Mort - the best book about death?
|
|
Great book - Mort and Death's story is laugh out loud funny. Terry Pratchett is a genius
|
|
|
Mort!!!! Your Apprentice!
|
|
I did a play based on this book when I was at college. I had no idea what the story was all about so I brought the novel to get a little idea about the story and I wet meyself silly reading it! Sharp wit and great one liners. The characters are brilliant (I played Rincewind!) and because we perfomed in the round, it made it even more intimate for the audience to see more of the play and it worked. Great book. The Discworld series is fab! Buy it!
|
|
I didn't like it.....................
|
|
To be honest I was expecting a lot more from this book. I found it very "thin". I like the Witches better
|
|
|
Fourth in the Discworld Series
|
Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today and his popularity is richly deserved. But not even with his fertile mind could he ever have envisaged the heights to which his Discworld series would rise. This book first published in 1987 is the third of the Discworld novels and the author is really getting into his stride in the series that broke all records and continues to do so with new books being regularly published.
Pratchett's wit and imagination are second to none. Who else would have or could have thought of the Discworld, a world of mystery and magic sitting on the back of four elephants, who in turn are standing on the back of the great turtle A'tuin the whole lot journeying through an eternal void. Are you with the plot so far?
Mort is the fourth book in the Discworld series and encompasses Terry Pratchett's thoughts on death. Surely death is a very serious and not least, final event. Can death be funny? Well, when it gets the Pratchett treatment you may well laugh yourself to death.
Mort is like many teenagers, spotty and growing out of his clothes too quickly. His parents had always said get yourself a trade son, and you won't go far wrong. So Mort does just that, as apprentice to Death himself. The problem is that although he is willing enough, well reasonably willing, he is not very good at his job and bungles more than one fatal visitation.
Having said that taking on an apprentice and delegating a lot of his work has changed Death's `life' completely, if you see what I mean. Drinking and gambling are just two of the human traits that begin to interest Death. He even begins to look into why fun is fun. It could only happen on the Discworld and if you miss it, you will be sorry . . .
|
|
|
"PEOPLE CAN'T EXPECT TO HAVE ME RUNNING AROUND AFTER THEM ALL THE TIME"
|
Excuse the caps in the title, but the quote comes from Death himself, and as many of you know, the guy always speaks that way. It is really great to have a book in which one of the main characters is Death, my favorite one in Discworld. Death's sarcasm is one of the reasons why I like this series so much. But the old man is getting tired, and has decided to get an apprentice to alleviate some of the burden that rests on his shoulders.
Mort is a youngster that does not show much promise for any profession, so when Death shows up and offers him an apprenticeship, he is happy to take him up on it, and off he goes. Mort is a little thick at the beginning, but soon he shapes up. There is one thing that he does not tolerate, and that is people calling him boy, lad or any other way that is not his name, and he keeps reminding others of this fact. During his commission, he will have to take care of things when Death goes on vacation, and try to figure out the messes he creates by altering reality. Meanwhile Death is living the good life and there is the risk of him deciding not to come back. Imagine the repercussions!
Once again, Pratchett delivers a wonderful product in the Discworld series. Many of you already know the basics: flat world, shaped as pizza, standing on four elephants on top of a turtle, abyss at the horizon, many gods, etc. The parallelisms with our own world are merely coincidences, or aren't they? Anyway, the humor in this installment reaches an all time high, and the author showcases his talent for using different techniques to make us laugh out loud. Satire, pun, tongue-in-cheek, you name it, it is all here. Fans of the series will have a great time, and those that are new to it, what are you waiting for? You can start here, or go back to "The Colour of Magic" and read the books in order, either way you will have a blast.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada