kakaze said:
I didn't like the inital physical characteristics of the characters, particularly Carrot and Lady Ramkin.
Why did they both need to be described, repeatedly, as being so large?
I'm also glad that Pratchett stopped making references to Ramkin's wigs. Having her be bald just didn't seem to add anything to the story for me. it also made me wonder why any of the high-society women involved would want to raise dragons.
Women: would any of you want to raise a pet that burns holes in your floors & clothes, smells like a tannery, causes hair-loss, and might explode at any time?
Hmmm?
I'm wondering here whether you're a younger man than I thought Kakaze... You may have overlooked some important womanly attributes - and for once I think pooh may actually back me up with (some) of this...
Women are not logical for one thing - not with affairs of the hearts anyway and with animals in particular. Sybil is a stereotype built around a British posh aristocratic country lady - rather like the Queen in fact. She's not too pretty, not in the first flush, not too rich but rich enough for the things that interest her and, having been a bit of a failure in the romance stakes has been 'mad' about ponies and dogs all her life - Sybils the AM version and so it's swamp dragons with her but the comparison sticks. And this sort of Lady is
a sucker for lost causes and loves to lavish their pent up affections on the underdragon...
She's the sort of woman who's completely disinterested in her own appearance 'cos nobody's ever bothered with her when she has tried to pull out all the stops, so she
doesn't care that her hair's so constantly singed, she just wears a wig when she 'needs' to - which isn't very often. Clothes the same, no interest whatsoever, because they've never done her any good and all they have to do now is be low maintenance and offer some protection from her anxious mothering to her child substitutes, the swamp dragons
Have you ever seen the French & Saunders 'posh old country ladies' sketches? They're the Roundworld Sybils
As for the large people aspect - both Sybil and Carrot (for whom I adhere to the brilliant in this book, boring as **** after that faction) both have unconscious charisma, which is of course the most compelling kind. Part of that is bound up in their physicality - they almost
have to be big and beefy and imposing to achieve their 'presence'. Sybil works better than Carrot because she's much more flexible and human in her enthusiasms (she transfers her compassion for the dragons to Vimes and even to Nobby because she's sensitive to their nature and sees the good in them - well in Sam anyway
). Carrot's the same but less specific, 'cos he's cast into the noble knight mould but not in a personal way so much and that's why he's less interesting as a character later on when he's no longer the new cop in town...
As a small (in height) person - I can tell you that height matters. Someone who towers over you can be physically scary at times, but with these two they're kind and protective and this is both endearing and awe-inspiring - Terry's just giving them the bodies to go with their differing kinds of charisma - maybe over-doing the emphasis a bit but for a reason
