Feet of Clay

This might be my favorite Discworld book so far after Guards! Guards! and I think that might mean more given that I mostly love that first book for the character build up. This has so much--the Vetinari/Vimes stuff was. So much I had to lie down (when ur gay and you make ur bf solve the mystery of what is killing you even though you figured it out before him.......) and the whole golem plot around freedom was really interesting and powerful (though I would love to talk to a Jewish person about it, especially because there was this throwaway line about receipts that made me go "oh yikes.") And then like the Nobby plot was of COURSE so good; Pratchett has hit a kind of stride in this third book of new characters and keeping old characters show more and it's good to watch them interact.

Also all dwarfs are trans and I love to see it! show less

I really enjoy the City Watch novels because every character is a hoot. Vimes is off the hooch, Nobby is about to be crowned king, and there are truly mysterious murders going on. And attempted murders. Of Vetinari, no less.

This is one of those super-solid Discworld novels. Pratchett has his thing going on, full tilt. Discrimination is explored on a much broader basis than ever before and just imagine... GOLEMS! So everywhere that NO ONE NOTICES them. Solution?

Revolution. Of a sort. If you're going to demand your freedom, make damn sure you ask for a receipt. :)

Reading Terry Pratchett is like eating the perfect fruit cake: textured, complex, filled with bursts of intense flavour that nevertheless catch you by surprise, easy to eat, satisfying but still leaving you wanting more.

Here's an example of one of the surprises.

Mr Hopkins, a museum curator, has been murdered using one of his exhibits as the murder weapon. He is so annoyed by the damage caused to the exhibit by being used in this way that he refuses to acknowledge his own demise even with DEATH standing next to him. When he finally accepts his own incorporeality, he complains to DEATH, saying:
"This really is most uncalled-for. Couldn't you have arranged a less awkward time?
ONLY BY CONSULTING WITH YOUR MURDERER
It all seems very badly show more organised. I wish to make a complaint. I pay my taxes, after all.
I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. I TURN UP ONLY ONCE."
The shade of Mr Hopkins began to fade.
"It's simply that I've always tried to plan ahead in a sensible way...
I'VE FOUND THE BEST APPROACH IS TO TAKE LIFE AS IT COMES
That seems very irresponsible...
IT'S ALWAYS WORKED FOR ME"
This small slice of fruitcake is so rich it's worthy of Bettys Tea Shop in Harrogate. It deserves to be savoured, perhaps with a good slice of Wensleydale and a cafeterier of coffee.

As this was a re-read for me, I managed to control my appetite and consumed "Feet Of Clay" one small slice at a time for three weeks. Re-reading this confirmed my respect for Terry Pratchett's storytelling craft, his irrepressible sense of humour and his ability to bring complex issues to life in a way that makes sense in Ankh-Morpork but which also resonate with my current experience of the world, more than twenty years after "Feet Of Clay" was written.

As I rolled through this enjoyable romp of a book again, I kept finding things to admire.
The means used to poison Vetinari was fiendishly clever. Even so, I'd forgotten it since my last read so I had the joy of rediscovering it and I fell (as I probably did last time) for his playful nod at "The Name Of The Rose".

I love Pratchett's ability to let me see things in new ways, sometimes just through a play on words and sometimes through refreshing a concept.

He never takes words for granted. He knows that, like the Golems of the story, the words in our heads have power over us. So, in the midst of all the chaotic action of Fred Colon's slap-stick attempt to escape a killer Golem we get:
Firstly, the drainpipe he was riding hit the wall of the building opposite. I a well-organised world he might have landed on a fire escape, but fire escapes were unknown in Ankh-Morpork and the flames generally had to leave via the roof.
It's just a little wordplay but it does make me stop and think, "If I blinded myself to reading fire escape that way, what else am I blinding myself to?"

Sometimes, the concept-twisting works more like a running joke, gathering meaning as it splashes through plot puddles. Pratchett gets us used to the idea that Golems are powered by the words in their heads, then he gets us to think about how those words might change and who would change them. He has us nodding along because we're all thinking programming computers and then he twists it back to people. Carrot watches, unable to get close enough to act, as one Golem kills another and we get this exchange with the always pragmatic Angua:
Carrot shook himself free. 'It's murder,' he said. 'We're Watchmen. We can't just... watch! It killed him.'
'It's an it and so's he-'
"Commander Vimes said someone has to speak for the people with no voices!'
He reallybelieves it,Angua thought. Vimes put words inhis head.

This reminder of the consequence of well-turned phrases resonated with me. I've been watching terms like "Brexit means Brexit" and "Make America Great Again" spread across social media like mould on a shower curtain and I know they affect real life.

Then there's the way Terry Pratchett twists that moment, which is a commonplace in crime drama, when the detective and the (smug at being so astute while actually having been led by the nose) reader have the insight that solves the case. This is how Vimes, a man who is too sunk in despair and too quick of mind to believe in clues, sees that ah-ha moment:

This is it, he thought- This is where we've filled ourselves up with so many questions that they're starting to overflow and become answers
This reframing of the commonplace so that I see it differently makes reading and re-reading Terry Pratchett rewarding. We see the twist, we smile and then we say to ourselves, "but actually, that's true as well as funny."

Part of the power of the City Watch series comes from Terry Pratchett's deep understanding of the need for the rule of law. It's in Vimes' marrow, a bone-deep belief, not a theoretical concept. This time, it's balanced against the hunger for freedom on one side and the reflexive need for a King or other authority figure on the other. Vimes uses the law to mitigate the worst effects of both urges. I particularly liked this exchange between Vimes and Vetinari. I've been on the receiving end of a comment much like Vetinari's and both he and Vimes make perfect sense to me. Vetinari says:
'Commander, I always used to consider that you had an anti-authoritarian streak in you.'
'Sir?'
'It seems you've managd to retain this even though you are authority.'
'Sir?'
'That's practically Zen'
'Sir?'
Finally, I admire the lightness of touch with which Terry Pratchett explores what it means to be a person, the power of choice, the need for individuality and peoples' natural tendency to step back from freedom into long-forged habit.

He avoids pompous lecturing by orbiting his diverse cast of characters in the Watch around the central problems of the book: how is Vetinari being poisoned and what is going on with the Golems, to generate a series of choices and insights that make these issues personal and real.

"Feet Of Clay" kept me curious, made me laugh and invited me to think. That's what Terry Pratchett does. show less

Another five-star for Discworld!

"It takes a lot of complexity to be that simple."

"Trying to understand a complex world with a simple mind."

Two quotes that stuck with me from two separate parts of the book. I've noticed for a long time that there's a lot of life's truths buried in Pratchett's satire and humour. I've noticed it, but never pointed it out.

But this particular book seemed to come to me at the right time. For future readers of this review, we are currently in a time where George Floyd was murdered on camera and in front of a lot of witnesses by a group of uncaring police officers, and the #BlackLivesMatter movement has exploded and it's bringing out both the best and the worst in people on both sides. And we've had a police show more officer melt down in a McDonald's parking lot because, when it's all boiled down to its essence, she's terrified because she matches the description of someone who's done a crime, and she's being accused daily of doing something she hasn't done, and she's terrified to do something as simple as go through a McDonald's drive-thru without facing some sort of punitive action from someone who unfairly judges her for her appearance. That's our current world.

I hope that, for future readers of this review, this won't be your current world, but I truly suspect it will.

Why am I going into all this? Because this funny and entertaining novel is also about experiencing the fear of who you are. A female dwarf who initially hides her femininity, but ultimately finds the strength to stand up and be who she is, and finds friends willing to stand with her. And a werewolf facing an unfair bias who ultimately has to out herself to someone else, but also finds acceptance there.

Amazing what you can find in a little funny book about silly people living on a disc world, isn't it?

I love this series. show less

The first Discworld book in a while where I simply did not want to put it down. The plot and characters and various moving parts came together and built in such a satisfying way, and I had that classic feeling of desperately wanting to know what would happen next, not only in the strict beat by beat of the plot points, but also in the development of the characters' interpersonal relationships. This book is just very well balanced, while still being entertaining, funny, surprising, and chock full of sly commentary on society.

I liked this one a bit more than “Men at Arms” so it seems like I like the City Watch more with every book. I really liked the themes addressed in this one, especially the gollems plot and the one with the new member of the watch.

In this Discworld entry we are following the Watch as they are trying to find who is behind the murders and the poisoning of the patrician Vetinari. There is no trace of anything alive having been at the crime scene, which leaves the city police wandering if a weapon can be blamed for murder.

I really liked how gender was addressed with the introduction of Cheery, a dwarf and new member of the City Watch. I really liked her bond with Angua. They are probably my favourite members of the Watch now. This book show more also made me like Sam Vimes more.

The themes about the creation of life and who deserves rights addressed through the gollems’ plot were also really good and my favourite part of the book. The bible references were a nice touch. Once again the matters of prejudice are addressed not only about the gollems, but also about werewolves.

It was also nice to see one more vampire and Ridcully again.

Acceptance of differences and commentary about social class seem to be the big themes in the City Watch series and I love that. I have been enjoying each book more than the former so I hope that continues.

I think I should have read this one instead of listening to the audiobook. Even though I liked the narrator, Nigel Planer, some of the voices weren’t the best and how I would associate a character sounds like. I plan to buy the paperback and reread it that way in the future and maybe I would like it even more. show less

The more Discworld I read the more I appreciate the genius that is Terry Pratchett with his social commentary. This one is literally a group creating their own idols, that of course fail to live up to expectations. And this was displayed in more than the main arc, several different cases of the same point were made through the whole book, as well as plenty of other things to think about. It also makes a case for why such useless people like Trump are able to get power and keep it despite their ineptitude. Too many people want a king to tell them what to do, and even more, to tell others what to do.