The Last Continent Discussion **Spoilers**

[Penfold]

Attaching bottles to his hat, rather than corks, to keep the flies away was hysterical.

[Tonyblack]

Apparently there really is such a thing as a meat pie floater.

[Quatermass]

Apparently there really is such a thing as a meat pie floater.

Oh sweet dear merciful non-existent Lord.

[Tonyblack]

Nice to see that The Last Continent gets a mention in that Wiki article.

[poohcarrot]

I thought another movie parodied was Walkabout.
There's a scene where they eat ants or grubs or something.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout_(film)

I've always rated this book higher than Night Watch.

[Tonyblack]

Presumably, Tinhead Ned, the former occupant of Rincewind's cell, is a reference to Mick Jagger... I mean Ned Kelly.

[poohcarrot]

Is Buggerup meant to be a gay joke?

[poohcarrot]

Uh-oh! Big aftershock!

Richter scale 7.4

0.5m tsunami.

[Jan Van Quirm]

Still, the cockroaches are OK, yes? I mean I hope nobody got hurt - see evolutionists can be callous too

It is ironic though that Creationists, unlike the creator god on Mono Island, take this astonishing mystical ability so much for granted that they also don't much take much notice of the other central tenet of christian faith - that you should be appreciative of what god has created for you, (like your fellow creatures which of course includes men and orang-utans naturally) with such a strong pinch of erm... neglect? Very, very sloppy.

My you've all been busy in here! Just catching up with everything after my enforced absence (my local sub-exchange blew out everyone's broadband on Sunday morning - only just got it back ) so I haven't got much to add except for this
for you, smartypants on the basis that's it's very, very bad for you, in terms of environmental enrichment, to have everyone agree with you (mostly).

Oh - and another one for for(u)m abuse with the multi-purpose SWreader post - other than that I missed you loads smartypants

[swreader]

So why the cockroach, then?

My Cockroach Theory - Part 2

Creationists believe there is no such thing as evolution and that God created all the animals in one day, 6,000 years ago.

This means that the God creationists believe in, is in fact the God of Evolution. Everything evolved from God's hands.

In the Bible, God doesn't just wave his hands and create human beings. He actually has to put a bit of work in, moulding clay, removing ribs etc etc. Therefore in order to create all the other animals, it's reasonable to assume he had to put some more work in. The Bible doesn't tell us exactly how he created all the other creatures, but the Last Continent does - using small tools and trial and error. (The dinosaurs were a bit of an error. )

And just how the creationist God created over 400,000 different species of beetles (hence the beetles in LC) in just one day, makes the mind boggle.

Pooh-- I haven't had time to post until now, and it's so refreshing to find that although I agree somewhat with you, you have come your usual cropper. I suggest that you re-read Genesis 1, 2, 3. There is quite a difference in the two accounts of creation. In one (Genesis 1) you have something that sounds very much like the theory of evolution. You, on the other hand seem to be referring to Genesis 2 & 3. And the two sets of creation stories are contradictory. Granted, the strict fundamentalist Christians also have a problem with this. See (for example) Inherit the Wind, Miller's version of the Scopes trial. Unfortunately, in this country, and especially in Arizona, we seem to be fighting the battles of the last century again--with the Tea Party Repubicans trying to turn the clock back to at least the 1920s, or perhaps earlier.

After re-reading this, and enjoying it somewhat more than the first time, I still find it one of Terry's weaker books. I think this is basically because (as Del noted), there are two stories which are rather forcibly joined together.

I agree that the "god" of the island is really quite dumb--and fails to understand creation at all,. Furthermore he certainly doesn't really understand evolution (though his creations seem to). While I understand that this part of the novel has all sorts of references to Darwin and may be the basis for the Science of Discworld--I found it basically boring. Terry does so much better with exploring and satirizing organized religion in other books. And Terry does so much better with time-travel in later books (albeit the Monks of History help).

On the other hand, I quite enjoyed the Australian bits with Rincewind--although I had to dig out the explanation of parts of them the first time. Generally I find Rincewind a boring "one joke" character, but in this novel he seems quite fascinating. I do wish, however, that there'd been a good deal more about the Australian "creator". That part was quite interesting, as was the idea of the kangaroo as the "Trickster". I must admit though that the description of how the platypus was created was hilarious. In other words, I found Austrlia fascinating (we live in a desert also). But the island with one god who creates ones of everything--was , well, not Terry's best work.

[Tonyblack]

I agree that Genesis contradicts itself about the creation.

But it does strike me that the bit about God creating Adam was something like the god in TLC. Neither seems to have understood about sex. They'd apparently given no thought to procreation and continuation of the species. The God in Genesis had to go back to the drawing board, so to speak, and create Eve. This hardly speaks of a competant creator. In the same way, the god on Mono Island doesn't have a clue about letting his species last longer than one lifespan.

[Quatermass]

Is Buggerup meant to be a gay joke?

Of course not! Not as far as I know. Australians tend to be a little more liberal with their use of 'bugger', that's all, and to 'bugger up' is to stuff up or f*** up, in other words, to get something wrong, and badly...

[Tonyblack]

Yes, you might as well say that Foul Ol' Ron is gay because he's always saying "buggrit!"

[poohcarrot]

Yes, you might as well say that Foul Ol' Ron is gay because he's always saying "buggrit!"

No, you mightn't. The situations are totally different.
There is no gay reference point attached to Foul Ol' Ron

Isn't the Galah supposed to be the Gay Pride march in Sydney?
Aren't the people of Buggerup called a load of "pooftahs"?

Another DW book with openly gay characters is UA.
Are there any Gay jokes in UA?

And I don't like the LC Dibbler coz he's homophobic (and rascist)

[Quatermass]

Yes, you might as well say that Foul Ol' Ron is gay because he's always saying "buggrit!"

No, you mightn't. The situations are totally different.
There is no gay reference point attached to Foul Ol' Ron

Isn't the Galah supposed to be the Gay Pride march in Sydney?
Aren't the people of Buggerup called a load of "pooftahs"?

Maybe, but I personally think that you are being uncharacteristically paranoid in linking up 'Bugarup' with buggery. It is a simple reference to the phrase 'bugger up' or to mess up.