Monday, February 4, 2008
Joan of Pratchett
I'm not sure what you fine blokes liked about this saucy novel, but I really enjoyed the Joan of Ark references. I'm pretty sure that Pratchett had our French heroine in mind when he designed Alice (and even the rest of the girls), and I was interested by all the twists he inserted into this well-known historical tale. Instead of being inspired by God, Alice talks to...a saint? a ghost? a god? this point is debatable. Also, Alice the Duchess isn't some sort of supreme, omnipotent being guiding a human pawn...after all, Alice says that most of the time, the Duchess just cries. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK THE DUCHESS IS??? Moving on. Speaking of God, it mentions that Nuggan has faded away, he's only echoes. Does this story give any clues about how this happened? I would like to write my paper about killing gods, ala "Boatman's Holiday," and of course, this stuck out to me. But I can't recall anyone trying to explain why Nuggan wafted away OR why the Duchess can hear people's prayers. Perhaps some other Discworld novels give more insight into the religious workings of this world. I, for one, have never been very enamored of Terry Pratchett, so I wouldn't know. Perhaps one of you can shed some light on the subject? *piercing glare* Hmm? Hmmmmm?
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5 comments:
I definitely agree about the Joan of Ark theme with Wazzer/Alice. And as far as the Duchess? Very interesting, but I have NO idea what so ever. Clearly a being with more than the "normal" human powers, since she can reincarnate herself it appears. Other than that...I have no idea.
I don't remember it giving a specific reason for why Nuggan wafted away. It sounded like he went a little nutty towards the end.
In general, the gods in Terry Pratchett's books are considered quite real. It's been a while since I read some of his other stories, but I believe the gods even play chess :). I don't think that he would die because they stopped believing in him, so much as that his credibility was blown. They had tangible evidence that he was 'alive' i.e. the updates, but after a while pretty much everyone there ignored some of his edicts. I mean he declared rocks an abomination. That's kind of funny and scary at the same time.
Oh, and the Duchess could be some sort of avatar. I don't think Alice could be considered an avatar for the Duchess, but I wouldn't disagree with possessed.
I don't remember where Death falls in amongst the gods, but at one point he starts to transfer his 'powers' to another human (in Mort). I wouldn't be surprised if such a wacky god like Nuggan decided to appoint a middle man, who would get some other abilities from this.
What does it say about Nuggan being real? I finished the book already, but I don't remember the details about him. Throughout the book, I just thought that Nuggan had been made up by the men in the country in order to keep everybody in order. And I say MEN made it up....because they seem to be responsible for everything that gets screwed up in Borogravian life. lol.
sidenote: I love men....but I still think women are smarter, hehe
I also got the feeling that Nuggan was made up. I never really understood all of that in the book. I didn't understand why they prayed to the Duchess if Nuggan was their God. And there were just so many ridiculous "abominatinos" that felt like could have been created by men to keep control of "their women." Seriously, puzzles?
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