Going Postal Discussion *Spoilers*

[Who's Wee Dug]

Ah, spoilers! We in the non-Sky part of the UK haven't got that far yet![/quote]You don't need Sky to watch True Blood. it's on Channel 4 on Thursday nights.

[mystmoon]

yes, but those with SFX are further on in the series

[Who's Wee Dug]

I have all the books, just the latest to read as soon as I have finished Halting States.

[ghostsecurity28]

Ah, spoilers! We in the non-Sky part of the UK haven't got that far yet!

You don't need Sky to watch True Blood. it's on Channel 4 on Thursday nights.

that is series 2

[DaveC]

I've not really got time to do this now but while it's in my head.

I've always thought that Moist and William de Worde are almost the same character but written from opposite directions. William is the one that wants to be better than his father and Moist becomes better by circumstance. Both strives to be better than they are.

I think that William can almost be seen as a prototype Moist as Moist seems to have more personality and flair.

I agree.

I liked both of these books a great deal more than I was expecting too. Maybe because of the introductions to new characters or whether it's because they focus on more mundane proffesions than Magic (Witches or Wizards) or Supernatural or Detective work (Death or the Watch).

Also I am surprised that there was no appearance by Dibbler, if not trying to get in on the game like in The Truth, but then just in the crowd scenes where Pterry said people were bound to be selling things!

I like how Vimes was talked about but never heard. Also you come Angua is in the Sky adaptation, haven't seen it yet, when she is hardly in the book, and only then she is just in doggie form?

[DaveC]

I just want to add with awith all the people hating on Moist, do we not enjoy films and shows like Oceans Eleven, Hustle, The Grifters to name just a few. We admire them because of what they can get away with even though it's wrong.

Yeah they steal from rich people but they still spend it themselves.

[poohcarrot]

I'm with you DaveC. I like Moist.

[DaveC]

I'm with you DaveC. I like Moist.

I'm still to read Making Money, though, so I'll come back with a better opinion then. I'm about 60 pages into Science of Discworld III, then it's on to Thud!

[raisindot]

Agree with you there, DaveC.

People like characters in movies (or stories) where the rich (or evil) get grifted by those who aren't as rich (or evil).

However, it would be impossible for anyone other than a sociopath to like a con man whose actions result in financial hardship for a poor person or someone who gets blamed for a crime.

That's why Pterry had to make Spike the victim of one of Albert Spangler's grifts, so he (and we, as reader) would no longer be able to rationalize or even admire his actions as those of a simple con man whose victims deserved what they got. He needed a moral comuppance, if only to make him choose a path that would help him understand why he was different than Reacher Gilt.

And it was important that Spike told him about her firing after he had already donated his robbery money to the city. So readers could see that he could change his shorts as something other than an atonement for putting Spike out of work.

J-I-B

[Jan Van Quirm]

I just love to hate Moist

[poohcarrot]

Jan doesn't understand. It's a "man thing".

[Jan Van Quirm]

Ewwww!

[Quatermass]

Going Postal, and its sequel, Making Money, remain amongst my absolute favourite Discworld books. Why? I think one of the things that I enjoy about Moist von Lipwig is that he is great at improvising and succeeding with his improvised plans. I love characters who do that, like the Doctor, or Miles Vorkosigan. And yes, I do understand that he needed a moral comeuppance. Otherwise, he would have kept ignoring the consequences of his actions, or at least those not directly pertaining to him. At least he was honest enough (irony, much?) to divulge what he did to Adora in the end.

[CrysaniaMajere]

Jan doesn't understand. It's a "man thing".

I like Moist very much, does that mean I'm a man too?

[Jan Van Quirm]

Edited!
Sorry guys - struggling here with keeping my eyes open and selective dyslexia and so I quoted the wrong person *tears hair*

Jan doesn't understand. It's a "man thing".

I like Moist very much, does that mean I'm a man too?

No - just that you can't resist a b*stard