Thud! Discussion *Spoilers*

[TimBou]

My recollection of reading the delay in Vimes finding out about the stolen painting was that it was a bit frustrating but added to the tension. So it worked OK for me.

I was convinced Angua and Sally were going to initiate the first ever public Ankh Morpork mud wrestling session when they appeared under the floor in that nightclub... But Pterry didn't go there...

[raptornx01]

Nah, he already made that reference. making it, and then doing it wouldn't have worked.

[jdnphx42]

But when Bashfullson confronts Ardent at he cave, he uses a very significant word Ha'ak!. That is the word which has been used as a term of outrage toward Cheri in 5th Elephant. Exactly what it means we do not learn, but Detritus knows it's a "bad word" and threaten to shoot anyone who uses it again on their trip to Beonk. It is used about Chreri by the conservative canditate, Albertson, and Sam threates him with "repercussions" if it is used again.

I actually wound up here looking for a a translation of the full phrase Bashfullsson uses during his argument with Ardent - "Ha'ak! Ga strak ja'ada!" Unfortunately I didn't find anything official. I was wondering if anyone could comment on a translation I did run across; it was on a German Wiki page for the Discworld series, and after using Google to translate it into English, the page stated the rough translation was "Deviants! Your [attitude / lifestyle] is wrong!"

Can anyone comment on the validity of the translation? It does seem to fit the tone; Ardent is a hard-core conservative dwarf who likely referred to the more liberal and progressive dwarfs (like Cheery) as "ha'ak", and condemned their attitude, so it would make sense for Bashfullsson to hurl Ardent's own insult back into his teeth.

[Tonyblack]

Welcome to the site, jdnphx42!

I think it's as good a guess as any. I don't know if Terry knows what was said. And sometimes you don't need to know what a thing means to know that it's a bad thing. It's the tone that is important.

[Who's Wee Dug]

You could check if it's Klingon as it looks that way and Terry is a SF fan as well, and welcome to the forum jdnphx42.

[Tonyblack]

I sometimes think Terry just does the dwarf language to see how Stephen Briggs deals with it on the audiobooks.

[raisindot]

I sometimes think Terry just does the dwarf language to see how Stephen Briggs deals with it on the audiobooks.

I think you're absolutely right. I feel the same way about the dialogue Pterry writes for the dwarfs in TFE forward...it has such a beautiful, theatrical sing-song quality to it (particularly Rhys's lines) that seems tailor-made for Brigg's spot-on delivery. Even Briggs' Carrot has the accent of Briggs' dwarfs, which is so appropriate.

[Tonyblack]

Well, Rhys does have a Welsh accent in the audiobooks - as does Carrot.

By the way, I was recently stopped by a woman in Tucson who thought my accent was Bostonian. When I told her that I was Welsh, she proceeded to give me a brief history of the Welsh people.

[Penfold]

Did she ask you if you knew her friend, (insert Christian name) Jones, who lives in Swansea?

[Tonyblack]

Did she ask you if you knew her friend, (insert Christian name) Jones, who lives in Swansea?

I actually have had Americans who, on finding I was Welsh, proclaimed that they were from Wales. When I asked them what part of Wales they were from, they said they didn't know, but their surname was Jones/Evans/Davies.

One guy (a museum curator, who let us into the museum for free as I was Welsh) claimed his family were from "Clan-er-cly". I eventually worked out that they were from Llanelli.

[Bouncy Castle]

I have just been mooching about Amazon, looking at Where's My Cow? when I came across this review:

This is a sad day for me - I feel let down and ripped off by Sir Terry. This is not the "where is my cow" book Vimes reads to his son in "Thud!".

WARNING: This is not a children's book. This is not even a separate book - it does not stand alone. It is only (rather lazy) EXCEPTS from the novel "Thud!" with child friendly pictures by M. Grant; half "where's my cow" and half "where's my daddy?". To appreciate this book, you should first read a Pratchett book with Vimes in it, but preferably "Thud!".

MISREPRESENTATION ALERT: The page shown in the Amazon "look inside!" feature is not an introduction. This is what you can expect from the whole book. Also, the reviews on the back and the "ook!" book award as "children's winner " are funny and fictitious, but also grossly MISLEADING. No child could enjoy this book - the paper is too thin and light for little fingers to even touch, and most importantly...
< SPOILER ALERT > ...you never find the cow...!

This book is not for kids.
This book is not interesting.
This is a fancy brochure.
This is not my book.

[Tonyblack]

I'm not sure what the reviewer was expecting. Anyone having read Thud! would already know the basic gist of WMC. And anyone who has ever read a book aimed at a child that age would know that they are not meant to be great works of literature. Indeed, anyone who has ever read such a book to a small child will know how repetitive, boring and lacking in plot they are. Nevertheless, kids of that age seem to love that about them.

As for the Oook Award being misleading . . . I find that almost funny that someone who has read Pratchett wouldn't have 'got' it.

The only thing I would agree with in that review is that you really need to have read DW books with Vimes in to appreciate what's going on - why there are hippos in there and who the hell CMOT and Vetinari are.

I'd call it a companion to Thud!, maybe a spoof of such children's books, but I know for a fact that many Pratchett readers have gotten the book for their children, read it to them and it has obviously been loved.

Several thousand junior Discworlders cannot be wrong.

[Bouncy Castle]

My friend Mary's grandson, Luke, absolutely loved it, and insisted that any visitors to the house sit down immediately upon arrival, and read it.

He was about 11 at the time!

[Bouncy Castle]

In fact, I gave Luke my Johnny & The Bomb, etc, books (and Eric) as he had problems with very mild dyslexia, and I hoped they might encourage him to read.

He loans out the J&TB, etc, books to friends who are ill, etc, but NEVER lets Where's My Cow? out of his possession!!

[Tonyblack]

I went to the Amazon page and read the other 1 star reviews. They all don't seem to get it at all.

I have to say that I have a copy of WMC, but it was a gift - I doubt I would have bought it for myself. The thing is, we have the choice whether we buy these things or not and, if you don't want it, or don't think you'll like it, then don't buy it.

I doubt, for example that I'll bother with The World of Poo. I haven't got and am not interested in getting Nanny Ogg's cookbook, or the diaries or the calendars. It's the novels I'm interested in.