Snuff *Warning Spoilers*

[LilMaibe]

Dobs...You made me think of this:

http://youtu.be/ycmH1tMp_0s

[raisindot]

CJDobs, I agree with you on just about every point.


Tony, Sybil spends her days mucking out dragon pens. What would she care about the cleanliness of the bathwater?

[Who's Wee Dug]

A review from the London Standard.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle ... -review.do

[One Man Bucket]

Finished the book a few hours ago and it was pretty good. A definite improvement over UA. I'd say this book is to me most similar to 5th Elephant but without that book's weakest point (the Carrot subplot). It's major weaknesses are repeating the vigilantism of UA (Pepe and Willikins) and Vimes becoming even more overpowered.

The poo was a bit much but it's the sort of thing I'd expect of a kid's Lil' Sam's age. As for Cheery she seemed to have a large role in the book without actually receiving any development. Seems to me anybody could have played her role without it making any difference at all. I'd have liked some Salacia but as with Dorfl there's precedent for a character looking like they might become important and then never being heard from again.

[LilMaibe]

The poo thing is one of the things that tells me already I won't enjoy the book.

Rule I learned:
Parents who haven't gotten it into the head of their older-than-5-years-old child that the things that are ought to go into the toilet are 'no' should hand the child should seriously reconsider if they still want to call themselves parents.

[One Man Bucket]

Well they stressed hygiene so it's not like Young Sam was handling poo then handling other things and he didn't show any significant interest in his own poo. Add to that the fact that the Vimes view it as a phase he's going through and I reckon it's a bit lenient as far as parenting* goes but a way's off from bad parenting

At the end of the day it's there but it hardly dominates the book it's about the same as the product placement` in Thud!

` - Where's my Cow coming too bookshelves near you

* - probably the sort of thing super wealthy parents would do for a single child

[DaveC]

Finished the book a few hours ago and it was pretty good. A definite improvement over UA. I'd say this book is to me most similar to 5th Elephant but without that book's weakest point (the Carrot subplot). It's major weaknesses are repeating the vigilantism of UA (Pepe and Willikins) and Vimes becoming even more overpowered.

The poo was a bit much but it's the sort of thing I'd expect of a kid's Lil' Sam's age. As for Cheery she seemed to have a large role in the book without actually receiving any development. Seems to me anybody could have played her role without it making any difference at all. I'd have liked some Salacia but as with Dorfl there's precedent for a character looking like they might become important and then never being heard from again.

When my brother was the age that Young Sam is in Snuff he was obsessed with toilets. Whenever we would visit somewhere new if'd want to see the toilet, whether he needed to go or not. So I find Young Sam's poo hunt and laboratory believable and hilarious given the family resources and his parents patience.

Also I was pleased to see Mr Pessimal again and that he hadn't been discarded.

I like a bit of vigilantism in my fiction. I have often daydreamed of it in real life, being bullied in school, this is probably why I enjoy action and horror movies a lot and comics like The Punisher. Hope that doesn't make me a bad person...

[LilMaibe]

Bucket, in german that lesson sound far less nagging. But still, the whole thing sounds more like fishing for a cheap laugh far far below the level that made Discworld stand out from the mass.

[Tonyblack]

Actually, the poo thing is very interesting. It's not about young Sam's own bodily functions, but his fascination with the different types of animal poo and why it's all so different. It's explained why a cow poo is flat and soggy while a horse poo is dry and round, for example.

It's not cheap laughs so much as a child with an enquiring mind.

[One Man Bucket]

Personally, I didn't find it funny rather I found it indicative of how Pratchett views kids of that particular age or how he himself was or would have liked to be. Minus the super supportive parents it's not too far off from reality so I shrugged my shoulders and said kids will be kids.

For toilet humour which made me at least smile you've got the Smell Preservation society who can distinguish between chicken and turkey farts among other things but that was masked by the fact that it was taking the mickey of how there can be preservationists of damn near anything

@TonyBlack

There's also the whole getting kids to read by starting with books that appeal to the cruder aspects of life

[LilMaibe]

If it only be sam jr. maybe it'd be ok. but it's the combination with the friggin' goblins and well....the amount of everything else having to do with shit.

[One Man Bucket]

Surprisingly enough they didn't make a song and dance out of the contents of the goblins pots only the Unngue pot called the Well of Tears or something got any focus and that wasn't even a major thing just a subplot with Colon.

[Tonyblack]

@TonyBlack

There's also the whole getting kids to read by starting with books that appeal to the cruder aspects of life

Yes indeed! That author reminded me of a female version of Roald Dahl.

[LilMaibe]

I ask you one question
A question to ask when writing Discworld taught me:

Was it absolutely NECESSARY to have this whol shit-thing in the story? Could it NOT have been replaced by anything else?
And was it ABSOLUTELY UNAVOIDABLE to have the goblins in there instead of having that spot filled by humans from a country we before have NOT heard anything about?

[DaveC]

Yes indeed! That author reminded me of a female version of Roald Dahl.

With a nod to Harry Potter too in the name department.