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The Truth by Terry Pratchett
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The Truth (edition 2001)

by Terry Pratchett

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8,45483996 (4.15)253
Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:

The denizens of Ankh-Morpork fancy they've seen just about everything. But then comes the Ankh-Morpork Times, struggling scribe William de Worde's upper-crust, newsletter turned Discworld's first paper of record.

An ethical joulnalist, de Worde has a proclivity for investigating stories -- a nasty habit that soon creates powerful enemies eager to stop his presses. And what better way than to start the Inquirer, a titillating (well, what else would it be?) tabloid that conveniently interchanges what's real for what sells.

But de Worde's got an inside line on the hot story concerning Ankh-Morpork's leading patrician Lord Vetinari. The facts say Vetinari is guilty. But as William de Worde learns, facts don't always tell the whole story. There's that pesky little thing called the truth ...

.
… (more)
Member:johnny_7713
Title:The Truth
Authors:Terry Pratchett
Info:Corgi Books (2001), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 448 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:Discworld, Newpapers, Journalism

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The Truth by Terry Pratchett

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» See also 253 mentions

English (77)  Spanish (2)  Swedish (1)  Dutch (1)  German (1)  All languages (82)
Showing 1-5 of 77 (next | show all)
Honestly, what can one say about Discworld #25 that one hasn't already said 24 other times? It's —ing Discworld. Of course, it's —ing clever and funny. ( )
  Zoes_Human | Oct 30, 2023 |
It's a good one.
  hierogrammate | Jan 31, 2022 |
Pratchett, Terry. Truth. Discworld No. 25. Doubleday, 2000.
The Truth is one of Terry Pratchett’s very best novels. It is, if anything, more relevant in the post-Trump era than it was when it was written. News, we are told, is hard to define but a reporter knows it when he or she sees it. The public is less discerning and are easily drawn in by what we would now call fake news. Like the Moist von Lipwig stories from Going Postal to Raising Steam, The Truth is an industrial fantasy. Institutions like the Post Office and the railroad have a seductive power in Discworld. The Press wants to be fed, and it demands obsessive attention from its servants. A handwritten newsletter becomes a mass-market newspaper with a dwarf-produced printing press with moveable type and a light-sensitive vampire photographer who has trouble with a flash that regularly turns him into a pile of dust. Pratchett constructs an unusually complex mystery plot that conjures Watergate, even as its editor, William de Worde, conjures William Randolph Hearst. The villains, Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip, are terrifyingly over the top, but we are reminded that they are in the service of shadowy Lords and lawyers who may be worse. Somehow, it all works out, and the press does reveal the truth and establish an uneasy détente with the forces of law and order represented by Vetinari and Vimes. 5 stars. ( )
  Tom-e | Oct 16, 2021 |
Very good, though a second female character would have been nice lol ( )
  misslevel | Sep 22, 2021 |
Once again, I am in awe of Pratchett's ability to take seemingly disparate plotlines and weave them into something that's not only fun and entertaining, but also has something to say about the world around us.

I honestly have only a single complaint about this installment in the Discworld series, and that's Tulip's manner of speaking. The "ings" just got to be too much. However, it's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, and honestly, how often are you gonna get a book where an on-the-wagon vampire creates "prints of darkness"?

Another winner in a wonderful series. ( )
  TobinElliott | Sep 3, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 77 (next | show all)
Much as I enjoyed The Truth, honesty nonetheless compels me to admit that the novel didn't seem quite as zippy or fresh as most of the Discworld books (though still offering more entertainment per page than anything this side of Wodehouse). But Pratchett doesn't just spew out jokes and puns (photographs as "prints of darkness"): He implicitly defends a liberal humanism, one that loathes bigotry, jingoism, easy answers and any kind of zealotry.
added by Shortride | editThe Washington Post, Michael Dirda (pay site) (Nov 19, 2000)
 

» Add other authors (49 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Terry Pratchettprimary authorall editionscalculated
Baynton, MathewNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Briggs, StephenNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kidd, ChipCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kirby, JoshCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Matthews, RobinAuthor photosecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nighy, BillNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Serafinowicz, PeterNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Author's Note

Sometimes a fantasy author has to point out the strangeness of reality. The way Ankh-Morpork dealt with its flood problems (see p.232 and onwards) is curiously similar to that adopted by the city of Seattle, Washington, towards the end of the nineteenth century. Really. Go and see. Try the clam chowder while you're there.
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The rumor spread through the city like wildfire (which had quite often spread through Ankh-Morpork since its citizens had learned the words "fire insurance").
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:

The denizens of Ankh-Morpork fancy they've seen just about everything. But then comes the Ankh-Morpork Times, struggling scribe William de Worde's upper-crust, newsletter turned Discworld's first paper of record.

An ethical joulnalist, de Worde has a proclivity for investigating stories -- a nasty habit that soon creates powerful enemies eager to stop his presses. And what better way than to start the Inquirer, a titillating (well, what else would it be?) tabloid that conveniently interchanges what's real for what sells.

But de Worde's got an inside line on the hot story concerning Ankh-Morpork's leading patrician Lord Vetinari. The facts say Vetinari is guilty. But as William de Worde learns, facts don't always tell the whole story. There's that pesky little thing called the truth ...

.

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Book description
William de Worde is the accidental editor of the Discworld’s first newspaper. Now he must cope with the traditional perils of a journalist’s life — people who want him dead, a recovering vampire with a suicidal fascination for flash photography, some more people who want him dead in a different way and, worst of all, the man who keeps begging him to publish pictures of his humorously shaped potatoes.

William just wants to get at THE TRUTH. Unfortunately, everyone else wants to get at William. And it’s only the third edition…
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