(audio cd .) just ok really
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I think there must be an awful lot missed out in these audio books. Although I listen to them several times and 'get it' I dont find them very fullfilling somehow.
Perhaps I ought to try reading the books instead
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Going great guns!
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As a long-time Pratchett devotee I am bound to be positive about `Going Postal' but I have to say that I think it is one of his best yet. With television adaptations of `Hogfather' and `The Colour of Magic' successfully transferring the magic of Discworld from page to screen, I would love to see this book get the TV treatment next.
The (anti)hero of the story is the brilliantly named `Moist Von Lipwig', a petty crook and forger who is given the opportunity to avoid the gallows if he will take on the now-defunct Ankh Morpork post office. Little does Moist know that this will bring him into contact with a murderous banshee, a fatally obsessive pin collector, an octogenarian postal worker with a fetish for `herbal medicines' and a chain-smoking femme fatale who only wants to see him dead. These are just a few of Pratchett's latest creations as he treads his usual fine line between the macabre and slapstick comedy.
Pratchett's real talent though, lies in his ability to build on previous novels without becoming a slave to continuity. Going Postal reminds the reader of different aspects of the Discworld's regular cast - from Captain Carrot to Lord Vetinari and Golems to the Assassin's Guild. Having said this, the book works fine as a stand-alone novel, and those unfamiliar with the Discworld series will find this as good a starting point as any.
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CLEVER..........................................
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Moist Von Lipwig, is a wonderfully colourful character. Lord Vetinari (an outstanding character and one of my favourities), spares Moist from hanging in order that he can save the Post Office which has lapsed into decay. Through Moist, a competition arises with the Clack System which is run by corrupt business men. There is an abundance of fabulous Golems, Post Office employees, and Moist finds romance.
The Gnus working serepticiously to spread a Clack type virus through the system, is an outstanding idea.
Though this book is far from being one of Mr Pratchett's best, it is an enjoyable read. However, I did find the ending rather predictable and disappointing.
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"Going Postal" - read it 3 times in a week and it still made me laugh...
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I picked up 2 Pratchett books at the airport at the start of a long-haul 10-day holiday (always useful to have something to keep you smiling when you hit the 5-hour delay, or 3 hour immigration queue..)
I read "Monstrous Regiment" first, big disappointment. Seemed to be a one-joke book...
But "Going Postal" was a complete joy. A new character in the shape of the con-man Moist von Lipwig, a new creature in the form of the Golems, and a great story.
Not one to make me laugh out loud, in the way that early Pratchett books like the Colour of Magic, but great in a more slow-burning way.
I ended up reading this book 3 times in the course of a week, and was enjoying it more each time.
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Where would I be without Terry Pratchett??!
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I have been reading Terry Pratchett novels for the past 11 years, and this one is one of my favourites!!
Moist Von Lipwig (what a name) is a con artist who is offered the choice between death by hanging or a job designated by Lord Vetinari who offers him the mammouth task of turning around the Ankh Morpork post office.
With the help of a big lump of clay, Mr Pump (who you start to fall in love with very quickly), Groat (the only remaining postman) and Stanley (a pin collector - please note at this point stamps had not yet been invented) he sets to work trying to restore the post office to its old glory (and to deliver the mountains of old letters that are piled up there). What he hasn't counted on is that he has pretty much signed his own death warrant here: The people assigned to the post of Head Postmaster have a nasty tendency to die painful deaths.
Hilariously written (as always) Pratchett manages to produce yet another classic to add to the Discworld series.
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