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Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.
The philosopher Didactylos has summed up an alternative hypothesis as "Things just happen. What the hell."
The philosopher Didactylos has summed up an alternative hypothesis as "Things just happen. What the hell."
H σειρά Discworld ξεκίνησε κάπου στο ΄80, σαν παρωδία Sword & Sorcery. Μετά τα 2-3 πρώτα βιβλία κατέληξε να είναι παρωδία των πάντων.
Αν και ο Pratchett έχει γράψει πάαααρα πολλά βιβλία για τη σειρά (κάπου στα 25 νομίζω), δε γίνεται βαρετός ποτέ και κάθε βιβλίο είναι γραμμένο με εκπληκτική εξυπνάδα και προσφέρει άπειρο γέλιο.
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An alternative [theory], favoured by those of a religious persuation, was that A'Tuin was crawling from the Birthplace to the Time of Mating ... When they arrived they would briefly and passionately mate, for the first and only time, and from that fiery union new turtles would be born to carry a new pattern of worlds. This was known as the Big Bang hypothesis.
-- Discworld origins
-- Discworld origins
Ο κόσμος (Discworld) είναι ένας τεράστιος δίσκος. Ο δίσκος στηρίχεται στην πλάτη τεσσάρων ελεφάντων και η ελέφαντες στηρίζονται στο καβούκι της τεράστιας αστρικής χελώνας A'Tuin.
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Great A'Tuin the star turtle, shell frosted with frozen methane, pitted with meteor craters, and scoured with asteroidal dust. Great A'Tuin, with eyes like ancient seas and a brain the size of a continent through which thoughts moved like little glittering glaciers. Great A'Tuin of the great slow sad flippers and star-polished carapace, labouring through the galactic night under the weight of the Disc. As large as worlds. As old as Time. As patient as a brick.
Actually, the philosophers have got it all wrong. Great A'Tuin is in fact having a great time.
Great A'Tuin is the only creature in the entire universe that knows exactly where it is going.
Actually, the philosophers have got it all wrong. Great A'Tuin is in fact having a great time.
Great A'Tuin is the only creature in the entire universe that knows exactly where it is going.
Ο Pratchett αντιπαθεί τις μεταφορές (metaphors) και φαίνεται από κάτι τέτοιους διαλόγους:
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Guard: "What're you doing here? Who are you?"
Teatime: "Ah, I'm glad you asked. I'm your worst nightmare!"
Guard: "You mean ... the one with the giant cabbage and the sort of whirring knife thing?"
Teatime: "Sorry?"
Guard: "Then you're the one about where I'm falling only instead of the ground underneath it's all--"
Teatime: "No, in fact I'm--"
Guard: "Awww, not the one where there's all this kind of, you know, mud and then everything goes blue..."
Teatime: "Ah, I'm glad you asked. I'm your worst nightmare!"
Guard: "You mean ... the one with the giant cabbage and the sort of whirring knife thing?"
Teatime: "Sorry?"
Guard: "Then you're the one about where I'm falling only instead of the ground underneath it's all--"
Teatime: "No, in fact I'm--"
Guard: "Awww, not the one where there's all this kind of, you know, mud and then everything goes blue..."
Oι ήρωες είναι παρμένοι από τα κλισέ των RPG και των fantasy ιστοριών, αλλά τα κλισέ είναι τραβηγμένα τόσο στα άκρα που εκπλήσουν. Για παράδειγμα, στο πρώτο βιβλίο περιγράφει τον τρόπο που οι μάγοι κάνουν τα ξόρκια τους. Αν κάποιος έχει παίξει AD&D αναγνωρίζει τη μέθοδο αμέσως: Το spell αποθηκεύεται στον εγκέφαλο του μάγου σαν συμπιεσμένη μορφή ενέργειας, έτοιμο να εκδηλωθεί όποτε ο μάγος θελήσει. Ο Pratchett καταλήγει πως πολλές φορές τα ξόρκια που προσπαθούν να "μνημονεύσουν" οι μάγοι είναι άχρηστα, αφού μέχρι κάποιος να κάνει memorize το ξόρκι επίκλησης 20 νυμφομανών παρθένων, έχει γεράσει τόσο που δε ξέρει τι να τις κάνει...
Κάπου στο πρώτο βιβλίο γράφει πως όλοι οι μάγοι μπορούν να δουν τον Θάνατο. Πως ένα από τα αξιώματά τους είναι το γεγονός πως ο ίδιος ο Θάνατος έρχεται να πάρει την ψυχή τους όταν πεθάνουν. Τίποτα όμως δε με είχε προετοιμάσει για την πρώτη συνάντηση του Rincewind με τον θλιμμένο θεριστή.
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Death: I WAS SURPRISED THAT YOU JOSTLED ME, RINCEWIND, FOR I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THEE THIS VERY NIGHT.
Rincewind: "Oh no, not--"
Death: OF COURSE, WHAT'S SO BLOODY VEXING ABOUT THE WHOLE BUSINESS IS THAT I WAS EXPECTING TO MEET THEE IN PSEPHOPOLOLIS.
Rincewind: "But that's five hundred miles away!"
Death: YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME. THE WHOLE SYSTEM'S GOT SCREWED UP AGAIN, I CAN SEE THAT. LOOK, THERE'S NO CHANCE OF YOU--?
Rincewind: "Not a chance!"
Death: I COULD LEND YOU A VERY FAST HORSE.
Rincewind: "No!"
Rincewind: "Oh no, not--"
Death: OF COURSE, WHAT'S SO BLOODY VEXING ABOUT THE WHOLE BUSINESS IS THAT I WAS EXPECTING TO MEET THEE IN PSEPHOPOLOLIS.
Rincewind: "But that's five hundred miles away!"
Death: YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME. THE WHOLE SYSTEM'S GOT SCREWED UP AGAIN, I CAN SEE THAT. LOOK, THERE'S NO CHANCE OF YOU--?
Rincewind: "Not a chance!"
Death: I COULD LEND YOU A VERY FAST HORSE.
Rincewind: "No!"
Είχα πέσει κάτω από τα γέλια!
Κάπου εμφανίζονται και gnomes, κάτι σαν στρουμφάκια:
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Twoflower: "But there's some big mushrooms under it. Can you eat them?"
Rincewind: "No, no good to eat at all."
Twoflower: "Why? Are the gills the wrong shade of yellow?"
Rincewind: "No, not really..."
Twoflower: "I expect the stems haven't got the right kind of fluting, then."
Rincewind: "They look okay, actually."
Twoflower: "The cap, then, I expect the cap is the wrong colour."
Rincewind: "Not sure about that."
Twoflower: "Well, then, why can't you eat them?"
Rincewind: "It's the little doors and windows. It's a dead giveaway."
Rincewind: "No, no good to eat at all."
Twoflower: "Why? Are the gills the wrong shade of yellow?"
Rincewind: "No, not really..."
Twoflower: "I expect the stems haven't got the right kind of fluting, then."
Rincewind: "They look okay, actually."
Twoflower: "The cap, then, I expect the cap is the wrong colour."
Rincewind: "Not sure about that."
Twoflower: "Well, then, why can't you eat them?"
Rincewind: "It's the little doors and windows. It's a dead giveaway."
Για να μη μιλήσω για τη μάσκα του κόκκινου θανάτου:
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Galder: "I said I hope it is a good party."
Death: AT THE MOMENT IT IS. I THINK IT MIGHT GO DOWNHILL VERY QUICKLY AT MIDNIGHT.
Galder: "Why?"
Death: THAT'S WHEN THEY THINK I'LL BE TAKING MY MASK OFF.
Death: AT THE MOMENT IT IS. I THINK IT MIGHT GO DOWNHILL VERY QUICKLY AT MIDNIGHT.
Galder: "Why?"
Death: THAT'S WHEN THEY THINK I'LL BE TAKING MY MASK OFF.
Η μεγαλύτερη πόλη του Discworld είναι η Ankh-Morpork, εμπνευσμένη λίγο από την Λάνκμαρ του Λάιμπερ. (Στο πρώτο βιβλίο εμφανίζονται και οι 2 κλέφτες του Λάιμπερ, Φαφρντ και Γκρέι Μάουζερ με αλλαγμένα ονόματα, σαν tribute.) H καλύτερη περιγραφή της πόλης είναι η παρακάτω:
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No enemies had ever taken Ankh-Morpock. Well, technically they had, quite often; the city welcomed free-spending barbarian invaders, but somehow the puzzled raiders found, after a few days, that they didn't own their horses any more, and within a couple of months they were just another minority group with its own graffiti and food shops.
Και ένα τελευταίο, αφορά τους PCs...
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Several of the huge stones were lying on their sides, and each was surrounded by another crowd of druids who were examining it carefully and arguing amongst themselves. Arcane phrases floated up to where Rincewind sat:
"It can't be software incompatability -- the Chantof the Trodden Spiral was designed for concentric rings, idiot..."
"I say fire it up again and try a simple moon ceremony..."
"...all right, all right, nothing's wrong with the stones, it's just that the universe has gone wrong, right?"
-- Debugging, Discworld style
"It can't be software incompatability -- the Chantof the Trodden Spiral was designed for concentric rings, idiot..."
"I say fire it up again and try a simple moon ceremony..."
"...all right, all right, nothing's wrong with the stones, it's just that the universe has gone wrong, right?"
-- Debugging, Discworld style
Κάτι που έχω παρατηρήσει είναι πως σε όποιον αρέσει το είδος fantasy και πιάσει στα χέρια του ένα βιβλίο του Pratchett, κολάει σε βαθμό υστερίας. Σταματάει να μιλάει με ατάκες από Discworld μετά το 10 βιβλίο.
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