SPOILERS Thud! Discussion *Spoilers*

[mirandashell]

Well... let's just say we're less likely to be on Nobby's side!

 

[Las]

Well I guess there are no sides in relationship. Just side of Love. And I felt sorry. Everybody change, Vimes changed, even Carrot, Angua, but not Nobby with cigarette behind ear, bad smell and his crossdressing stuff. Just imagine Nobby cleaned, well dressed, good maners. And you're more likely to be on Nobby's side. He should get in love or good pchyactrist. Both better

 

[Las]

By the way, theme of love in Terry's books. I can remember Magrat's 15th years old long kiss. That was awesome! Maybe some advice which book or series with love. Carrot-Angua it's their ceiling.

 

[Elanor]

It's my first post here, so, hello everyone, and I'm already starting with a question, aimed particularly as native speakers.

Is Brick's speech, especially his inner monologues, recognisable to you as a specific dialect? I read it, naturally, as lower class (and probably drug-induced), but to me it also sounds (well, looks, or reads) like the stereotypical AAVE (African American Vernacular English). Is the native reaction the same? I'd be very grateful for answers.

And yes, I am asking this because I'm writing a thing on translation of Thud!, so please bear with me.

 

[Tonyblack]

Welcome to the site, Elanor!

I have always read Brick as a sort of street-London - not exactly Cockney, but more like the sort of accent that young Londoners might use.

This video might give you an idea.

 

[Elanor]

Thanks, Tonyblack. Interesting, I always associated pronunciations like 'dem' and 'dey' exclusevely with urban American or Irish accents. Goes to show, you can only learn so much from books and films

 

[Mixa]

What an interesting video Tony! Thanks for sharing it! I know there are lots of different English accents (the same happens with Catalan depending on the area) but nobody had ever explained me one so well… Let alone the way Pratchett embodies them on the paper. He perfectly reflects how people talks… Accents, tags… It’s amazing! In fact, I couldn’t understand some of them until I met a neighbour of mine… She has a strange nasal laugh that repeats after every friendly phrase. When I heard her I though “Hey, Pratchett was right!”.

Going back to the topic, I agree with some of you in thinking that “Thud!” has been one of my favourite Watch books (if not the best) now that I’m rereading them. I especially enjoyed:

-It’s great criticism to racism, ancestral hate, drugs, religious fanaticism so well displayed.

-Seeing Vimes as a father (and in general the experience of being father skilfully reflected).

-Lots of great and funny scenes to imagine such as the first Vimes race to read his son, the trip to the Koom Valley and…

Spoiler

“Hey! This must be a clue, Sarge!” said Nobby, who had returned to his default activity of mooching about and poking at things to see if they were valuable. “Look, someone dumped a load of stinking ol’ rubbish here!” He’d wandered across to a plinth, which did, indeed, appear to be piled high with rags.

“Don’t touch that, please!” said Sir Reynold, rushing over. “That’s Don’t Talk to Me About Mondays! It’s Danielarina Pouter’s most controversial hwork! You didn’t move anything, did you?” he added nervously. “It’s literalleah priceless, and she’s got a sharp tongue on her!”

“It’s only a lot of old rubbish,” Nobby protested, backing away.

“Art is greater than the sum of its mere mechanical components, Corporal,” said the curator. ‘Surely you hwould not say that Caravati’s Three Large Pink Women and One Piece of Gauze is just, ahem, ‘a lot of old pigment’?”

“What about this one, then?” said Nobby, pointing to the adjacent plinth. “It’s just a big stake with a nail in it! Is this art, too?”

“Freedom? If it hwas ever on market, it hwould probableah fetch thirty thousand dollard,” said Sir Reynold.

“For a bit of wood with a nail in it?” said Red Colon. “Who did it?”

“After he viewed Don’t Talk to Me About Mondays!, Lord Vetinari graciousleah had Ms. Pouter nailed to the stake by her ear,” said Stitched. “However, she did manage to pull free during the afternoon.”

“I bet she was mad!” said Nobby.

“Not after she hwon several awards for it. I believe she’s planning to nail herself to several other things. It could be a very exciting exhibition.”

“Tell you what, then, sir,” said Nobby cheerfully. “Why don’t you leave the ol’ big frame where it is and give it a new name, like Art Theft?”

“No,” said Sir Reynold coldly. “That would be foolish.”

I do love these men [Vetinari and Pratchett].

-Something I never forgot: Nobby’s idyll. It was truly memorable!

-Willikins… He starts to deserve a monument!

-Death’s near-Vimes experience.

-“Where’s my cow” underground.

-Vimes’ Guarding Dark. As Jung said: “Too much of the animal disfigures the human, too much humanity makes a sick animal.” Although Pratchett already managed to grasp the Beast in TFE and NW, this time knows how to “shed light” on the Darkness that resides in all of us.

-The surprising ending of the Koom Valley… And more! :clap:

Characters move to the beat of a masterful baton directed by Pratchett. Simply extraordinary.

Mx