On This Page
Description
For more than two decades, Terry Pratchett has been regaling readers with tales of Discworld-a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants, which are standing on the back of a giant turtle, flying through space. It is a world populated by ineffectual wizards and sharp-as-tacks witches, by tired policemen and devious dictators, by reformed thieves and vampires who have sworn to drink no blood. It is a world that is vastly different from our own . . . except when it isn't. Now, in The show more Wit and Wisdom of Discworld, various nuggets of Pratchett's witty commentary and sagacious observations have been compiled by Pratchett expert Stephen Briggs, a man who, they say, knows even more about Discworld than Terry Pratchett. Within these pages, you'll find musings on: - Interior decorating: "It's a fact known throughout the universes that no matter how carefully the colors are chosen, institutional decor ends up as either vomit green, unmentionable brown, nicotine yellow, or surgical appliance pink. By some little-understood process of sympathetic resonance, corridors painted in those colors always smell slightly of boiled cabbage-even if no cabbage is ever cooked in the vicinity." (Equal Rites) - Travel: "Any seasoned traveler soon learns to avoid anything wished on them as a 'regional speciality,' because all the term means is that the dish is so unpleasant the people living everywhere else will bite off their own legs rather than eat it. But hosts still press it upon distant guests anyway: 'Go on, have the dog's head stuffed with macerated cabbage and pork noses-it's a regional speciality.'" (The Last Continent) - Young men: "And then there was the young male walk. At least women swung only their hips. Young men swung everything, from the shoulders down. You have to try to occupy a lot of space. It makes you look bigger, like a tomcat fluffing his tail. The boys tried to walk big in self-defense against all those other big boys out there. I'm bad, I'm fierce, I'm cool, I'd like a pint of shandy and me mam wants me home by nine." (Monstrous Regiment) - Class: "'Old money' meant that it had been made so long ago that the black deeds that had originally filled the coffers were now historically irrelevant. Funny, that; a brigand for a father was something you kept quiet about, but a slave-taking pirate for a great-great-great-grandfather was something to boast of over the port. Time turned the evil bastards into rogues, and rogue was a word with a twinkle in its eye and nothing to be ashamed of." (Making Money) . . . and more! Culled from all the Discworld novels, The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld confirms Pratchett's place in the pantheon of great satirists and proves why the Chicago Tribune has praised his Discworld as "entertaining and gloriously funny . . . an accomplishment nothing short of magical.". show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
A pretty good collection of snippets from Terry Pratchett's books. Most of them give you quite a giggle if you've read the book they are from. If not, you might find them a bit confusing out of context. Heck, even in context, I'm not sure why some of them were chosen over others that were much better and would have reached a much wider audience (ie those that haven't read that particular book). That said, it was a great read and sort of took you through the highlights of the books again, without all the weighty reading and stuff. :) But read the original books anyway, darn it, cause they're good.
I took off a whole star because a) if you've read the books, you've read this and b) if you haven't read the books, it won't be very entertaining.
I took off a whole star because a) if you've read the books, you've read this and b) if you haven't read the books, it won't be very entertaining.
Like the Discworld Companion and A Blink of the Screen this is a good book for when there is not enough time to immerse yourself fully in a Discworld story
Nice trip down memory lane but is kind of scattershot with the quotes it picks
A collection of best bits from Pterry's work.
I recommend this for the already committed Pratchett fan, you can dip in and be taken into the stories you already know and love or, as I did, read cover to cover and see your life flashing before your minds eye as you revisit books it has taken most of a lifetime to read.
If you don't know Pterry then don't get this - start with . . . one of the witches books or perhaps the Watch stories or maybe even Feet of Clay.
So overall a selection of excellent excellent bits but a strange fish of a book.
I recommend this for the already committed Pratchett fan, you can dip in and be taken into the stories you already know and love or, as I did, read cover to cover and see your life flashing before your minds eye as you revisit books it has taken most of a lifetime to read.
If you don't know Pterry then don't get this - start with . . . one of the witches books or perhaps the Watch stories or maybe even Feet of Clay.
So overall a selection of excellent excellent bits but a strange fish of a book.
If you are already a Pratchett fan, by all means get this book. It's fun to look back at some of the fun snippets of the books you remember reading.
This is by no way a stand alone book. If you have never read the discworld books this will make no sense to you.
This is by no way a stand alone book. If you have never read the discworld books this will make no sense to you.
Funny, but ultimately if you have read the other discworld novels, you have read this. This is a book that takes the funny sayings and cleverness from the novels and distills them into one easily accessible book. Fun for Terry Pratchett fans.
This book is good for reminding you of quotes from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. This may not contain your favorite quotes, but chances are it will contain some that are really good in your opinion. It starts with The Colour of Magic and goes all the way to Making Money.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books Read in 2023
5,547 works; 145 members
Author Information
425+ Works 579,808 Members
Terry Pratchett was on born April 28, 1948 in Beaconsfield, United Kingdom. He left school at the age of 17 to work on his local paper, the Bucks Free Press. While with the Press, he took the National Council for the Training of Journalists proficiency class. He also worked for the Western Daily Press and the Bath Chronicle. He produced a series show more of cartoons for the monthly journal, Psychic Researcher, describing the goings-on at the government's fictional paranormal research establishment, Warlock Hall. In 1980, he was appointed publicity officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board with responsibility for three nuclear power stations. His first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. His first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. He became a full-time author in 1987. He wrote more than 70 books during his lifetime including The Dark Side of the Sun, Strata, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Truckers, Diggers, Wings, Dodger, Raising Steam, Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales, and The Shephard's Crown. He was diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer's disease in 2007. He was knighted for services to literature in 2009 and received the World Fantasy award for life achievement in 2010. He died on March 12, 2015 at the age of 66. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Wit And Wisdom of Discworld
- Original title
- The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld
- Original publication date
- 2007
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 1,040
- Popularity
- 24,809
- Reviews
- 12
- Rating
- (3.91)
- Languages
- English, German, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 9