(picture credit: www.ralphmag.org/DP/three-men.html)
First published in 1889 this book tells the story of three men (and a dog! You can’t forget Montmerency) who take a boating holiday along the Thames. A thoroughly enjoyable and pleasant read, I enjoyed three main things in particular about this novel:
1) The anecdotes and the language.
The author keeps diverting into random tales to illustrate the point he is making, usually a funny little story here and there which keeps the novel interesting. The entire novel is written in funny old fashioned English colloquial speech always makes me giggle with phrases like ‘drat the man’ ‘bally idiot’ and ‘stupid ass’. Rip roaring jolly good fun and spiffing games.
2) The food and drink
Always a concern for me, I was pleased this was something they took seriously throughout their trip, with lots of discussion about what to pack including detailed discussions about the merits of cheese, as well as a hilarious episode where they cook an ‘Irish stew’.
3) The geographic references
As a Londoner (over ten years means I can call myself a Londoner right?!) its always great to read and hear about your city – however, I am not massively familiar with west London, and the description of the journey they take from Kingston, out west past Hampton court through Marlow and on to Reading so it was also quite educational! The graphic descriptions about the water and the route have the same fun silly twist with anecdotes along the way.
Terry Pratchett – The Carpet People
Co-written by Terry Pratchett aged 17 and Terry Pratchett aged 43, this is the great man’s debut novel. I was looking forward to reading this, and suspected that it was this novel that led to the bromeliad (truckers, diggers and wings) which are some of my favourite books. The carpet people is good fun, and has the trademark Pratchett dry wit and sarcasm throughout it. It’s a funny story, with a common theme that has been used and written about by numerous authors at numerous times in many different ways– think the Borrowers, gullivers travels, honey I shrunk the kids etc etc.
Some of the jokes and themes could be developed more, but I loved the fantastical nature of the different creatures and tribes, and the detailed descriptions of what they looked like and how they behaved. The wry observations about human nature and the anti-monarchy/pro-republic theme throughout this book are in keeping with the discworld novels and is the influence of the 43 year old for sure. I wouldn’t say this is the best Pratchett novel, but I enjoyed it, and I’m sure I’ll read it again.
1) The anecdotes and the language.
The author keeps diverting into random tales to illustrate the point he is making, usually a funny little story here and there which keeps the novel interesting. The entire novel is written in funny old fashioned English colloquial speech always makes me giggle with phrases like ‘drat the man’ ‘bally idiot’ and ‘stupid ass’. Rip roaring jolly good fun and spiffing games.
2) The food and drink
Always a concern for me, I was pleased this was something they took seriously throughout their trip, with lots of discussion about what to pack including detailed discussions about the merits of cheese, as well as a hilarious episode where they cook an ‘Irish stew’.
3) The geographic references
As a Londoner (over ten years means I can call myself a Londoner right?!) its always great to read and hear about your city – however, I am not massively familiar with west London, and the description of the journey they take from Kingston, out west past Hampton court through Marlow and on to Reading so it was also quite educational! The graphic descriptions about the water and the route have the same fun silly twist with anecdotes along the way.
Terry Pratchett – The Carpet People
Co-written by Terry Pratchett aged 17 and Terry Pratchett aged 43, this is the great man’s debut novel. I was looking forward to reading this, and suspected that it was this novel that led to the bromeliad (truckers, diggers and wings) which are some of my favourite books. The carpet people is good fun, and has the trademark Pratchett dry wit and sarcasm throughout it. It’s a funny story, with a common theme that has been used and written about by numerous authors at numerous times in many different ways– think the Borrowers, gullivers travels, honey I shrunk the kids etc etc.
Some of the jokes and themes could be developed more, but I loved the fantastical nature of the different creatures and tribes, and the detailed descriptions of what they looked like and how they behaved. The wry observations about human nature and the anti-monarchy/pro-republic theme throughout this book are in keeping with the discworld novels and is the influence of the 43 year old for sure. I wouldn’t say this is the best Pratchett novel, but I enjoyed it, and I’m sure I’ll read it again.
2 comments:
Hello, ladies! A friend just emailed me the link to your blog because we seem to have a lot in common!
I'm the youngest of three Canadian sisters. I have spent the last 16 years living in the US, England and India. Currently, we are spread across Houston, Montreal and Edmonton. Oh! And the three of us have a blog together, too! If you get a chance, please drop by to visit us at Sist3rs(dot)Net. Maybe we could have the three of you do a guest post in the future?
I have been meaning to ask you this for a while now, if I was to start on the Pratchett books, which one do you recommend?
Also I had a dream last night that I met Terry Pratchett and all I could think of was, Dhara will be so jealous!
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