Death

Terry Pratchett interview in the Irish Times

8 January 2009 (23:49) Comment!

Donal Clarke of the Irish Times interviewed Terry Pratchett when he was in Dublin for his honorary degree from Trinity College in mid-December, and just recently released the article. Terry Pratchett talks about his characteristic hat:

“There’s no significance to the hat,” he says in his focused way. “I just happened to see it in a shop one day and thought: ‘Bing! I am going to have a hat like that.’ Charlie Chaplin always said that there was no great plan to his image. He just looked into a wardrobe and saw this bowler hat, baggy pants and a cane.”

He also spoke of his Alzheimer’s campaigning:

“I do feel like something of a fraud,” he laughs. “I am sitting here talking to you and I guarantee that you would not guess there is anything wrong with me. What I have is posterior cortical atrophy, an early onset form of Alzheimer’s that happens on the rear of the brain. You have a whole bridge hand of problems, but initially they are all to do with visual acuity or sight in general.” … “Several people have told me I have been getting better recently,” he says. “Well, unless there has been a minor miracle that has not really been happening, but I am learning to cope. There is not really the language to explain how it affects me. I have to think before approaching a revolving door. My typing has got quite bad and my spelling has deteriorated. I also have a problem with my short-term memory.” He pauses and plays with his teacup.

“I also have a problem with my short-term memory. And then there’s my short-term . . . ” Yes, yes, yes. I can see where this is going.

Asked about his view of Death as described in the books and whether it’s changed since his diagnosis, he responded:

“No. I wouldn’t say I have changed my view,” he says. “Death is not a buffoon in the books. He’s still Death, but he has a certain amount of compassion. As he points out, it is the falling rock, the microbe or the bullet that kills you. Death’s job is just to take you away.”

He also says something we’ve never heard before about his rise to prominence in his early writing career:

“The Colour of Magic was serialised on Woman’s Hour and that brought some attention,” he said. “When I wrote the second one I really began to sense something moving out there. Later, I remember being summoned to my boss’s office at the CEGB. He had three of my books in front of him and he said: ‘Did you write these?’ I thought I was in trouble, then he asked me to sign them for his sons.” Pratchett quit the job shortly afterwards.

He also spoke about the marginalization of fantasy in literary circles:

“Alternate worlds are now the stuff of Booker winners, but they call it ‘magic realism’ not that ‘awful fantasy stuff’,” he says.

And he reiterates the fact that not all of his fans are 14-year-olds named Kevin (as the runners of this site can attest to):

“The first thing I would say is that 70 per cent of the people who come to my conventions are female,” Pratchett retorts. “Look, the stereotype lacks any accuracy. The stereotype fan is a 14-year-old in an anorak called Kevin. If that ever was true then Kevin is now long married to Daphne and he is beginning to wish he’d started his pension plan a little earlier. If you have parents who are Discworld fans then you will, most likely, be surrounded by books. Fantasy fans tend to read everything.”

And about the media interest in what is Britain’s most high-profile Alzheimer’s patient:

“Now, if somebody phones up and says, ‘I am from Radio WANK, tell me about Alz-heimer’s’, then I know they just want to fill an hour with Pratchett. I tell them to piss off. But it never occurred to me not to announce it.”

There’s much more in the article itself, including a powerful observation: “They say, ‘Don’t let them see you bleed’. But I say, ‘If you let them see you bleed then one of them might offer you a bandage’.”

New Discworld miniatures of Death, Weatherwax, Vimes, Ogg, Rincewind

27 December 2008 (17:45) Comment!

Micro Art Studio is now issuing a series of Discworld miniatures. Miniatures of Death, Granny Weatherwax, Sam Vimes, Nanny Ogg, and Rincewind are already available.

Miniatures of Nobby Nobbs and the Luggage are planned.

The miniatures are based on the artwork of Paul Kidby. According to Micro Art Studio, the miniatures are “30 mm scale high quality metal cast” miniatures and are sold unpainted.

Terry Pratchett the most “evergreen” author

1 August 2008 (17:37) 2 Comments

The British book trade’s premier publication, The Bookseller, released today for the first time a list of “evergreen” titles–titles that have never fallen out of the top 5,000 bestseller chart since 1995.  The list consists of only twelve (out of more than 1.8 million) books, three of which belong to the Discworld series.

The Colour Of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Mort all received the honor.  No author besides Terry Pratchett has more than one book on the list, earning him the title “‘evergreen’ king.”

Birdsong, by Sebastian Faulks, topped the list.  The other books on the list were Complete Cookery Course, by Delia Smith; The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield; A Long Walk To Freedom, by Nelson Mandela; and the favorites of The Hobbit, A Brief History Of Time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and We’re Going On A Bear Hunt.

Warning: Do not buy Discworld novels from Hill House, Publishers until further notice

1 May 2008 (19:53) 5 Comments

Hill House’s proposed facsimile editions of the first twelve Discworld novels, advertised since at least 2005, will probably not be published, according to Terry Pratchett’s agent Colin Smythe.

The new editions were supposed to reproduce the early Discworld novels “in exact facsimile editions,” with the use of identical binding, paper, type, and jacket art as the originals. The books were due to be published about every four months and since 2005 only The Colour Of Magic and The Light Fantastic have been published.

Terry Pratchett’s literary agent Colin Smythe responded to questions with “as far as I’m aware, the owner of Hill House, Publishers Peter Schneider has been ill and as it’s a one man operation I don’t believe that he’s going to publish any more of the facsimiles. It’s a considerable disappointment.”

Discworld fans should be warned that the series of facsimiles is still being advertised on the site, with no mention of these concerns.

“I … paid the company $210 for the first six titles–[which] sounded like a good deal,” said one fan, whose complaint brought the situation to light. “As of [April 2008] only two books have been published. At $105 per book this doesn’t sound like as good a deal.”

He had emailed Hill House repeatedly, with no response and no refund.

BBC birthday celebrations for Terry Pratchett

27 April 2008 (14:06) Comment!

BBC 7 celebrates Terry Pratchett’s sixtieth birthday (this Monday) with a mini series of Terry Pratchett interviews, radio adaptations of the Discworld novels, and more. A summary of what’s still available:

• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents: A radio adaptation, dramatized by Peter Kerry and starring Harry Myers, Tom George, David Tennant and Annie Rowe. Airs April 27 at 8 p.m.
• Mort: A radio adaptation, dramatized by Robin Brooks, narrated by Anton Lesser, and starring Carl Prekopp as Mort and Geoffrey Whitehead as Death. Airs April 28 to May 2 at 6:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
• Book Club: Terry Pratchett talks to James Naughtie about Mort and the Discworld series. Airs May 2 at 6:30 pm. and 12:30 a.m.
• Truckers: The first novel in Terry Pratchett’s trilogy about nomes, read by Philip Pickard. Airs May 5 to May 8 from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Big Toe Books.

All programs, including the dramatization of Small Gods that aired yesterday, should be available on BBC’s Listen Again feature for about a week after airing.

Dress up and win an iPod and every Discworld audiobook

20 March 2008 (20:16) 1 Comment

TimesOnline.co.uk is offering a contest to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Colour Of Magic, the first novel in the Discworld series. To win, send a photograph of “yourself dressed as your favourite Pratchett character” to books@timesonline.co.uk and explain why he or she is your favorite character.  Things to note about the contest:

• Only residents of the U.K. and Eire aged 16 and over are eligible.
• Each person is allowed only one entry.
• Include “Pratchett” in the subject of your entry.
• The email should include the picture of yourself dressed up, the name of your character, why he or she is your favorite (in less than 50 words), your name, your age, your phone number, and your email address.
• The photograph must be in jpeg format and less than 10 megabytes.  Dimension specifications: “a minimum pixel width of 450 for landscape photographs or 450 pixels for portrait photos.”
• The deadline is midday May 19, 2008.

 The full terms and conditions can also be found on the site.

Book news: Translations in Czech, Romanian

16 February 2008 (16:31) Comment!

In book news, Terry Pratchett’s agent has given us this information:

Talpress in the Czech Republic will be issuing a 2-in-1 omnibus of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic to mark the 25th anniversary of the start of the Discworld. They’re also issuing a collection of the contents of the Discworld Diaries 1998-2007 in a single volume.

Rao in Romania are taking licenses for Pyramids, Moving Pictures, and an unillustrated edition of Eric.

Laguna (Serbia and Montenegro) have acquired licenses for Hogfather and Jingo.

Proszynski (Poland) have just signed a license for Monstrous Regiment.

Discworld translations

14 December 2007 (23:54) Comment!

Terry Pratchett’s agent Colin Smythe has sent us the following information about soon-to-be published translations of the Discworld novels and related publications.

“Goldmann will be publishing Lu-Tze’s Yearbook of Enlightenment as their 2009 diary, as will Talpress, who will also be publishing the illustrated version of Eric.

“Karisto (Finland) will be publishing The Last Continent.

“Dela Vision (Hungary) are acquiring a licence for Soul Music, and Conrad (Brazil) for Small Gods.

“In January 2008 Ediciones Altaya in Spain are market testing news-stand editions of The Colour of Magic, Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters and Pyramids.

“Proszynski (Poland) have published the graphic novel of The Colour of Magic, which will be followed by The Light Fantastic. They have also acquired a licence for Night Watch.”

Hogfather DVD, book giveaway

18 November 2007 (17:42) Comment!

Screenhead is offering a Hogfather giveaway in celebration of the impending U.S. broadcast. Simply comment (with your email) on this article before November 24 to get a chance to win the Hogfather book and DVD, as well as three other extras.

Update: TVgasm is also offering a Hogfather giveaway, with the same prizes but slightly different requirements. Good luck to all!