The Truth - Terry Pratchett

    2000; 348 pages.  Book 25 (out of 41) in the “Discworld” series.  New Author? : No.  Laurels : 193 in the “Big Read”.  Genres : Humorous Fantasy; Satire; British Humour.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

 

    There are two things those Discworld dwarfs love to do.  First and foremost, they love digging for gold and gems.  Second, they love to tinker with new ways of doing things.

 

    Just now, William de Worde has discovered the dwarfs have figured out how to put together a printing press.  With easily insertable and smoothly interchangeable letters.  It beats the heck out of the old way – carving a woodcut for every page you want printed. What a slow process.

 

    The dwarfs aren’t all that impressed with their new methodology, but William de Worde is.  Imagine setting up a page and printing it in minutes instead of spending hours or days carving a piece of wood.  With that kind of speed, doing a print job that requires multiple pages is suddenly doable.  But what kind of business would need that?

 

    They call it a newspaper, William.  And people will pay money to receive one on a daily basis.

 

What’s To Like...

    Although The Truth is Book 25 in Terry Pratchett’s fantastic Discworld series, and is set in Ankh-Morpork, Discworld’s capital city, the two main characters, the editor William de Worde and his ace reporter, the buxom Sacharissa Cripslock, are newcomers to the series.

 

    True, lots of recurring characters also show up, such as the Patrician, Sam Vimes and several of his City Watch guards, a couple of wizards, and DEATH and his companion DEATH of RATS, but for the most part, they are cast in cameo roles.

 

    In a nutshell, The Truth tells the story of Ankh-Morpork’s first newspaper, “The Ankh-Morpork Times”, and the various, and hilarious, challenges it faces.  Will people pay for something recapping yesterday’s news?  Do we send employees out to sell the paper?  Do we send employees out to search for newsworthy tidbits?  What do we do if/when a competing newspaper crops up?  And most importantly, what do we do if someone strongly objects to some headline-worthy item being investigated and reported in the paper?

 

    As always, Terry Pratchett’s wit and puns are in abundance here.  So are his trademark footnotes and his eschewal of Chapters.  Somehow, even Quantum Physics gets some ink, which surprised me pleasantly.

 

    The main storyline involves William de Worde’s investigation into an assault alleged to have been carried out by one of Ankh-Morpork’s leading citizens.  To give more details would be a spoiler. This doesn’t qualify as a mystery novel because the reader is given a key clue early on.  So the fun is following William de Words, with assistance from Sam Vimes, as they attempt figure out the “why” of the mayhem.

 

    The ending is entertaining, despite not being very twisty or action-packed.  The truth eventually comes out, justice is served, mercy is shown, and karma takes its toll.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 6,996 ratings and 504 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.41/5 based on 25,004 ratings and 1,603 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I’m not a thief, friend,” said the shadows.

    “Who’s there?”

    “Do you know what’s good for you?”

    “Er . . . yes.  Healthy exercise, regular meals, a good night’s sleep.”  William stared at the long lines of loose boxes.  “I think what you meant to ask was: do I know what’s bad for me, in the general context of blunt instruments and sharp edges.  Yes?”  (pg. 204)

 

    “We still don’t know what we should be doing,” said Mrs. Tilly hopelessly.

    “Go and find out things that people want to put in the paper,” said Sacharissa.

    “And things that people don’t want to put in the paper,” William added.

    “And interesting things,” said Sacharissa.

    “Like that rain of dogs two months ago?” said O’Biscuit.

    “There was no rain of dogs two months ago!” William snapped.

    “But—”

    “One puppy is not a rain.  It fell out of a window.”  (pg. 340)

 

Lies could run around the world before the truth could get its boots on.  (pg. 106)

    As usual, the cussing is mild and sparse.  I counted only six instances in the first 25% of The Truth, all of which were of the eschatological variety.  One of the characters habitually uses a stronger bit of profanity, but Terry Pratchett solves this each time by rendering it “—ing”.  Freaking Fantastic!

 

    I enjoyed The Truth, but wasn’t dazzled by it.  Part of it, I suppose, was the theme itself—running a newspaper is just not all that exciting.  Also, my favorite set of misadventurers, the wizards of the Unseen University, have almost no impact on the storyline.

 

    But I quibble.  The Truth is still a fun, entertaining story.  It’s just a matter of it being more a tale of Intrigue, and less a tale of “Thrills-&-Magical-Spills”.

 

    7½ Stars.  One last thing.  One of my favorite recurring characters who does get a fair amount of ink here, is Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, otherwise known as “CMOT”.  Take my advice, and do NOT partake of the sausages that he sells.

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

    1962; 152 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Dystopian Fiction; British Literature; Movie Tie-In; Banned Books.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    You gotta hand it to the droog, Alex.  That’s because if you don’t hand him everything you’ve got, Alex will thrash you to within an inch of your life.

 

    Come to think of it, Alex might beat you up even if you do give him everything you’ve got.  He's one of those malchicks who thoroughly enjoys being a gangland thug.

 

    The police are aware of Alex’s misdeeds, of course.  They’d love to throw him in jail, but finding witnesses willing to testify against him, and who are still alive, has been impossible so far.

 

    Also, the jails are getting crowded due to gangland thuggery running rampant.  If only there was some magical way to reform hardened criminals.

 

What’s To Like...

    The initial book version of A Clockwork Orange came out in 1962, followed a decade later by the blockbuster movie version.  Both of those releases thoroughly irritated the book’s author, Anthony Burgess, because both chose to delete the entire last chapter in his book.  A ”complete” version, including that final chapter, was published in 1986 in the UK, and that’s the version I read.

 

    The story is told in the first-person POV (Alex’s), which means you get to read it in punk gangland slang language called “Nadsat”.  In most cases, I could suss out the meanings of the Nadsat words; with Anthony Burgess also providing translations of a few of the more obscure words in the text.  Still, I kept a list of the Nadsat-to-English vocabulary, and am very glad I did.  And you can also Google the Nadsat word to get its translation.  Ain’t 21^st-century technology amazing?!

 

    Outside of the absent/present last chapter, the book and the movie versions match up rather well.  I’d seen the film twice when it first came out, so I pretty much knew how the storyline went.  If you haven’t seen and/or read this tale, be forewarned that there is an abundance of violence in it.  The enigmatic title is referenced several times in the text, and the first excerpt below, which comes from the author’s Introduction, not the story itself, will clue you in.

 

    The ending is both logical and twisty.  It appropriately answers “What is Alex’s ultimate fate?”, both in the immediate future (Chapter 20), and later on in life (the initially deleted Chapter 21).  I felt that it left the door open for a sequel, but that never happened.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

    Droog (n.) : a young, violent gang member; a ruffian (Nadsat slang)

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 11,014 ratings and 1,556 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.00*/5, based on 781,357 ratings and 26,306 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    If {a human being} can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange—meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State.  It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil.  The important thing is moral choice.  Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate.  Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities.  (loc. 74)

 

    “I’ve been out of the rookers of the millicents for a long time now.”

    “That’s just what worries me,” sighed P.R. Deltoid.  “A bit too long of a time to be healthy.  You’re about due now by my reckoning.  That’s why I’m warning you, little Alex, to keep your handsome young proboscis out of the dirt, yes.  Do I make myself clear?”

    “As an unmuddied lake, sir,” I said.  “Clear as an azure sky of deepest summer.  You can rely on me, sir.”  And I gave him a nice zooby smile.  (pg. 30)

 

“There’s the mackerel of the cornflake for you, you dirty reader of filth and nastiness.”  (pg. 5)

    The amount of profanity in A Clockwork Orange is surprisingly small—I noted just six instances in the first 50% of the book.  Of course, this is offset by several assaults and rapes.  It should be noted, however, that those violent scenes are less graphic in the book than on the screen.

 

    My e-book gave the story’s length as 152 pages, but I wouldn’t call it a quick read.  There are a slew of gangland slang words used, and it takes some time to remember which means what, even if you’re keeping a list.

 

    Overall, reading the book version fifty years after watching the movie was a great experience.  Yes, there's a flood of sex and violence, but the reader is also given much to think about.  Is there a way to cure violent behavior in thugs like Alex?  If so, is it a godsend or a curse?  If the choice of what we do is taken away, have we been dehumanized?  And so on.

 

    Based on Amazon and Goodreads reviews, readers of A Clockwork Orange seem very divided on its merits or lack thereof.  Some think it’s a brilliant novel, others claim it’s the worst book they’ve ever read.  I’m in the first camp.

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  A group called PEN America monitors what books are being removed from library shelves in public schools on a yearly basis.  For the 2024-2025 school year, the book banned the most times, with 23 bans total, was A Clockwork Orange.  Google it for details.

October - China Miéville

    2017; 320 pages.  Full Title: October: The Story of the Russian Revolution.  New Author: No.  Genres : Russian History; Russian Politics; Non-Fiction.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    Believe it or not, once upon a time, the United States invaded Russia!  It was back in the years 1918-1921, and was a direct response to something called the October Revolution.

 

    To be fair, the United States wasn’t the only invader.  French, British, Japanese, German, Serbian, and Polish troops helped out as well.  The Wikipedia article cites quite few other countries sending troops.

 

    The reason for this broad-based foreign intervention was clear.  The Russians had done the unpardonable sin of installing the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, to lead the country.  Russia had become a Socialist state!

 

    And as everyone knows, Socialism is contagious.  If one country falls into its clutches, pretty soon it will spread like a virus to all sorts of other countries!

 

What’s To Like...

    October is China Miéville’s chronicle detailing the events leading up to, and including, the October Revolution.  The bulk of the chapters focus on  the monthly vicissitudes in February through October 1917, which are sandwiched between an Introduction and a “before” chapter at the beginning and an Epilogue chapter at the end.

 

    In the Introduction, Miéville admits that, although he is going to be fair in describing events in this book, he is not going to be neutral.  This was not unexpected since he is an avowed Socialist and October is arguably the celebration of Socialism’s finest hour.  So I was pleasantly surprised when he portrayed the major leaders of the movement—Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin—in a “warts and all” fashion.

 

    The book is written in English, not American, so you some weird spellings, such as disembowelled, defence, skilfully, programme, learnt, and a variant of one of my favorite words, bowdlerised.  I loved it, although Spellchecker went nutso with that previous sentence.

 

    Before reading October, I knew only a smattering about the Russian Revolution.  Czar Nicholas abdicates early on, a right-winger named Alexander Kerensky takes over, much to the Western World’s delight.  Then Lenin overthrows Kerensky, much to the Western World’s dismay.  That's about the extent of what I already knew.

 

    October filled in the gaps nicely.  I learned that Petrograd, not Moscow, was the capital of Russia at the time.  A slew of coalitions were tried, and failed, in amongst the Nicholas/Kerensky/Lenin regimes.  Factory workers, peasants, lower-ranked soldiers, and women were powerful forces in determining who eventually came to rule Russia.  The fact that Russia was still using the Gregorian calendar, not the Julian one used by the rest of the world makes listing a date for the various events a major pain.  And much, much more.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

    Jacquerie (n.) : a violent, spontaneous uprising or revolt by peasants against the ruling noble class

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.3*/5, based on 706 ratings and 105 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.91*/5, based on 6,937 ratings and 945 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    The government had equivocated over the issue of women’s suffrage.  Many even in the revolutionary movement were hesitant, warning that, though they supported the equality of women ‘in principle’, concretely Russia’s women were politically ‘backward’, and their votes therefore risked hindering progress.  On her return to the country on the 18^th, Kollontai took those prejudices head-on.

    “But wasn’t it we women, with our grumbling about hunger, about the disorganisation in Russian life, about our poverty and the sufferings born of the war, who awakened a popular wrath?” she demanded.  The revolution, she pointed out, was born on International Women’s Day.  (pg. 93)

 

    “What about people’s commissars?” said Trotsky.

    “Yes, that’s very good,” Lenin said.  “It smells terribly of revolution.” The seed of the revolutionary government, the Council pf People’s Commissars, Sovnarkom, was sown.

    Lenin suggested Trotsky for commissar of the interior.  But Trotsky foresaw that enemies on the right would attack him — as a Jew.

    “Of what importance are such trifles?” Lenin snapped.

    “There are still a good many fools left,” Trotsky replied.

    “Surely we don’t keep step with fools?”

    “Sometimes,” said Trotsky, “one has to make some allowances for stupidity.”  (pg. 284)

 

“One must always try to be as radical as reality itself.”  (pg. 231)

    There’s very little profanity in October.  I noted only five instances in the entire book, and those were mostly from direct quotes.

 

    Despite the trove of well-researched historical information, I found October to be a slow read.  This was mostly due to incredible number of Russian dignitaries and political factions that came into play.  To be fair, China Miéville includes a “Glossary of Personal Names” at the back of the book.  But it felt like every page had a dozen unfamiliar names, so I soon gave up trying to keep track of them.

 

    Finally, although the Epilogue chapter touches briefly on events occurring after October, 1917, I yearned for many more details about them.  The Czar and his entire family are murdered.  Foreign armies pour into Russia.  Lenin dies, Stalin comes to power, and purges proliferate.  Discussions of these things are sorely needed.

 

    But that just means I’m hoping China Miéville is working on a sequel to October.  I learned a lot from reading about a world-changing uprising, and look forward to learning even more.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  Rasputin, the mad monk, who Miéville says was neither mad nor a monk, gets some ink in the first chapter.  He may not be the scariest dude to have walked this Earth, but . . . wait, yes, he *IS* the scariest dude to have walked this Earth.

Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! - John Martin

    2017; 194 pages.  Book 6, despite being a prequel (out of 9) in the “Windy Mountain” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Humorous Fiction; Australia; Urban Comedy.  Overall Rating: 6½*/10.

 

    G’day, mate!  Welcome to Tasmania and to our quaint little town of Windy Mountain.  My name is Moose Routley, and I’m here to help you enjoy your stay.

 

    No doubt you’re here to visit Mayor Jimmy Northan’s famous apple orchard, where our aptly-named Tasmanian Tigers are rumored to come to feed on the fruit there.  Yes, it’s true, the world thinks the Tasmanian Tiger became extinct close to a century ago, but one of our town’s citizens, Wish-Wash swears he’s seen one, and even patted it on its back.  Yes, Wish-Wash is the town drunk, but that doesn’t mean he’d make the whole story up, does it?

 

    I would advise against visiting the orchard during the daytime, since it would technically be trespassing and Tasmanian Tigers are known the feed only at night.  But I also recommend you don’t visit the orchard at night, since then you’ll run across the ghost of Colonel Richard Northan, an ancestor of our esteemed Mayor.

 

    In short, stay away from the orchard.  But when you get back home, be sure to tell everyone you know that while you were staying in Windy Mountain, you came very close to seeing a Tasmanian Tiger!

 

What’s To Like...

    Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! is both Book 6 of a 9-book series and the series' prequel.  I have not read any other books.  The setting is Tasmania, which is where the author, John Martin, was born and raised, although he has since moved to Canberra, Australia..

 

    The book is written in Australian, and includes a bunch of Aussie words and phrases, including: sheila, sand-shoes, dunny, arvo, hoon, boil the billy, fair dinkum, and sozzled.  I always love learning bits and pieces of a foreign language.  Here, instead of minimizing the use of the “local lingo”, John Martin revels in using them.  It significantly enhances the “local feel” of the story.

 

    Despite the book’s catchy title, there is no overarching storyline.  Instead, at least eleven more-or-less equally important plot threads work their way into the 18 chapters of the tale.  The storyline jumps from one plotline to another, but I didn’t find this confusing at all.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Yakka (n.) : hard, strenuous work

Others: Dunny (n.), Arvo (n.), Hoon (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 3.4*/5, based on 73 ratings and 16 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.12*/5, based on 68 ratings and 15 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    She kissed him goodbye outside The Applecart and continued on to the Catholic Church for mass.

    The Applecart didn’t actually have a licence to open on the sabbath, but they got around it by calling the session Sunday School.  As long as you were over 18, you were welcome to worship a few glasses of cider, play poker with the blokes and unwind ahead of another hard week of yakka.  (pg. 23)

 

    “Have you actually seen a Tasmanian Tiger yet?”

    Moose reached over and turned the recorder off.  “You can’t really expect me to answer that!  Poor old Wish-Wash lost all his credibility when he claimed he had seen a Tasmanian Tiger.  Who’s going to take seriously a Tasmanian Tiger hunter who says he hasn’t seen one?  This is my livelihood, mate, and it’s in my professional interests to keep people guessing.”  (pg. 128)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! e-book goes for $3.99 right now.  Book One, Lie of the Tiger, is free.  The rest of the books in the series vary in price from $2.99 to $4.99.  John Martin also has a three-book series, “Funny Capers DownUnder”, similarly priced. 

 

“Trust you to look a gift mountain oyster in the mouth.”  (pg. 22)

    There is only a small amount of cussing in Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples!  I noted just six instances in the first 33% of the book.  Later on, a part of the male anatomy gets mentioned.  I only saw three typos: one misidentification (Reg/Rog), one grammar (rule/rules), and one misspelling (starred/stared).

 

    More than half of the plot threads do not get resolved.  I’m guessing this is deliberate and that they are actually the main plotlines in the books that follow.  We shall see.  I’ve snagged the first book in the series, Lie of the Tiger, and hope to read it soon.

 

    Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples! was a fun read for me.  The pacing was good, the characters were fascinating, and the wit was plentiful.  Since I’ve never been to, or read about, Tasmania, becoming acquainted with the island was an enlightening pleasure.  Hey, maybe I'll take a trip down there and look for Tasmanian tigers myself!

 

    6½ Stars.  One last thing.  Australian Rules Football plays a significant role in Who Knew Tasmanian Tigers Eat Apples!  The implication is made that Rugby is a wussy’s game compared it.  I’ve watched both.  The Aussies are right!