Subject: Pratchett and Wolfe

From: Tony Ellis <littlesense at necronomicon.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 17:31:36 +0000

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Russell Wodell:
>"Brutha, with his photographic memory, and the role of torture in the world
>echoes Gene Wolfe's _The Book of the New Sun_ (1980-83) sequence."

>This certainly never occurred to me when reading "Small Gods," Pratchett's
>most sustained attack on organized religion, especially the Catholic
>Inquisition, and I don't remember Pratchett ever mentioning Wolfe in ay
>context whatsoever.

Well, Pratchett does subtitle it "The Book of the New Son"... :-)

What I've always wondered is whether it was intended as an actual Up Yours to TBOTNS, or simply as a skit on it. Pratchett has spoofed plenty of other SF novels, but always affectionately. Here, it's hard to tell whether the attack is aimed solely at organised religion, or also at writers who attempt to justify it.

In any case, it's not his happiest book, and certainly my least favourite.

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<DIV>Russell Wodell:</DIV>
<DIV>&gt;"Brutha, with his photographic memory, and the role of torture in the 
world<BR>&gt;echoes Gene Wolfe's _The Book of the New Sun_ (1980-83) 
sequence."<BR><BR>&gt;This certainly never occurred to me when reading "Small 
Gods," Pratchett's<BR>&gt;most sustained attack on organized religion, 
especially the Catholic<BR>&gt;Inquisition, and I don't remember Pratchett ever 
mentioning Wolfe in ay<BR>&gt;context whatsoever.<BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, Pratchett does subtitle it "The Book of the 
New Son"... :-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What I've always wondered is whether it was 
intended as an actual&nbsp;Up Yours to TBOTNS, or simply as a skit on it. 
Pratchett has spoofed plenty of other SF novels, but always affectionately. 
Here, it's hard to tell whether the attack is aimed solely at organised 
religion, or also at writers who attempt to justify it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In any case, it's not his 
happiest&nbsp;book,&nbsp;and certainly </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>my least 
favourite.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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