only ask out of curiosity and so i can understand if other people i speak too share your thoughts on the matter.
I dismissed Nation as a dying author's attempt to write a 'proper' novel before giving up the ghost (not saying the Diskworld books aren't classic material, they are, but they're don't fit the usual mold of 'classics') but this review has certainly swayed my opinion. I'll pick it up tommorow.
Yeah you've hit the nail on the head there ultrajoe. I suppose its because as well as the change of pace there is a lot less of the humor which made the other books so addiciting, so far i've only come across one truely funny moment in nation
quickpaw: Yeah you've hit the nail on the head there ultrajoe. I suppose its because as well as the change of pace there is a lot less of the humor which made the other books so addiciting, so far i've only come across one truely funny moment in nation
I concede this, Pratchett does let humor take a back seat a lot during the novel, but i think if he had tried to make it funny it would have detracted from the credibility of the novel. What humor there is occurs naturally from the events of the novel, unlike Discworld where he was able to toss around ideas and madness to make us laugh.
Decoy Doctorpus: I dismissed Nation as a dying author's attempt to write a 'proper' novel before giving up the ghost (not saying the Diskworld books aren't classic material, they are, but they're don't fit the usual mold of 'classics') but this review has certainly swayed my opinion. I'll pick it up tommorow.
You see, now i'm apprehensive, because if you dislike it i'm going to feel really guilty for getting you to buy it.
Simply put though Terry is not allowed to let the humor take a back seat during the novel. It would be like reading the 7th harry potter book and it being entirely about the dursleys, still fascinating but not what you wanted.
I also find it slightly hypocricital of him to have a book which is lacking in humor and yet 2 out of the 3 quotes on the back of the book mention the humor in the book as a reason to buy them.
Lord Krunk: My favourite one was 'Interesting Times', personally.
And I agree, I will weep when I close the last book of Terry Pratchett.
Maybe not weep, because we still have them, but certainly feel like another great has disappeared.
I'm stuck on my favourite but I think Feet of Clay just pips it over Night Watch, Going Postal and the Thief of Time. Interesting Times is definitely in my top ten, but then so is Masquerade, because I'm a huge 'Phantom' fan.
quickpaw: Simply put though Terry is not allowed to let the humor take a back seat during the novel. It would be like reading the 7th harry potter book and it being entirely about the dursleys, still fascinating but not what you wanted.
I also find it slightly hypocricital of him to have a book which is lacking in humor and yet 2 out of the 3 quotes on the back of the book mention the humor in the book as a reason to buy them.
I didn't say it wasn't there, it simply changes form from his sought after jokes to subtle humor and references. Trust me, the thing is funny enough if you can catch the jokes.
You didn't find all the awkward humor hilarious? When he throws a spear through the window because she draws an arrow towards her boat? Inviting him to tea because she didn't know any different? The jokes with the king, the courage of the oyster and the frequent satire?
I rescind my former statement on reflection, humor does not take a back seat... it simply shifts gear.
Lord Krunk: My favourite one was 'Interesting Times', personally.
And I agree, I will weep when I close the last book of Terry Pratchett.
Maybe not weep, because we still have them, but certainly feel like another great has disappeared.
I'm stuck on my favourite but I think Feet of Clay just pips it over Night Watch, Going Postal and the Thief of Time. Interesting Times is definitely in my top ten, but then so is Masquerade, because I'm a huge 'Phantom' fan.
A Vimes/morpork fan? i must admit i love his books, but the Witches hold pride of place in my heart, as well as 'Monstrous Regiment' for being possibly the most clever political commentary i have ever seen.
Oh, and all Rincewind novels, not least for the fact that they feature Cohan the Barbarian. 'The Last Hero' was quite sad really.
The_root_of_all_evil: Also not a big fan of Rincewind, there's just nothing about him that's actually likeable.
Well, that's the point. He's not supposed to be.
He's a weasel amongst heroes, a man placed into adventure, but not of his own accord.
The thing about the Rincewind novels is that everyone he accompanies tries to like him, but can't.
I can feel empathy to CMOT Dibbler, Lord Downey and DEATH. Really not so with Rincewind.
Who can't feel empathy for Death? He's one of Pratchett's most loveable characters!
I haven't yet had the chance to read Nation, but I most certainly will. I would have on the grounds that it's a Pratchett book, but now I know what to expect.
Not a favourite by any stretch of the imagination.
I mean, I'm all for subtle political commentary, but Jeremy Paxman with a two by four is subtle compared to that.
Come now he's not so much overly preachy as he is too good. His messages are certainly in your face buts thats because of the confronting nature of them. I don't think it was on the fault of the author as much as it was the fault of the messages he was trying to convey.
Fair enough, they could have been less prominent, but where does that lead? If your going to tone down unsavory messages because people don't like to hear them then sooner or later your not making them at all. I concede your opinion... but to me its a bonus not a flaw.
And as pointed out, your not supposed to like Rincewind as a person, thats why Pratchett pairs him up with someone lovable and uses Rincewind as a cynical narrator for what happens. Think about it, twoflower, cohen, Cohens daughter, Eric (whos name escapes me).
Hes not likable, thats why he's such a compelling place-holder for the story.
Its odd, i agree with everything you say... but don't think of it the same way you do.
Thanks Joe. With it being off the beaten track that Pratchett normally walks, i was some what skeptical about purchasing it. However, i believe i will now, thankyou.
Ultrajoe: It is a book that celebrates the splendor, the majesty, the grandeur, the wonder, the triumph that is humanity.
Worthless garbage. Every single one of us. Presumptuous garbage too.
I always hated this buzzword cynicism before i read 'Nation', the book just solidified this distaste.
You find no worth in our accomplishments and potential? Where we are going? Yes, mistakes have ben made but you don't look at a child playing in the mud and condemn him to never amounting to anything. We have always had potential and have already achieved dizzying heights as a species.
Its all too easy to blame our problems on 'Humanity is hopeless' instead of trying to fix them. Its better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
Sorry, but there are too many internet philosophers who think that 'its all hopeless' is the epitome of a realist view.
I've seen plenty of evidence for why Humanity is incredible, but none for us as hopeless idiots. Yes, we make mistakes, but those are setbacks not roadblocks. And presumption? I call it audacity.
And Audacity is one of the greatest gifts we have. Audacity took one look at the 4 minute mile and said 'Screw you'. Audacity took one look at gravity and then gave it the finger from the moon.
To decry our Audacity is to curse the damn candle.
A couple of things first... Those who say "a dying author", remember that he's only dying in the same sense that everyone is. His Alzheimers is an embuggerance, certainly, but it certainly doesn't have him at death's door. Also bear in mind that so far it's primarily affecting his vision; he doesn't have any trouble with memory or imagination, it's just that letters on his keyboard occasionally vanish.
Also, I don't remember anything about "one more book" - at the Con a month and a half ago he mentioned that he'd keep writing until he couldn't, and then he'd start dictating instead. So don't worry - rumours of his (or the Discworld's) death are greatly exaggerated.
As for Nation, it was a tricky book to get into specifically because I was expecting the usual stuff, and the utterly irrelevant quotes the publisher (not Terry himself) stuck on the back didn't do it any favours.
Anyway, I heartily agree with the review at the start of this thread, apart from one thing: Yes, Nation is about people. But that doesn't mean it's not about all those other things as well. More than any of Terry's previous books, I think, it's a sort of grand unified theory about life, people, death, the universe, and octopodes. I wrote a review of my own a while back, so I might as well post it for your perusal:
Terry Pratchett's latest,Nation, arrived in the post some time ago now - around the start of the week, I think - and I only just finished it a few minutes ago; it's not a book to go into expecting Terry's usual laugh-a-minute style. It's not an easy read, though I found it easier going as I went on, and the last 200 pages or so went by in a couple of hours; perhaps the beginning is more turgid than the rest, or perhaps - more likely? - it just takes a while to adjust one's expectations.
Anyway, I don't suppose I need to summarise the story, but just in case: island in a sort of alternate universe Pacific ocean gets hit by a cataclysm, and its sole survivor has to rebuild the eponymous Nation. And you'll get all that from the dust jacket, so that can't possibly be a spoiler. There's a hint of steampunk about it, at least the bits in the "civilised" parts of the world, and of course some bits that, in feel rather than any real substance, bring to mind Rose Macaulay's classic Orphan Island - rather aptly, in fact.
Now, Pratchett's books have always contained a fair bit of philosophy, with more philosophy and subtler humour as the Discworld series has progressed. But the Discworld books have always been humour first and foremost; dark humour in recent books, but humour nevertheless. Nation feels
Imagine a locomotive, powerful and trusted. It is a famous beast, carrying millions of people through harsh terrain and making them overjoyed from the wonders they experience in this travel.
But if it has a flaw, it is that it leaves you where you started, with wondrous sights and memories but still you were never moved.
This locomotive is the literary powerhouse of his majesty the king Terry Pratchett. His art has touched hearts and lifted souls the world over, from plays to terrible films and his mammoth, legendary Discworld series. His witty style, comprehensive ability to connect with a reader and almost supernatural gift for layering humor so subtly on the text that you get each and every joke you see... Because you don't see the ones you don't get.
These, speak for themselves, anyone who values their pride as an intellectual and lover of the written word should indulge in these books. But they do not shift your world-view. They can make you chuckle and laugh at the world, with satire of parody. They can make you see things in a new light. They can make you sit back and think. But to actually shift your perceptions? It is done so rarely in the literary world and is so powerful that those books that achieve it are rightly called classics.
Nation, ladies and gentleman, is a classic.
Not set on the Discworld, the novel follows the journey of Mau, a boy on a ritual to become a man. Whose everything is swept away by a great tsunami, his entire village and all villages around him destroyed by the mountain of water.
As he seeks to save himself from despair and come to terms with what has happened, he meets a shipwrecked European girl and together they survive, supporting a growing number of survivors as they forge a new nation in on the Island.
I cannot go further without spoiling the plot, and i could never live with myself for doing so, and so i will cease to expound upon it... You'll need to read it for yourself... But i can tell you of what the book is. And i will, because what it is represents the achievement that one novel in a million can reach. It changes you.
I spoke to others on the novel, and they spoke to me on what the book was about:
"Its about the evils of religion on a society" Nothing could be more wrong
"Its about the need for progression to survive" Scratch that last one, this is a wrong as it gets
"Its about people and what they do when confronted with change" So very, very close...
Nation is about people.
Nothing more. Nothing less. It is a book that celebrates the splendor, the majesty, the grandeur, the wonder, the triumph that is humanity. In a world where any internet intellectual worth his bollocks knows that 'people are stupid and hopeless' Pratchett laughs at them all and shakes his head. Nation covers so many things in its span i could write for days. Religion, morals, ethics, mysticism and countless more.
But the mastery comes from the fact that it is woven seamlessly into one of the greatest narratives i have ever read. And i have read much. The simpleton can read and be content... but those who look further will never find themselves wanting. For the only messages in its pages are the ones you realize for yourself... hence they are countless. Nation is a book that celebrates what it is to be human, where we have been, where we are going and the not-so-trivials of what's in between. It acknowledges religion as something glorious in our past and a wondrous thing, and never criticises... But asks questions.
And here is where Nation changed me. I have spent much time defending religion over the years, as something beyond the dogma that people blame it for and its downfalls, i thought it something woven tightly into humanity that we could not budge and should not. I never believed in a higher power, but i never saw religion as anything but a benefit.
Nation did not tell me otherwise, but it made me think, and through hat thought and the glorious narrative it was captured in i came to a reliasation. Religion was not evil or good, not something that i needed to defend. Religion is something we do not need. Like a hermit crab in its shell, goes the metaphor used in Nation, we scuttle from shelter to shelter as is right and proper. But we do not need them. We can have the sky as our shell and grow unlimited. Religion is a benefit, but not one we need anymore, one we can move beyond.
Now, do you understand what i just said? This book did what the internet In its entire lifetime had not managed to do. Change my opinion. And im a stubborn son of a bitch. Nation is not a book of messages and preaching, it is a story at its heart that allows you to see further with what you already knew and take away refined all your preconceptions. Nation is something that happens once every hundred thousand years ago, when the moon doth shine, grass grows ect.
Nation is not a book about religion. Nation is a book about Humanity, and from it i took this realization... i have no doubt it has many more in further readings as well as a superb story i cannot recommend highly enough.
You may read this review in confusion and wonder what i am trying to convey... And i cannot capture in words the marvel that this book truly is here, i could type on the infinite subtleties and triumphs of its writing and thematic brilliance for years and never be done.
But i will suffice to say this. Don't judge it on my ramblings, but read it for yourself.
I would, on narrative alone, claim Nation as one of the Classics of our time. But for the deeper 'messages' it holds (nothing so pretentious, really) i hold it as the single best thing i have ever read.
Nation is what Pratchett has said is his penultimate book, and given so many ends he has loose in Discworld, i await eagerly to see how he pulls off the impossible one last time.
I can never capture what nation is here, but i can tell you to get off your ass and get it if you value your self-worth as a reader.
________________________________________________________________________
On another note, proceeds from this book go towards research towards the horrific affliction that is Alzheimer's (Something Pratchett himself is suffering from)
Pratchett says he has one more book in him, i can guarantee closing its pages upon conclusion will be one of the saddest moments of my life. Its proceeds will also go towards the aforementioned cause.
This is not so much a review as a gushing wank over the book, i regret nothing as i have found no flaw in it yet.
Thoughts? On the book if you please, i know the review is lacking somewhat and i don't need telling.