The Annotated Pratchett 9.0.3

187 Pages·2016·0.85 MB·English

by  Pratchett Terry

The Annotated Pratchett File, v9.0
Collectedandeditedby: LeoBreebaart<[email protected]>
AssistantEditor: MikeKew<[email protected]>
Organisation: UnseenUniversity
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett,alt.books.pratchett
Archivename: apf–9.0.3
Lastmodified: 1July2005
Versionnumber: 9.0.3(ThePointlessAlbatrossRelease)
TheAnnotatedPratchettFile
2
CONTENTS
1 Preface to v9.0 5 TheLastHero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
TheAmazingMauriceandhisEducatedRodents . 137
2 Introduction 7
NightWatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
3 Discworld Annotations 9 TheWeeFreeMen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
TheColourofMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 MonstrousRegiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
TheLightFantastic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 AHatFullofSky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
EqualRites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 OnceMore,WithFootnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Mort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 GoingPostal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Sourcery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Wintersmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
WyrdSisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Thud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Pyramids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Where’sMyCow? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Guards!Guards! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 WhenIAmOldIShallWearMidnight. . . . . . . 149
Eric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 TheDiscworldCompanion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
MovingPictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 TheScienceofDiscworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
ReaperMan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 TheScienceofDiscworldII:theGlobe . . . . . . 151
WitchesAbroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 TheScienceofDiscworldIII:Darwin’sWatch . . 151
SmallGods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 TheStreetsofAnkh-Morpork . . . . . . . . . . . 151
LordsandLadies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 TheDiscworldMapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
MenatArms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 ATouristGuidetoLancre . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
SoulMusic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Death’sDomain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
InterestingTimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4 Other Annotations 153
Maskerade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
GoodOmens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
FeetofClay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Strata. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Hogfather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
TheDarkSideoftheSun . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Jingo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Truckers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
TheLastContinent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Diggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
CarpeJugulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Wings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
TheFifthElephant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
OnlyYouCanSaveMankind . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
TheTruth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
JohnnyandtheDead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
ThiefofTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
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TheAnnotatedPratchettFile
JohnnyandtheBomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
TheCarpetPeople . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
TheUnadulteratedCat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
5 Thoughts and Themes 169
TheTurtleMoves! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Song... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
...andDance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
ReverseAnnotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
WordsfromtheMaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
6 Editorial Comments 183
TheOriginoftheAPF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
VersionhistoryandTimeline . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
PageNumbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
ToAnnotateorNottoAnnotate . . . . . . . . . . 185
TheAPFinOtherFormats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Third-partyAnnotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
CopyingtheAPF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
CopyrightDiscussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
4
CHAPTER
1
Preface to v9.0
Thisisthefirst‘real’releaseoftheAnnotatedPratchettFile
sincethev7a.0releaseof16June1996.
Backthen,Iapologisedfortheeighteenmonthsthathad
passedbetweenv7.0andv7a.0,andIpromisedIwoulddo
betternexttime. Um,yes.
Apologisingagain,butnowfortheeightyears thathave
passedbetweenv7a.0andthisv9.0,seemsabitpointless.
LetmeinsteadjustthankallyouAPFreadersforyour
patience,yoursubmissions,yourcorrections,andyour
offerstohelp. Inallthoseeightyearstheflowofsupportive
wordsandemailsandUsenetmessagesneveroncedried
up,andIdoubtifIcouldeverexpressadequatelyenough
howmotivatingandhelpfulthathasbeen.
Havinglearnedmylesson,Iwillmakenopromisesor
predictionsthistimewithrespecttofuturereleasesofthe
APF,butmyhonestintentionisforv9.0tosignalthestartof
aperiodofsteadyAPFdevelopmentonallfronts: annotation
content,WorldWideWebversion,typesetversion—
everything. InasenseIstillconsiderv9.0an‘intermediate’
version,andIhavePlansformajorimprovementsallover.
Wewilljusthavetoseehow(andwhen!) itallplaysout;for
nowIhopethatv9.0willbeawelcomemilestone,of
sufficientqualitytomakesureeverybodyisonceagain
willingtocomealongonthenextlegofthetrip.
LeoBreebaart
Delft,August2004
5
TheAnnotatedPratchettFile
6 PREFACETOV9.0
CHAPTER
2
Introduction
Youarenowreadingthe9theditionoftheAnnotated chapter.)
PratchettFile,orAPFforshort. Forinformationaboutwhat
Eachannotationisprefixedbyeithera‘+’,denotingan
isneworchangedinv9.0withrespecttopreviouseditions
annotationthatisneworhasbeensignificantlyupdatedin
IreferyoutothenewVersionHistoryandTimeline section
thisversionoftheAPF,ora‘–’,denotinganunchanged
intheEditorialComments chapter.
olderannotation. Thisusedtobequitehandywhennew
Eversinceitscreationin1992,oneofthemostpopular APFversionsappearedmorefrequently,buthassince
pastimesontheUsenetnewsgroupalt.fan.pratchetthas becomealotlessmeaningful. Wearestickingtothe
beendiscussingthemanyjokes,parodies,allusionsand practicefornow,onaccountoftradition.
referenceswithwhichTerryPratchettseasonshiswork.
TheAPFincorporates,inthiseditiononceagainmorethan
Since,asTerryonceputit,“alt.fan.pratchettasanentity
everbefore,manypassagesfromarticlesthatTerryhimself
hastheattentionspanofabutterflyoncocaine”,itquickly
haspostedtoalt.fan.pratchett. Asalongtimeactive
becameclearthatitwouldbeagoodideatodistilsomeof
contributortothegroup,heoftenprovidesinside
thesediscussionsintosomethingwithalittlemore
informationonmanyaspectsofhiswriting,anditwouldbe
persistenceandstayingpowerthanindividualUsenet
awastetoletthisfirst-handknowledgejustdisappearinto
articles(rememberthatthisalltookplacelongbefore
Usenethistory. Muchofthismaterialhasbeen
somethinglikeGoogleGroups—orindeedeventheWorld
incorporatedintotheannotationsthemselves,butquitea
WideWebitself—existed!). AndsotheAnnotated
bitofinterestinginformationthatdidnotfitanywhereelse
PratchettFile wasborn,and(becauseIwasbraveorfoolish
hasbeencollectedintheThoughtsandThemes chapter.
enoughtovolunteer)Ibecameitseditor.
TheAPFendswiththealreadymentionedEditorial
OvertheyearstheAPFhasgrowninpopularityandsize. It
Comments chapter,wherevariousnuts&boltsofthe
nowcontainsnearlytwothousandannotations,andis
editingprocessarediscussed. Italsolistsinformationto
availableinanumberofdifferentformats. Yetitisstill(and
helpyouobtainthemostrecentversionoftheAPFin
ifIcanhelpitwillalwaysbe)calleda‘file’,reflectingits
whateverformatyouprefer.
originasashorttextfilethatIregularlypostedto
alt.fan.pratchett. Oneparticularpieceoftechnicalinformationisso
importantIamplacingithereaswellasattheend,and
ThestructureoftheAPFisstraightforward,withthe
thatistheaddresstowritetoifyouhaveanysuggestions,
annotationsdividedintotwolargechapters: theDiscworld
questions,corrections,ornewannotations. Withoutthe
Annotations,andalltheOtherAnnotations. Withineach
enthusiasticreactionsandinputfromitsreaders,theAPF
group,thebooksarelistedintheorderinwhichtheywere
wouldneverhavesurvivedsofar. Pleasemailallyour
published(withtheexceptionthatintheDiscworldchapter
feedbacktomeat:
thepropernovelscomebeforethesecondarymaterialsuch
asthemapsandtheScienceofDiscworld books). Within [email protected]
eachbook,theannotationsaresortedinascendingorderby andmaybeyouwillseeyour contributionbecomeapartof
pagenumber,withthatnumberreferringtotheeditionI thenextedition. Iwillnowleaveyoutotheannotations,
actuallyownmyself,whichwilltypicallybetheoriginalUK andendthisintroductionwithathoughtthatisabitofa
hardcoveredition. (Someoftheearlierbooksalsolist clichébutnonethelesstrue: Ihopeyouwillenjoyreading
paperbackpagenumbers—formoreinformationplease theAPFasmuchasIhaveenjoyedputtingittogether.
readthePageNumbers sectionintheEditorialComments
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8 INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER
3
Discworld Annotations
bird(frogmouthsandsmallbrownowls,respectively)that
The Colour of Magic gobythenameof‘Morepork’.
SinceIfirstwrotedowntheaboveannotation,therehave
beennewdevelopments,however. InTheStreetsof
–[p.7/7] “[...] HestaresfixedlyattheDestination.”
Ankh-Morpork andTheDiscworldCompanion weare
ThislineisinterestingnotonlybecauseitforeshadowsThe shownanillustrationoftheAnkh-Morporkcoatofarms,
LightFantastic (asinfacttheentireprologuedoes),but whichdoes featureaMorepork/owlholdinganankh. But
alsobecauseitisabouttheonlytimethenarratorreally fromTerry’sremarks(seenextannotation)Ifeelit’ssafeto
commitshimselftoA’Tuin’sgenderwithouthedginghis saythatneitherbirdnorcrosswereexplicitlyonhismind
bets(ase.g.onthefirstpageofTheLightFantastic). Note whenhefirstcameupwiththenameAnkh-Morpork.
thecapital‘H’,whichDeathalsoratesinthisbookand
Finally,manyreadershavementionedtheresonancethat
losesinthelaterones.
Ankh-Morporkhaswithourworld’sBudapest: alsoalarge
citymadeupoftwosmallercities(BudaandPest)
–[p.8/8] “Forexample,whatwasA’Tuin’sactualsex?”
separatedbyariver.
Ihavehademailfromaherpetologistwhohasstudied
underoneoftheworld’sexpertsonturtles,andheassures –[p.9/9] “[...] twofigureswerewatchingwith
methatinreallifedeterminingthesexofturtlesisnoeasy considerableinterest.”
task. Unlikemammals,reptilesdon’thavetheirnaughty
Thetwobarbarians,BravdandWeasel,areparodiesofFritz
bitshangingoutwheretheycanbeeasilyseen,andthe
Leiber’sfantasyheroesFafhrdandtheGrayMouser. The
onlywaytoreallytellaturtle’sgenderisbycomparison:
Swords seriesofbooksinwhichtheystarareabsolute
maleturtlesareoftensmallerthanfemalesandhave
classics,andhaveprobablyhadaboutasmuchinfluenceon
thickertails. SincetherearenootherChelysGalactica to
thegenreasTolkien’sLordoftheRings.
compareA’Tuinto,theattemptsoftheDiscworld’s
Astrozoologistsareprobablyfutiletobeginwith. TheSwords storiesdatebackasfaras1939,butmorethan
sixtyyearslatertheyhavelostnoneoftheirappeal. Both
–[p.8/8] “[...] thetheorythatA’Tuinhadcomefrom TheColourofMagic andTheLightFantastic are,inlarge
nowhereandwouldcontinueatauniformcrawl,orsteady part,affectionateparodiesoftheLeiberianuniverse,
gait,[...]” althoughIhastentoaddthat,insharpcontrasttomany
laterwritersinthefield,Leiberhimselfalreadyhadagreat
Punsonthe‘steadystate’theoryofexplainingthesize,
senseofhumour. FafhrdandtheMouserarenottobe
originandfutureoftheuniverse. Thebest-knownother
takenaltogetherseriousinhisoriginalversion,either.
theoryis,ofcourse,theBigBangtheory,referredtointhe
precedingsentence. Givenallthis,Icanperhapsbeforgivenforthinkingthat
TerryintendedAnkh-Morporktobeadirectparodyofthe
–[p.9/9] “Fireroaredthroughthebifurcatedcityof greatcityofLankhmarinwhichmanyoftheSwords
Ankh-Morpork.” adventurestakeplace. However,Terryexplicitlydeniedthis
Terryhassaidthatthename‘Ankh-Morpork’wasinspired whenIsuggesteditonalt.fan.pratchett:
neitherbytheankh(theEgyptiancrosswiththeclosedloop “BravdandtheWeaselwereindeedtakeoffsofLeiber
ontop),norbytheAustralianorNewZealandspeciesof characters—therewasalotofthatsortofthinginThe
9
TheAnnotatedPratchettFile
ColourofMagic. ButIdidn’t—atleastconsciously,I whichtheDiscworldmight‘work’. SeealsotheTheTurtle
supposeImustsay—createAnkh-Morporkasatakeoffof Moves! sectioninChapter5formoreinformationaboutthe
Lankhmar.” physicalaspectsoftheDiscworld.
–[p.11/11] “[...] twolesserdirections,whichare –[p.16/16] “[...] foundhimselflookingupintoaface
TurnwiseandWiddershins.” withfoureyesinit.”
‘Widdershins’isinfactanexistingwordmeaning OnthecoversofthefirsttwoDiscworldbooks,JoshKirby
‘counter-sunwise’,i.e.counter-clockwiseintheNorthern actuallydrewTwoflowerwithfourphysicaleyes. Consensus
hemisphere,clockwisedownSouth. Asynonymfor onalt.fan.pratchetthasitthatTerrywastryingtoget
‘turnwise’isdeosil,whichhelpsexplainAnkh-Morpork’s acrossthefactthatTwoflowerwaswearingglasses
DeosilGateasfoundontheTheStreetsofAnkh-Morpork (‘four-eyes’beingacommoninsultthrownatbespectacled
Mappe. folks),butthatJoshKirbysimplytriggeredontheliteral
textandwentoffinadirectionofhisown. Whetherthis
WiddershinsisalsothenameoftheplanetwhereDom,the
actionessentiallyshowsKirby’sinterpretativegenius(the
herofromTheDarkSideoftheSun lives.
KirbyFanexplanation)orhisinabilitytogetthejoke/read
verycarefully(theNonKirbyFanexplanation)isamatter
–[p.12/12] “‘Why,it’sRincewindthewizard,isn’tit?’
stillunderdiscussion.
[...]”
ThestorybehindRincewind’snamegoesbackto1924, –[p.18/17] Theinncalled‘TheBrokenDrum’getsburned
whenJ.B.Mortontookoverauthorshipofthecolumn‘By downinthisbook. ThelaterDiscworldnovelsallfeaturean
TheWay’intheDailyExpress,aLondonnewspaper. inncalled‘TheMendedDrum’. ThenovelStrata contains
Heinheritedthepseudonym‘Beachcomber’fromhis (onp.35/42)anexplanationofwhyyouwouldcallapub
predecessorsonthejob(thecolumnhadexistedsince ‘TheBrokenDrum’inthefirstplace: “Youcan’tbeatit”.
1917),buthewastomakethatnameforeverhisownby Thisisprobablyasgoodaplaceasanytomentionsome
virtueofhisastonishingoutputandsuccess: Mortonwrote intriguinginformationthatIreceivedfromoneofmy
thecolumnforover50years,sixtimesaweek,until1965 correspondents: ifyouhaveeverwonderedwhatitwould
whenthecolumnbecameaweeklyfeature,andcontinued beliketoexperiencetheatmosphereofanestablishment
tothelastcolumninNovember1975. liketheMendedDrum,thentheclosestyoucanpossibly
Beachcomber/Mortonusedaneccentriccastofregular comeinourworldisbypayingavisittoAlexandria,where
charactersinhissketches,whichfrequentlycaricatured thereexistsabarcalledthe‘Spitfire’,populatedmostlyby
self-importantandhighbrowpublicfigures. Onecontinual soldiersandsailors,andapparentlyadeadringerforthe
themewasthesillinessofthelawcourts,featuringamongst MendedDrum. Thestorygoesthatwhentheownerofthe
othersMrJusticeCocklecarrotandthetwelveRed-Bearded barpassedawayafewyearsago,hisbodywaskeptina
Dwarves. Inonesketch,thenamesofthosedwarfswere freezernexttothetoiletswhere,forallweknow,itmaystill
givenasSophusBarkayo-Tong,AmaninterAxling,Farjole betoday. IfanyofyoueverhappentobeinAlexandria,be
Merrybody,GuttergormGuttergormpton,BadlyOronparser, suretovisitthe‘Spitfire’andcheckitoutforus.
ClevelandZackhouse,MolonayTubilderborst,Edeledel
Edel,ScorpiondeRooftrouser,ListenisYoughaupt,Frums –[p.22/20] “Somemighthavetakenhimforamere
Gillygottle,and,waitforit: ChurmRincewind. Terrysays: apprenticeenchanter[...]”
“IreadoflotofBeachcomberinsecond-handcollections OneofthefewcluestoRincewind’sagebeingyounger
whenIwasaround13. DaveLangfordpointedoutthe ratherthanolder,despitethetendencyofeverycoverartist
originofRincewindafewyearsago,andIwentback todepicthimasatleastsixtyish. Nooneeverdrawshimas
throughallthebooksandfoundthenameandthought,oh, lookinglikeaweasel,either.
blast,that’s whereitcamefrom. AndthenIthought,what
–[p.22/20] “[...] analumnusofUnseenUniversity,[...]”
thehell,anyway.”
ThenameoftheDiscworld’spremierscientificinstitution
–[p.12/12] “SincetheHubisnevercloselywarmedbythe resonateswiththatoftheInvisibleCollege,formedbythe
weaksunthelandstherearelockedinpermafrost. The secretorganisationoftheRosicrucians,whosemembers
Rim,ontheotherhand,isaregionofsunnyislandsand werecalledtheInvisiblesbecausetheyneverdaredto
balmydays.” revealthemselvesinpublic. TheInvisibleCollegewasa
Apresumablyknowledgeablecorrespondenttellsmethat conclaveofscientists,philosophersandotherprogressive
actually,ifyoudothecalculations,itturnsoutthatitwould thinkerswhich,inlatertimesandunderStuartpatronage,
betheotherwayaround(onaverage,thesuniscloserto becametheRoyalSociety.
thehubthantherim,sothehubwouldbewarmer). IntheBriefLives arcofNeilGaiman’sSandman comic,
Donotfeelobligedtotakehiswordforit,though. DreamvisitstheInvisibleCollege,whereascientistis
‘DiscworldMechanics’isoneofalt.fan.pratchett’s happilydissectingadeadorangutan. Idon’tthinkthat
favouritePerennialDiscussionTopics,andIdon’tthinkthat scenewasentirely coincidental...
anytwogivenparticipantsinsuchathreadhaveever
–[p.24/22] Terryhasthistosayaboutthename
managedtoagreeonanythingdefiniteaboutthewayin
‘Twoflower’: “[...] there’snojokeinTwoflower. Ijust
10 DISCWORLDANNOTATIONS