Chapters in Discworld Books

[Cheery]

I think chapters are fine. In fact they help when you only have a certain time to read in a day and going for one chapter helps, escp when you are laying in bed at night. It is easier to say I will read one chapter, then just the next page, then 30 pages later and half the night is gone you feel like a complete -ing idiot!

It was a surprise in Going Postal and I thought it was fun to go back and look at the headers and see what it specifically referencing.

Exactly!

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

Like the crunchy bits and stuff in Harga's House of Ribs fat... it gives you a segue.

[Omnia]

I don't mind pTerrys chapters 'cos the teasers are funny in and of themselves. However I would be severly disappointed if pTerry started using plain normal chapters like everyone else as I usually overlook the chapter teasers anyway having loved the DW books more for NOT having chapters (when you're reading late at night and you know you've only got three pages to go before you reach the next chapter, you keep reading then realise you've started reading the new chapter, so you keep reading... At least with the paragraphs you don't feel you have to keep on reading for so long. And it stopped me from having to mark my books to pinpoint where i'd read up to )

[Catch-up]

I love chapters! They give me a place to stop reading at bedtime. But, I never minded the DW books without chapters. Just had to pay more attention for a good place to stop.

I don't read the teasers, but not because I don't like them, I'm just too impatient. I'll have to slow down and enjoy them next time.

[DaveC]

I don't think it had to do with editors. I did think the lack of chapters was weird when I started reading Terry but I soon got used to it, then embraced it was it really suits how I read, often reading 80 pages a day (whilst at work no less!)

As a projectionist I tend to read when I am wandering the long projection booth from end to end throughout the whole day or with it pinned to the bench while I make up a film!

So I tend to read by the paragraph!

I haven't got as far as the the books with chapters yet as I am only halfway through The Truth at the moment. If the are part of the Victorian style/nature of the books then I welcome the change, just as a director, known for a certain style, can change their style to suit a different kind of story.

Don't know if this has been covered yet but has anyone discussed the meaning of the sections in CoM, LF and Pyrimids, as they don't really differentiate why the breaks were in those places. Especially Pyrimids. Maybe I'm dumb?

[lumo]

When I started to read colour of magic, I found it rather odd that there were no actual chapters. As I read I just got used to it. But like Catch-Up said, I like chapters simply for a place to stop when I'm in bed. I find that with no chapters I just keep on reading.

Not sure what everyone means by chapter teasers? Is it the name of the chapter? I actually dislike it when an author gives each chapter a name.

I read a good amount of Stephen King in the past, he tends to actually break up his chapters in numbered sections which I like more then just a space between paragraphs.

As much as I like to read, I need a point to tell me to stop reading and go for a bike ride...tra la la la.

[Tonyblack]

A chapter teaser is a very old idea - Gulliver's Travels have them for example. They give a sort of brief description (whithout giving it away) of the next chapter.

It can be really useful when you come to look up a reference from one of the books.

The lack of chapters has never bothered me at all. There are plenty of breaks in the action where it's easy to put the book aside. Except that I tend to read just to the next one... and so on.

[DaveC]

A chapter teaser is a very old idea - Gulliver's Travels have them for example. They give a sort of brief description (whithout giving it away) of the next chapter.

It can be really useful when you come to look up a reference from one of the books.

The lack of chapters has never bothered me at all. There are plenty of breaks in the action where it's easy to put the book aside. Except that I tend to read just to the next one... and so on.

Currently reading Going postal and am really enjoying the teasers - not sure on chapters on whole in Pratchett, but am used to it now from Tiffany's will report back again when I finish.

[Beyond Birthday]

The only time chapters bother me is when there is one every five pages. I know that it's a stupid gripe to make but even if the rest of a book is well-constructed I absolutely cannot read it if it's like that all the way through. I'm fine if it only happens occasionally, though.

It just takes me out of the story otherwise. Actually, it's kind of weird that chapters exist, huh? I mean, it feels like they're just there to make us feel more like were making progress rather than being alternatives to bookmarks.

[deldaisy]

You all can PUT A BOOK DOWN?
I am hopeless! I know perfectly well if I read to the end of a chapter of course I will look at the next page and THERE goes another night! When I am working I TRY not to start a book the day I start work. I read til the book falls from my hands and the next night I have to go back and reread the last two pages. (actually I read til I realise I am not reading but I am dreaming that I am reading, and what I am dreaming just doesn't seem to fit the story perfectly... "Ohhhh I have fallen asleep and now I am dreaming... wake up silly and put the book down!".. and I do)