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Discworld #13
Small Gods
The thirteenth Discworld novel.
Religion is a controversial business in the Discworld. Everyone has their own opinion, and indeed their own gods. Who comes in all shapes and sizes. In such a competitive environment, there is a pressing need to make one's presence felt. And it's certainly not remotely helpful to be reduced to be appearing in the form of a tortoise, a manifestation far below god-like status in anyone's book. In such instances, you need an acolyte, and fast. Preferably one who won't ask too many questions.
Religion is a controversial business in the Discworld. Everyone has their own opinion, and indeed their own gods. Who comes in all shapes and sizes. In such a competitive environment, there is a pressing need to make one's presence felt. And it's certainly not remotely helpful to be reduced to be appearing in the form of a tortoise, a manifestation far below god-like status in anyone's book. In such instances, you need an acolyte, and fast. Preferably one who won't ask too many questions.
386 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Terry Pratchett
511 books44.4k followersSir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983–2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,058 reviews
November 29, 2008
This was the first Pratchett book I read, and I'm glad of it. While it has the humor and satire that is inherent in all of the Discworld books, it also has something else - something to say. It was evident, even from the first time I read this book, that Pratchett had put some real heavy thinking into it.
This book is, as the title suggests, about gods. Where do they come from? Where do they go? What keeps them moving? Ordinarily, gods don't like this sort of question. People who think are not what gods look for in followers. Gods want people who believe. That's where their power comes from. Gods with many believers are stong, great gods. Armies of priests and worshipers attend to their every needs, the sacrifices are plentiful and their dominion is vast. A great God wants for nothing.
A god with no believers, however, is a small god, a mindless thought blistering through the firmament, searching with single-minded fervor for one thing: a believer.
What happens, then, when a Great God finds out that, while he wasn't looking, he lost all of his believers? That's the thrust of this tale, the story of the Great God Om and how he became a tortoise for three years. It's about the difference between what is real and what is believed in, and how much difference that can make at times. It's about fundamental and trivial truths, and how to tell them apart. It's about eagles and tortoises and how much they need each other.
Above all, it's something of, in my opinion, a statement of faith. Many people ask me if I am religious, and I tell them no. That's partly due to this book and the thinking that it made me do. Spiritual? Sure. Religious? No.
This is, as I said, the story of the Great God Om, who discovered, about 300 feet above the ground, that he had been a tortoise for the last three years. Before this mid-air revelation he had been just chewing at melons and wondering where the next lettuce patch was. Suddenly, all the self-awareness of a Great God was put into his head, as well as the knowledge that he was probably about to die. Om had intended to manifest as a bull or a pillar of fire - something much more majestic and Godly - but for some reason, that hadn't worked. He had become a tortoise.
Now, in the presence of Brutha, a novice in the Church of the Great God Om, the god remembers who he was, and discovers that he's in a lot of trouble.
The Church of the Great God Om. There's something to talk about. Many people believe, upon reading it, that it's an allegory for the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Omnian Church permits no heresy. It permits no sin, no disbelief. Violating the precepts of Om and His Prophets can lead to death, in a lingering and painful manner. The Quisition cannot be wrong, for was it not Om Himself who put suspicion into their minds? It's a tactic that has been used by many religions over the years, often to justify acts that they know their god would not approve of.
I don't believe that Pratchett was trying to take a stab at the Catholics in this book. It's just an unfortunate coincidence that the Omnians and the Catholics bear a few points of similarity. A rigid hierarchy, for example. A penchant at one point or another for extracting confessions by any means necessary is another. It's all very efficient and effective.
There's a problem, though, as is pointed out by Brutha late in the book: if you beat a donkey with a stick long enough, the stick becomes all that the donkey believes in. At that point, neither gods nor believers benefit. The only people benefiting are those wielding the stick. Instead of becoming a tool for inspiration, the church becomes a tool for terror. People do not obey their god out of love - they obey their church out of fear.
This is the kind of church that could produce the Deacon Vorbis, head of the Exquisitors. He is one of those men who would turn the world on its back, just to see what would happen. He is everything that is wrong with the Church and, unfortunately, it seems that he is in line to be the Eighth Prophet.
In other words, Omnia is not a nice place to live. Its church is vast, its god is small, and neighboring nations want to take it down a few pegs. It's up to Brutha and his God to change the course of history.
As I said, there was a lot of thought put into this novel, as well as Pratchett's usual hidden research. For example, Brutha is called a "Great dumb ox" by his classmates, due to his size and apparent lack of intellect. The same epithet was thrown at Thomas Aquinas by his classmates, and he was canonized less than a century after his death. Like Aquinas, Brutha is not dumb. He is simply slow and careful in how he thinks, and his measured pace leads him far more surely to the truth than the hot-headed and passionate men who march with him.
Some people read this book as an attack on religion. Others see it as a defense of personal faith. I think Terry had a story to tell, and perhaps a point to make. The beauty of books such as these is that they can be whatever you want them to be. For me, it came as a kind of defense of gods. Humans, the book suggests, need gods. Now there is a growing atheist community out there who disagree with that idea, and I can definitely see where they're coming from. As I've said many times, I'm not entirely sold on the god idea yet. But the gods that are rampant in the Discworld aren't the kinds of gods that the atheists and the true believers fight over - the omnipotent creator of Everything. They are gods who are controlled by humans, who exist with humans in a kind of co-dependent relationship. Humans need gods, and gods need humans. In its way, this kind of theology makes gods more... realistic to me. I can't say for sure whether a god or gods exist, but if they did, I think I could live with this kind of arrangement.
What this book definitely is, in any case, is good. Very good. If you haven't read it, do so. If you have read it, do yourself a favor and read it again.
---------------------------------------------------
"Around the Godde there forms a Shelle of prayers and Ceremonies and Buildings and Priestes and Authority, until at Laste the Godde Dies.
Ande this maye notte be noticed."
- from the writings of the philosopher Abraxis, Small Gods
---------------------------------------------------
This book is, as the title suggests, about gods. Where do they come from? Where do they go? What keeps them moving? Ordinarily, gods don't like this sort of question. People who think are not what gods look for in followers. Gods want people who believe. That's where their power comes from. Gods with many believers are stong, great gods. Armies of priests and worshipers attend to their every needs, the sacrifices are plentiful and their dominion is vast. A great God wants for nothing.
A god with no believers, however, is a small god, a mindless thought blistering through the firmament, searching with single-minded fervor for one thing: a believer.
What happens, then, when a Great God finds out that, while he wasn't looking, he lost all of his believers? That's the thrust of this tale, the story of the Great God Om and how he became a tortoise for three years. It's about the difference between what is real and what is believed in, and how much difference that can make at times. It's about fundamental and trivial truths, and how to tell them apart. It's about eagles and tortoises and how much they need each other.
Above all, it's something of, in my opinion, a statement of faith. Many people ask me if I am religious, and I tell them no. That's partly due to this book and the thinking that it made me do. Spiritual? Sure. Religious? No.
This is, as I said, the story of the Great God Om, who discovered, about 300 feet above the ground, that he had been a tortoise for the last three years. Before this mid-air revelation he had been just chewing at melons and wondering where the next lettuce patch was. Suddenly, all the self-awareness of a Great God was put into his head, as well as the knowledge that he was probably about to die. Om had intended to manifest as a bull or a pillar of fire - something much more majestic and Godly - but for some reason, that hadn't worked. He had become a tortoise.
Now, in the presence of Brutha, a novice in the Church of the Great God Om, the god remembers who he was, and discovers that he's in a lot of trouble.
The Church of the Great God Om. There's something to talk about. Many people believe, upon reading it, that it's an allegory for the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Omnian Church permits no heresy. It permits no sin, no disbelief. Violating the precepts of Om and His Prophets can lead to death, in a lingering and painful manner. The Quisition cannot be wrong, for was it not Om Himself who put suspicion into their minds? It's a tactic that has been used by many religions over the years, often to justify acts that they know their god would not approve of.
I don't believe that Pratchett was trying to take a stab at the Catholics in this book. It's just an unfortunate coincidence that the Omnians and the Catholics bear a few points of similarity. A rigid hierarchy, for example. A penchant at one point or another for extracting confessions by any means necessary is another. It's all very efficient and effective.
There's a problem, though, as is pointed out by Brutha late in the book: if you beat a donkey with a stick long enough, the stick becomes all that the donkey believes in. At that point, neither gods nor believers benefit. The only people benefiting are those wielding the stick. Instead of becoming a tool for inspiration, the church becomes a tool for terror. People do not obey their god out of love - they obey their church out of fear.
This is the kind of church that could produce the Deacon Vorbis, head of the Exquisitors. He is one of those men who would turn the world on its back, just to see what would happen. He is everything that is wrong with the Church and, unfortunately, it seems that he is in line to be the Eighth Prophet.
In other words, Omnia is not a nice place to live. Its church is vast, its god is small, and neighboring nations want to take it down a few pegs. It's up to Brutha and his God to change the course of history.
As I said, there was a lot of thought put into this novel, as well as Pratchett's usual hidden research. For example, Brutha is called a "Great dumb ox" by his classmates, due to his size and apparent lack of intellect. The same epithet was thrown at Thomas Aquinas by his classmates, and he was canonized less than a century after his death. Like Aquinas, Brutha is not dumb. He is simply slow and careful in how he thinks, and his measured pace leads him far more surely to the truth than the hot-headed and passionate men who march with him.
Some people read this book as an attack on religion. Others see it as a defense of personal faith. I think Terry had a story to tell, and perhaps a point to make. The beauty of books such as these is that they can be whatever you want them to be. For me, it came as a kind of defense of gods. Humans, the book suggests, need gods. Now there is a growing atheist community out there who disagree with that idea, and I can definitely see where they're coming from. As I've said many times, I'm not entirely sold on the god idea yet. But the gods that are rampant in the Discworld aren't the kinds of gods that the atheists and the true believers fight over - the omnipotent creator of Everything. They are gods who are controlled by humans, who exist with humans in a kind of co-dependent relationship. Humans need gods, and gods need humans. In its way, this kind of theology makes gods more... realistic to me. I can't say for sure whether a god or gods exist, but if they did, I think I could live with this kind of arrangement.
What this book definitely is, in any case, is good. Very good. If you haven't read it, do so. If you have read it, do yourself a favor and read it again.
---------------------------------------------------
"Around the Godde there forms a Shelle of prayers and Ceremonies and Buildings and Priestes and Authority, until at Laste the Godde Dies.
Ande this maye notte be noticed."
- from the writings of the philosopher Abraxis, Small Gods
---------------------------------------------------
August 2, 2020
It´s one of Pratchett´s best works, retelling what has happened, happens, and will happen as soon as faith goes mad, uncontrolled, and vicious, tries to expand it´s sphere of influence and doesn´t care about the foundations and rules, contradicting its own commandments.
The idea of the manifested power of belief, imagination, and prayers is an often seen trope in fantasy and sci-fi, in this case, defined by the simple formula of more believers, more power. But it can go many directions, for instance, mind viruses and plagues infecting other faiths systems, programming errors turning the persons mad, fractions trying to manipulate to get the most beliefs, different ways of psi-magic and fantasy systems to control, harvest, and use the power for peace and war, combining it with technology, etc.
It´s great how the deity That´s certainly what happens at any stage of human evolution, no matter if stone age, now, or in 10.000 years (yea, or possibly utopia if one asks you, optimists), confronted with benevolent aliens or other dimensional superbeings, humans just can´t do otherwise than fail, suck, and ruin everything good, that´s just how they roll.
The grain of realism rice can be seen in controlled and released emotions. Mindfulness and thought control are as strong as pure love or hate and something completely controlled by pure willpower through long training, nothing directly related to the average wetware. Time will show the interconnections, possibly adding physics to the mix right next to biology and medicine.
Inquisition with its bigotry has hardly seen a better revelation than in it´s satirized form, Vorbis is the perfect reflection of one the darkest times in human history. Pratchett dealt with witch hunting and superstition in a similar way in some of his works, used exaggeration, slapstick, comedy, philosophy, deep thoughts, and especially introspections, inner monologues, and dialogues to present embarrassing elements of social systems.
Many religious themes are outsourced to side characters and especially Omnia, while he keeps dealing with political, sociological, philosophical, social, economic,... topics in the main series. He uses polytheism to create many variants of fun gods, implying the strangeness of quarrels about the sovereignty of interpretations of teachings and holy texts and many other illogicalities of anything from small cults to institutionalized religions, see for instance flat Discworld and „yet the turtle moves."
Small gods is a marvelous parody about religion, an eyeopening masterpiece, and one of the best examples of the power for positive change by a fusion of laughter, deep thoughts, and critical investigation.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
This one is added to all Pratchettian reviews:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheibe...
The idea of the dissected motifs rocks, highlighting the main real world inspirational elements of fiction and satire is something usually done with so called higher literature, but a much more interesting field in readable literature, as it offers the joy of reading, subtle criticism, and feeling smart all together.
The idea of the manifested power of belief, imagination, and prayers is an often seen trope in fantasy and sci-fi, in this case, defined by the simple formula of more believers, more power. But it can go many directions, for instance, mind viruses and plagues infecting other faiths systems, programming errors turning the persons mad, fractions trying to manipulate to get the most beliefs, different ways of psi-magic and fantasy systems to control, harvest, and use the power for peace and war, combining it with technology, etc.
It´s great how the deity That´s certainly what happens at any stage of human evolution, no matter if stone age, now, or in 10.000 years (yea, or possibly utopia if one asks you, optimists), confronted with benevolent aliens or other dimensional superbeings, humans just can´t do otherwise than fail, suck, and ruin everything good, that´s just how they roll.
The grain of realism rice can be seen in controlled and released emotions. Mindfulness and thought control are as strong as pure love or hate and something completely controlled by pure willpower through long training, nothing directly related to the average wetware. Time will show the interconnections, possibly adding physics to the mix right next to biology and medicine.
Inquisition with its bigotry has hardly seen a better revelation than in it´s satirized form, Vorbis is the perfect reflection of one the darkest times in human history. Pratchett dealt with witch hunting and superstition in a similar way in some of his works, used exaggeration, slapstick, comedy, philosophy, deep thoughts, and especially introspections, inner monologues, and dialogues to present embarrassing elements of social systems.
Many religious themes are outsourced to side characters and especially Omnia, while he keeps dealing with political, sociological, philosophical, social, economic,... topics in the main series. He uses polytheism to create many variants of fun gods, implying the strangeness of quarrels about the sovereignty of interpretations of teachings and holy texts and many other illogicalities of anything from small cults to institutionalized religions, see for instance flat Discworld and „yet the turtle moves."
Small gods is a marvelous parody about religion, an eyeopening masterpiece, and one of the best examples of the power for positive change by a fusion of laughter, deep thoughts, and critical investigation.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
This one is added to all Pratchettian reviews:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheibe...
The idea of the dissected motifs rocks, highlighting the main real world inspirational elements of fiction and satire is something usually done with so called higher literature, but a much more interesting field in readable literature, as it offers the joy of reading, subtle criticism, and feeling smart all together.
August 8, 2024
One of Pratchett’s best Discworld novels.
Pratchett delivers a brilliant parody of religion in this early (the 13th) standalone. In the land of Omnia, the great god Om is worshiped and all who don’t are subject to the Quisition – a satire of the political/theological Inquisition. His high priest Vorbis controls all with fear of holy retribution.
But is it Om or his religion that controls?
The great god Om has a problem. Historically taking the shape of animals like bulls or majestic predators, he finds himself stuck in the shape of a tortoise. Seems no one actually believes in him. The citizens of Omnia are more fearful of his autocratic sect that him as a god.
While Neil Gaiman explored this theme better in his archetypal novel American Gods, Pratchett also has some fun with the idea that a god exists because of the number of people who believe. In Small Gods, only lowly novice Brutha truly believes in Om and Pratchett fashions a story around the strange relationship between the two.
Featuring Pratchett’s signature humor and superb writing, Discworld fans will also enjoy time with Lu-Tze, The Librarian, Death, very likable protagonist Brutha and the introduction of the Diogenes like philosopher Didactylos. This scathing satire on religion is one of his darker Discworld outings but also one of his best.
*** 2024 reread -
I've said it before and I think it needs saying again that I should just keep a Discworld book going at all times. These are good for what ails you.
Pratchett's THIRTEENTH Discworld novel, I sometimes see this listed as a Death series book and other times its a standalone. It does have Death in it and they are all more or less standalones. This one is quite good.
The themes of religion as opposed to faith as well as a variety of theocratic substantive issues sorted through were all fun but I think Sir Terry turned a corner here, I think the quality of his work improved here and would continue to be great for decades further.
Pratchett delivers a brilliant parody of religion in this early (the 13th) standalone. In the land of Omnia, the great god Om is worshiped and all who don’t are subject to the Quisition – a satire of the political/theological Inquisition. His high priest Vorbis controls all with fear of holy retribution.
But is it Om or his religion that controls?
The great god Om has a problem. Historically taking the shape of animals like bulls or majestic predators, he finds himself stuck in the shape of a tortoise. Seems no one actually believes in him. The citizens of Omnia are more fearful of his autocratic sect that him as a god.
While Neil Gaiman explored this theme better in his archetypal novel American Gods, Pratchett also has some fun with the idea that a god exists because of the number of people who believe. In Small Gods, only lowly novice Brutha truly believes in Om and Pratchett fashions a story around the strange relationship between the two.
Featuring Pratchett’s signature humor and superb writing, Discworld fans will also enjoy time with Lu-Tze, The Librarian, Death, very likable protagonist Brutha and the introduction of the Diogenes like philosopher Didactylos. This scathing satire on religion is one of his darker Discworld outings but also one of his best.
*** 2024 reread -
I've said it before and I think it needs saying again that I should just keep a Discworld book going at all times. These are good for what ails you.
Pratchett's THIRTEENTH Discworld novel, I sometimes see this listed as a Death series book and other times its a standalone. It does have Death in it and they are all more or less standalones. This one is quite good.
The themes of religion as opposed to faith as well as a variety of theocratic substantive issues sorted through were all fun but I think Sir Terry turned a corner here, I think the quality of his work improved here and would continue to be great for decades further.
May 13, 2022
Check out my new youtube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books seconds after I finish the book.
In a series with hits and misses, this one is a world series winning grand slam
While I am a big fan of Discworld, this book is probably my favorite book of them all. And this was a big shock to me as this series is famous for having recurring storylines, yet this book is a standalone with no recurring characters in any of the books. In practically every way, this book is a masterpiece. I actually went out and bought several copies of this book to give to friends and family who haven't read it before.
Not only is this book absolutely hilarious, but the plot is genuinely thought provoking and deeply insightful. Whether you are religious or not, I guarantee you will appreciate the religious themes that exist in this book. Even just reading the first few pages will get you a huge smile on your face and keep you hooked.
If you haven't read a Discworld book before, this is probably the very best book to get an introduction to the series since you don't have to have any prior knowledge of any of the books to get into, and you also don't have to commit yourself to reading several books since this is a standalone.
Bravo Terry Prachett!
In a series with hits and misses, this one is a world series winning grand slam
While I am a big fan of Discworld, this book is probably my favorite book of them all. And this was a big shock to me as this series is famous for having recurring storylines, yet this book is a standalone with no recurring characters in any of the books. In practically every way, this book is a masterpiece. I actually went out and bought several copies of this book to give to friends and family who haven't read it before.
Not only is this book absolutely hilarious, but the plot is genuinely thought provoking and deeply insightful. Whether you are religious or not, I guarantee you will appreciate the religious themes that exist in this book. Even just reading the first few pages will get you a huge smile on your face and keep you hooked.
If you haven't read a Discworld book before, this is probably the very best book to get an introduction to the series since you don't have to have any prior knowledge of any of the books to get into, and you also don't have to commit yourself to reading several books since this is a standalone.
Bravo Terry Prachett!
August 11, 2018
Bulgarian review below/Ревюто на български е по-долу
“YOU HAVE PERHAPS HEARD THE PHRASE, he said, THAT HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
Death nodded.
“IN TIME, he said, YOU WILL LEARN THAT IT IS WRONG.”
It makes you contemplate so many things. Beyond religion too. There were so many passages when I was musing ‘It’s like this thought has sprung out of my head but it’s written a hundred times better than I would have said it’.
The book is a splendid metaphor for religion. All gods are small until you believe in them. Until you are the one that allows them to grow. God is not some vague anthropomorphic manifestation, it’s not an incarnation of all your fears and the absolution of all your sins, and it’s not the institution that pretends it toils in the name of His glory. It’s not even the small turtle which have suddenly lost all its followers. You are God. No, you are not ordinary. You are as grand as you believe. And you are capable of as much as you believe. End of story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
„– МОЖЕ БИ СИ ЧУВАЛ ИЗРАЗА, ЧЕ АДЪТ – ТОВА СА ДРУГИТЕ ХОРА?
– Да, да, разбира се.
Смърт кимна.
– С ВРЕМЕТО – рече той – ЩЕ РАЗБЕРЕШ, ЧЕ НЕ Е ПРАВИЛЕН.“
Кара те да се замисляш за твърде много неща. И извън религията. На толкова места се удивлявах „Това все едно е моя мисъл, но е написано стотици пъти по-добре, отколкото бих го казала аз“.
Книгата е великолепна метафора на религията. Всички боговете са малки, докато не повярваш в тях. Докато не им позволиш ти самият да пораснат. Бог не е някакво смътно антропоморфно проявление, не е инкарнацията на всичките ти страхове и опрощението на всичките ти грехове, не е и институцията, която умело се прави, че неуморно работи в Негова възхвала. Не е дори малката костенурка, която ненадейно е изгубила последователите си. Бог си ти. Не, ти не си обикновен. Ти си толкова, колкото вярваш. И можеш толкова, колкото вярваш. Точка.
“YOU HAVE PERHAPS HEARD THE PHRASE, he said, THAT HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
Death nodded.
“IN TIME, he said, YOU WILL LEARN THAT IT IS WRONG.”
It makes you contemplate so many things. Beyond religion too. There were so many passages when I was musing ‘It’s like this thought has sprung out of my head but it’s written a hundred times better than I would have said it’.
The book is a splendid metaphor for religion. All gods are small until you believe in them. Until you are the one that allows them to grow. God is not some vague anthropomorphic manifestation, it’s not an incarnation of all your fears and the absolution of all your sins, and it’s not the institution that pretends it toils in the name of His glory. It’s not even the small turtle which have suddenly lost all its followers. You are God. No, you are not ordinary. You are as grand as you believe. And you are capable of as much as you believe. End of story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
„– МОЖЕ БИ СИ ЧУВАЛ ИЗРАЗА, ЧЕ АДЪТ – ТОВА СА ДРУГИТЕ ХОРА?
– Да, да, разбира се.
Смърт кимна.
– С ВРЕМЕТО – рече той – ЩЕ РАЗБЕРЕШ, ЧЕ НЕ Е ПРАВИЛЕН.“
Кара те да се замисляш за твърде много неща. И извън религията. На толкова места се удивлявах „Това все едно е моя мисъл, но е написано стотици пъти по-добре, отколкото бих го казала аз“.
Книгата е великолепна метафора на религията. Всички боговете са малки, докато не повярваш в тях. Докато не им позволиш ти самият да пораснат. Бог не е някакво смътно антропоморфно проявление, не е инкарнацията на всичките ти страхове и опрощението на всичките ти грехове, не е и институцията, която умело се прави, че неуморно работи в Негова възхвала. Не е дори малката костенурка, която ненадейно е изгубила последователите си. Бог си ти. Не, ти не си обикновен. Ти си толкова, колкото вярваш. И можеш толкова, колкото вярваш. Точка.
December 31, 2024
Series Buddy Read with Trish 2024 onwards
I have to say I really enjoyed this re-read. And although it is only 4+ years since I last read it, I did not remember a great deal.
Certainly a very definite 4 stars and maybe almost 5.
This book concentrates on Brutha a novice in the Omnian religion and Vorbis the dastardly head of the inquisition / exquisition. Brutha is one of those people who has a perfect memory and so eventually despite his lowly rank come to the attention of the dreaded Vorbis. Not something anyone really desires.
Add into the mix a tortoise who is actually the Omnian’s God and as ever high jinx will occur , these include invasions, walks across the desert, coups and attacks by eagles. Never good if you’re a tortoise.
Unsuccessful Series Read 2019/2020
So this is book 13 in my continuing monthly saga of reading all the Discworld novels. And what a good entry in the saga this was.
(As an aside i am a little behind in my reading timetable, as I was meant to finish this in January. My challenge shows me ahead, but that is only because I listened to a number of Agatha Christie dramatisations whilst my wife and I were decorating (painting) inside the house.)
Anyway back to "Small Gods". This is in someway slightly different to most of the other Discworld novels I have read so far (in my humble opinion). Most (all ?) of the previous reads have involved some sort of parody of Earth culture in some fashion or another. This, whilst all about religion which is of course a major part of Earth's culture, doesn't really parody at all, which may be a good thing 😊
This book is based on the wonderful premiss that a God is (blah - the end of the spoiler piece)
I generally have a penchant for DEATH, the character that is, as well as the Witches, and even Rincewind, but even without all of them (ok DEATH has about a dozen lines in a cameo appearance) I really enjoyed this novel, to the extent that it is going to make choosing my book of the month difficult as I've read two, thoroughly enjoyed two, hmmm.
Ok enough of a review I'm falling even further behind, its nearly the middle of Feb and I've read 1 and a half books, agh !!!
I have to say I really enjoyed this re-read. And although it is only 4+ years since I last read it, I did not remember a great deal.
Certainly a very definite 4 stars and maybe almost 5.
This book concentrates on Brutha a novice in the Omnian religion and Vorbis the dastardly head of the inquisition / exquisition. Brutha is one of those people who has a perfect memory and so eventually despite his lowly rank come to the attention of the dreaded Vorbis. Not something anyone really desires.
Add into the mix a tortoise who is actually the Omnian’s God and as ever high jinx will occur , these include invasions, walks across the desert, coups and attacks by eagles. Never good if you’re a tortoise.
Unsuccessful Series Read 2019/2020
So this is book 13 in my continuing monthly saga of reading all the Discworld novels. And what a good entry in the saga this was.
(As an aside i am a little behind in my reading timetable, as I was meant to finish this in January. My challenge shows me ahead, but that is only because I listened to a number of Agatha Christie dramatisations whilst my wife and I were decorating (painting) inside the house.)
Anyway back to "Small Gods". This is in someway slightly different to most of the other Discworld novels I have read so far (in my humble opinion). Most (all ?) of the previous reads have involved some sort of parody of Earth culture in some fashion or another. This, whilst all about religion which is of course a major part of Earth's culture, doesn't really parody at all, which may be a good thing 😊
This book is based on the wonderful premiss that a God is (blah - the end of the spoiler piece)
I generally have a penchant for DEATH, the character that is, as well as the Witches, and even Rincewind, but even without all of them (ok DEATH has about a dozen lines in a cameo appearance) I really enjoyed this novel, to the extent that it is going to make choosing my book of the month difficult as I've read two, thoroughly enjoyed two, hmmm.
Ok enough of a review I'm falling even further behind, its nearly the middle of Feb and I've read 1 and a half books, agh !!!
January 8, 2022
This is another of my rereads of a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and let me tell you it was an absolute joy to return to the flat planet on the back of four elephants on a giant turtle. The author goes to town on this parody and satire on religion, and our history and contemporary present, achieved through a stylish, yet oddly profound and humorous perspective, to diffuse the tensions that can arise with a controversial subject which we are so often advised to avoid like the plague. Everyone has their beliefs with a multitude of gods competing against each other for believers, the more you have, the greater your power. So if you are the great God Om, reduced to a small god manifesting as a little tortoise, let's just say you are not going to be making much of a impression with Brutha making for a wonderful protagonist as Om's only believer. This is marvellous fantasy storytelling that takes in bigotry, the use of fear and terror through the likes of the inquisition, to ensure religious adherence, the conflicts, and problems of organised religion.
Pratchett creates a host of characters that represent people and our relationship with religion, done with thought and hope, a thoroughly laugh out loud experience. One of the best Discworld novels that illustrate just how good the author is when he is at the top of his game. Many thanks to the publisher.
Pratchett creates a host of characters that represent people and our relationship with religion, done with thought and hope, a thoroughly laugh out loud experience. One of the best Discworld novels that illustrate just how good the author is when he is at the top of his game. Many thanks to the publisher.
March 11, 2021
Small Gods (Discworld, #13), Terry Pratchett
The Great God Om tries to manifest himself once more in the world, as the time of his eighth prophet is nigh. He is surprised, however, when he finds himself in the body of a tortoise, stripped of his divine powers.
In the gardens of Omnia's capital he addresses the novice Brutha, the only one able to hear his voice. Om has a hard time convincing the boy of his godliness, as Brutha is convinced that Om can do anything he wants, and would not want to appear as a tortoise.
Brutha is gifted with an eidetic memory and is therefore chosen by Vorbis, the head of the Quisition, to come along on a diplomatic mission to Ephebe.
However, Brutha is also considered unintelligent, since he never learned to read, and rarely thinks for himself.
This begins to change after Brutha discovers Ephebe's philosophers; the idea of people entertaining ideas they're not certain they believe or even understand, let alone starting fistfights over them, is an entirely new concept to him. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دهم ماه مارس سال 2020میلادی
عنوان: ایزدان خُرد؛ نویسنده: تری پرچت؛ مترجمها: سمیه کرمی، میلاد فرشته نژاد؛ کتاب ای.بوک است، موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 20م
خدایان کوچک (ایزدان خُرد)، عنوان کتابی خیالپردازانه، نوشته ی «تری پرچت»، نویسندهٔ «بریتانیایی» است؛ «خدایان کوچک»، سیزدهمین کتاب از سری «دیسکورلد (دنیای » است؛ دنیایی را خیال کنید گرد، همچون یک سینی گرد، که بر پشت یک «لاکپشت عظیم الجثه (آتوئین کبیر)» که در کیهان، برای خودش میگردد؛ عنوان سری کتابها دلالت به همین کیفیت دارد؛ در این دنیا میلیونها، بلکه میلیاردها موجود هستند، که خودشان را خدا مینامند؛ توانایی این «خدایان»، تجسم آنها، و تمام وجود آنها، به تعداد پرستندگان، و ژرفای باور آنها، بستگی دارد؛ هستند خدایانی، که پرستش آنها دیگر رواج ندارد، و هیچ شده اند؛ «اُم»، ایزد اصلی یک امپراتوری مذهبی (همچو کلیساهای سده های میانی میلادی و مجهز به مدرنترین شیوه های انکیزاسیون)، با دو میلیون جمعیت، که ناگهان خود را به صورت سنگپشتی یکچشم میبیند؛ چون در تمام امپراتوری، تنها یک نفر واقعاً به او ایمان دارد
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/12/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The Great God Om tries to manifest himself once more in the world, as the time of his eighth prophet is nigh. He is surprised, however, when he finds himself in the body of a tortoise, stripped of his divine powers.
In the gardens of Omnia's capital he addresses the novice Brutha, the only one able to hear his voice. Om has a hard time convincing the boy of his godliness, as Brutha is convinced that Om can do anything he wants, and would not want to appear as a tortoise.
Brutha is gifted with an eidetic memory and is therefore chosen by Vorbis, the head of the Quisition, to come along on a diplomatic mission to Ephebe.
However, Brutha is also considered unintelligent, since he never learned to read, and rarely thinks for himself.
This begins to change after Brutha discovers Ephebe's philosophers; the idea of people entertaining ideas they're not certain they believe or even understand, let alone starting fistfights over them, is an entirely new concept to him. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دهم ماه مارس سال 2020میلادی
عنوان: ایزدان خُرد؛ نویسنده: تری پرچت؛ مترجمها: سمیه کرمی، میلاد فرشته نژاد؛ کتاب ای.بوک است، موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 20م
خدایان کوچک (ایزدان خُرد)، عنوان کتابی خیالپردازانه، نوشته ی «تری پرچت»، نویسندهٔ «بریتانیایی» است؛ «خدایان کوچک»، سیزدهمین کتاب از سری «دیسکورلد (دنیای » است؛ دنیایی را خیال کنید گرد، همچون یک سینی گرد، که بر پشت یک «لاکپشت عظیم الجثه (آتوئین کبیر)» که در کیهان، برای خودش میگردد؛ عنوان سری کتابها دلالت به همین کیفیت دارد؛ در این دنیا میلیونها، بلکه میلیاردها موجود هستند، که خودشان را خدا مینامند؛ توانایی این «خدایان»، تجسم آنها، و تمام وجود آنها، به تعداد پرستندگان، و ژرفای باور آنها، بستگی دارد؛ هستند خدایانی، که پرستش آنها دیگر رواج ندارد، و هیچ شده اند؛ «اُم»، ایزد اصلی یک امپراتوری مذهبی (همچو کلیساهای سده های میانی میلادی و مجهز به مدرنترین شیوه های انکیزاسیون)، با دو میلیون جمعیت، که ناگهان خود را به صورت سنگپشتی یکچشم میبیند؛ چون در تمام امپراتوری، تنها یک نفر واقعاً به او ایمان دارد
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/12/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
January 22, 2024
The high and mighty Om, has been stuck as a tortoise for over three years now. Considering that a god's strength lies in the number of its believers, this is not a normal occurrence for Om. After all, the country is full of zealous believers at His disposal. They're devout enough to wage war in His name. At the same time, they seem to have trouble hearing His request for more lettuce leaves... except for Brutha, the most simple-minded of them all.
In dire need of protection from non-believing eagles, our tiny little Om-as-a-tortoise will take what He can get, where He can get it.
Small Gods was not particularly high up on my Discworld (re)read list: more like a task to be ticked off, on the way to more interesting books. Something that I could see being useful to open other people's eyes about organized religion.
I, for one, have already done the
-"fervent little believer, who worries that the Almighty has seen her wish to do her (long put off) chores on Sundays"
or the
- "spiteful atheist who will strive to insert twice as many mean-spirited remarks as anyone else into all her interactions with the devout"
only to become an
- "occasional eye-roller and constant exasperated sigher".
...and I did it all in heels.
But then little by little, the characters started to grow on me, and I suddenly found myself so hooked that I devoured the whole book within a day!
While the Quisition department's tortures, the mindless religious bigotry, and power hungry coups d'état all left me in various states of disgust, when the narrative perspective would switch to Brutha, I was ready to swing my metaphorical pom-poms his way. Brutha's simple-minded yet thoughtful way of believing was so touching, especially because I was expecting him to do a 180 character change with each of his fervently held beliefs that came crashing down.
Having recently finished a children's book whose "love thy enemies" message left me utterly nonplussed, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself earnestly hoping that Brutha's kindness would eventually pay off, even though I would've been happy to have the main antagonist drop dead at any moment.
Score: 4.8/5 stars
I have to admit that I did end up skimming through some of the more philosophical passages, in favor of the more action-packed scenes, but all in all I can't say I was ever bored. As a matter of fact I even cried at the climactic moment, which is highly unusual for me.
P.S. Fans of Carpe Jugulum should definitely read this, in order to have a better understanding of the legends surrounding the prophet Brutha.
In dire need of protection from non-believing eagles, our tiny little Om-as-a-tortoise will take what He can get, where He can get it.
Small Gods was not particularly high up on my Discworld (re)read list: more like a task to be ticked off, on the way to more interesting books. Something that I could see being useful to open other people's eyes about organized religion.
I, for one, have already done the
-"fervent little believer, who worries that the Almighty has seen her wish to do her (long put off) chores on Sundays"
or the
- "spiteful atheist who will strive to insert twice as many mean-spirited remarks as anyone else into all her interactions with the devout"
only to become an
- "occasional eye-roller and constant exasperated sigher".
...and I did it all in heels.
But then little by little, the characters started to grow on me, and I suddenly found myself so hooked that I devoured the whole book within a day!
While the Quisition department's tortures, the mindless religious bigotry, and power hungry coups d'état all left me in various states of disgust, when the narrative perspective would switch to Brutha, I was ready to swing my metaphorical pom-poms his way. Brutha's simple-minded yet thoughtful way of believing was so touching, especially because I was expecting him to do a 180 character change with each of his fervently held beliefs that came crashing down.
Having recently finished a children's book whose "love thy enemies" message left me utterly nonplussed, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself earnestly hoping that Brutha's kindness would eventually pay off, even though I would've been happy to have the main antagonist drop dead at any moment.
Score: 4.8/5 stars
I have to admit that I did end up skimming through some of the more philosophical passages, in favor of the more action-packed scenes, but all in all I can't say I was ever bored. As a matter of fact I even cried at the climactic moment, which is highly unusual for me.
P.S. Fans of Carpe Jugulum should definitely read this, in order to have a better understanding of the legends surrounding the prophet Brutha.
November 14, 2022
Funny and witty as expected, but also has great social parody. It's hard to laugh at religion and church, but Pratchett makes it so brilliantly, that it's impossible to be offended (if of course you're not one of those fanatics he mocks). Despite the happy end, the book leaves bittersweet aftertaste: even 30 years after first publication you can recognize a lot of its characters just watching the news.
July 28, 2024
Re-Read 7/28/24:
Each read keeps getting better. It just goes to show -- not being a dick CAN be a wonderful thing for everyone involved. :)
Original Review:
I'm upping my ranking from a four to a five just because this tickled me much better the second time around. :)
Re-read from about 15 years ago, and somehow more satisfying now than it was then. Why? Om... I don't know... :) Flying turtles kinda rock my world.
This is a total Moses coming out of the desert kind of tale, only the GREAT GOD OM is a tiny turtle with only one believer and the kid is kinda hopeless, but a god's gotta do what a god's gotta do. Get Believers. On DISCWORLD.
So yeah, it's kind of a mess, traveling from the city of believers who don't believe in anything, to the city of philosophers who believe in ignorance, to the deep desert where there are a bunch of destitute almost-ex-gods who've seen much, much better days.
The humor is the best part. Of course. I mean, it IS Pratchett.
So glad I got to re-read this one in particular. Religion has a really huge target painted on its back. And people. Especially people. :)
Each read keeps getting better. It just goes to show -- not being a dick CAN be a wonderful thing for everyone involved. :)
Original Review:
I'm upping my ranking from a four to a five just because this tickled me much better the second time around. :)
Re-read from about 15 years ago, and somehow more satisfying now than it was then. Why? Om... I don't know... :) Flying turtles kinda rock my world.
This is a total Moses coming out of the desert kind of tale, only the GREAT GOD OM is a tiny turtle with only one believer and the kid is kinda hopeless, but a god's gotta do what a god's gotta do. Get Believers. On DISCWORLD.
So yeah, it's kind of a mess, traveling from the city of believers who don't believe in anything, to the city of philosophers who believe in ignorance, to the deep desert where there are a bunch of destitute almost-ex-gods who've seen much, much better days.
The humor is the best part. Of course. I mean, it IS Pratchett.
So glad I got to re-read this one in particular. Religion has a really huge target painted on its back. And people. Especially people. :)
June 28, 2018
One of the Discworld novels that doesn't belong to any character sub-series, Small Gods is nevertheless one of the best ones I've read so far.
Terry Pratchett was a humanist. That is to say, he wasn't religious. He apparently distinguished between religion (as in: religious institutions such as The Church) and faith (as in: what people believe in their own hearts and minds) and was especially critical of the former. I'm much the same. Personally, I find religion silly, period. It has had its place in the evolution of mankind, surely, but not nowadays. And yet ... look around.
I keep hearing people talk about "all the good" this or that person or institution is doing for religious reasons and maybe some are, but they are not the norm and many do it for ulterior reasons anyway (e.g. wanting to get recognition for what they are doing or being afraid of some form of hell or whatever).
This and more are points Sir Terry is addressing in this book as well.
We meet Brutha, a novice in the temple of the Great God Om. The problem? Well, for starters, Brutha might be honest to a fault and have an impeccable memory but he also just wants peace - which he is unlikely to get to enjoy since he's been chosen as the new Prophet. And then there is the tiny problem of The Great God Om, who is speaking to Brutha, currently being trapped in the body of a cute little tortoise.
In a world full of gods and saints and whatnot, with almost everyone believing something else, they have to find a way to restore Om to His Former Glory and, possibly, make things a little better in Brutha's home country and some neighbouring ones as well.
Authoritarian systems, the Discworld version of the Inquisition, gods, saints, demons, lions, eagles, philosophers, priests and some mysterious monks safeguarding history. The reader gets a wide cast of characters that are all tragically funny and always spot-on when it comes to condemning (wilfull) ignorance and promoting free will.
Pratchett nails it with his snarky and bone-dry observations on religious upbringing (I should know because despite being an atheist/humanist, I was born into a Roman Catholic family). In his signature funny and light way, he shows how these oppressive systems work (often so that those trapped in them don't even realize it). Moreover, he makes valid points such as that either you do nice / good things because you want to and because it's the right thing to do or you shouldn't bother. However, despite all that, the book is never preachy (see what I did there? ;P) or boring. On the contrary, the mad romp through several hitherto unseen countries on the disc was delightful and fast-paced and I was constantly laughing about the clumsiness and bad luck of Om and Brutha.
Terry Pratchett was a humanist. That is to say, he wasn't religious. He apparently distinguished between religion (as in: religious institutions such as The Church) and faith (as in: what people believe in their own hearts and minds) and was especially critical of the former. I'm much the same. Personally, I find religion silly, period. It has had its place in the evolution of mankind, surely, but not nowadays. And yet ... look around.
I keep hearing people talk about "all the good" this or that person or institution is doing for religious reasons and maybe some are, but they are not the norm and many do it for ulterior reasons anyway (e.g. wanting to get recognition for what they are doing or being afraid of some form of hell or whatever).
This and more are points Sir Terry is addressing in this book as well.
We meet Brutha, a novice in the temple of the Great God Om. The problem? Well, for starters, Brutha might be honest to a fault and have an impeccable memory but he also just wants peace - which he is unlikely to get to enjoy since he's been chosen as the new Prophet. And then there is the tiny problem of The Great God Om, who is speaking to Brutha, currently being trapped in the body of a cute little tortoise.
In a world full of gods and saints and whatnot, with almost everyone believing something else, they have to find a way to restore Om to His Former Glory and, possibly, make things a little better in Brutha's home country and some neighbouring ones as well.
Authoritarian systems, the Discworld version of the Inquisition, gods, saints, demons, lions, eagles, philosophers, priests and some mysterious monks safeguarding history. The reader gets a wide cast of characters that are all tragically funny and always spot-on when it comes to condemning (wilfull) ignorance and promoting free will.
Pratchett nails it with his snarky and bone-dry observations on religious upbringing (I should know because despite being an atheist/humanist, I was born into a Roman Catholic family). In his signature funny and light way, he shows how these oppressive systems work (often so that those trapped in them don't even realize it). Moreover, he makes valid points such as that either you do nice / good things because you want to and because it's the right thing to do or you shouldn't bother. However, despite all that, the book is never preachy (see what I did there? ;P) or boring. On the contrary, the mad romp through several hitherto unseen countries on the disc was delightful and fast-paced and I was constantly laughing about the clumsiness and bad luck of Om and Brutha.
August 10, 2018
Winning in Heaven
Pratchett at his theological best: there are many gods, varying in size and power depending on the numbers who believe in them. The obvious theological/economic issue which then arises is 'How does a small god survive?' Stiff competition calls for creative solutions.
Pratchett at his theological best: there are many gods, varying in size and power depending on the numbers who believe in them. The obvious theological/economic issue which then arises is 'How does a small god survive?' Stiff competition calls for creative solutions.
March 13, 2015
The trouble with being a god is that you've got no one to pray to.
What good is being a god when you're stuck in the body of a lowly tortoise, and your only follower is an uneducated melon-hoer?
Yep, it sucks to be Om.
Now, imagine poor Brutha's disappointment. One day he's quietly minding his melons, the next he's on some wild adventure with a smart ass tortoise who insists he's a god, even though THIS god is NOTHING like the prophets said he would be! For one thing, he doesn't have horns; for another, this so-called god can't even remember MEETING the prophets.
The Prophet Hashimi!"
"Never met the man!"
"Oh? Oh? So I suppose you didn't give him the Book of Creation, then?"
"What Book of Creation?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"No!"
"Then who gave it to him?"
"I don't know! Perhaps he wrote it himself!"
Whoa! A blasphemous god! You don't meet one of those every day!
These little exchanges between Om and Brutha are priceless.
"Opened my eyes...my eye...and I was a tortoise."
"Why?"
"How should I know? I don't know!" lied the tortoise.
"But you...you're omnicognisant," said Brutha.
"That doesn't mean I know everything."
Brutha bit his lip. "Um. Yes. It does."
I've always had a fondness for characters who are forced to hold conversations with entities that no one else can see. Hilarity frequently ensues, as everyone else assumes you're talking to yourself, and therefore, just a bit batty. (Does anyone besides me remember My Partner the Ghost?)
This is not Pratchett's funniest book, but there's still a lot to love here. Just about everyone and every thing is mocked, and that's always good for us all.
I'll let Brutha have the final word.
"You know, I used to think I was stupid, and then I met philosophers."
Amen, Brother Brutha.
What good is being a god when you're stuck in the body of a lowly tortoise, and your only follower is an uneducated melon-hoer?
Yep, it sucks to be Om.
Now, imagine poor Brutha's disappointment. One day he's quietly minding his melons, the next he's on some wild adventure with a smart ass tortoise who insists he's a god, even though THIS god is NOTHING like the prophets said he would be! For one thing, he doesn't have horns; for another, this so-called god can't even remember MEETING the prophets.
The Prophet Hashimi!"
"Never met the man!"
"Oh? Oh? So I suppose you didn't give him the Book of Creation, then?"
"What Book of Creation?"
"You mean you don't know?"
"No!"
"Then who gave it to him?"
"I don't know! Perhaps he wrote it himself!"
Whoa! A blasphemous god! You don't meet one of those every day!
These little exchanges between Om and Brutha are priceless.
"Opened my eyes...my eye...and I was a tortoise."
"Why?"
"How should I know? I don't know!" lied the tortoise.
"But you...you're omnicognisant," said Brutha.
"That doesn't mean I know everything."
Brutha bit his lip. "Um. Yes. It does."
I've always had a fondness for characters who are forced to hold conversations with entities that no one else can see. Hilarity frequently ensues, as everyone else assumes you're talking to yourself, and therefore, just a bit batty. (Does anyone besides me remember My Partner the Ghost?)
This is not Pratchett's funniest book, but there's still a lot to love here. Just about everyone and every thing is mocked, and that's always good for us all.
I'll let Brutha have the final word.
"You know, I used to think I was stupid, and then I met philosophers."
Amen, Brother Brutha.
June 19, 2017
My second read and I like it even more.
This extremely cleaver religious satire is one of the top Pratchett's work as organized religion becomes target of his wit and cynicism.
This extremely cleaver religious satire is one of the top Pratchett's work as organized religion becomes target of his wit and cynicism.
December 12, 2024
Reading Little Gods made me think about my religion and what I really believe.
November 25, 2014
4.5
He always pokes fun at one thing or another. I think by the end of the series there won't be anything left in this world to be laughed at. The main target of Small Gods is organized religion and it is hilarious. There is an occasional poke at philosophers (and atheists) too.
Omnia is a one-god country, it has Quisition to sort out the infidels and its army to sort out the rest of the world. As you may imagine, they can be very persuasive because 'guilt was the grease in which the wheels of the authority turned.' Vorbis is an exquisitor and one of the worst characters I've read. You see, he doesn't even have the twisted justification for torture such as pleasure. He would do certain things to another human being or an animal just to see how it behaves.
Enter Great God Om whose greatest problem right now is that there is only one true believer left in Omnia. Brutha is a common young man with an uncommon memory and he gets a surprise when a tortoise appears in his garden. When it addresses him in his mind, Brutha thinks it's a demon. Soon, he realizes it is the Great God Om who isn't so great as Omnians thought. Gods need believers and he has only one.
Their encounter and the fact that Vorbis recognizes Brutha's memory as something he could use is the base plot of this book. There are so many memorable one-liners and paragraphs that it would be too much to put them in one review. Besides, it would be a shame not to read it.
One of the best things about this book is that it doesn't mock beliefs, but the way organized religion uses them for its own purposes.
I loved Om's musings and his interactions with Brutha. In the end even Om learned a simple truth: 'if you want thousands, you have to fight for one.' Vorbis, on the other hand, forgot one.
'If a man lived properly, not according to what any priests said, but according to what seemed decent and honest inside, then it would, at the end, more or less, turn out all right.'Small Gods is the darkest book in this series so far. It is also ridiculously witty and funny if that makes any sense. It should for Terry Pratchett's fans.
He always pokes fun at one thing or another. I think by the end of the series there won't be anything left in this world to be laughed at. The main target of Small Gods is organized religion and it is hilarious. There is an occasional poke at philosophers (and atheists) too.
'“What’s a philosopher?” said Brutha. “Someone who’s bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting,” said a voice in his head.'Still, you can't have a story about organized religion and Quisition with its torturing inquisitors and the exquisitors that supervise them, without darkness and, let me tell you, this book has got a truly terrible villain. If there weren't Om and his curses and threats, philosophers and some other characters, it wouldn't be as funny as it turned out to be. Even the ending is bittersweet because of him.
Omnia is a one-god country, it has Quisition to sort out the infidels and its army to sort out the rest of the world. As you may imagine, they can be very persuasive because 'guilt was the grease in which the wheels of the authority turned.' Vorbis is an exquisitor and one of the worst characters I've read. You see, he doesn't even have the twisted justification for torture such as pleasure. He would do certain things to another human being or an animal just to see how it behaves.
'Vorbis could humble himself in prayer in a way that made the posturings of power-mad emperors look subservient.'And this man has just decided that Ephebe should get Omnia's religion - whether they want it or not.
Enter Great God Om whose greatest problem right now is that there is only one true believer left in Omnia. Brutha is a common young man with an uncommon memory and he gets a surprise when a tortoise appears in his garden. When it addresses him in his mind, Brutha thinks it's a demon. Soon, he realizes it is the Great God Om who isn't so great as Omnians thought. Gods need believers and he has only one.
Their encounter and the fact that Vorbis recognizes Brutha's memory as something he could use is the base plot of this book. There are so many memorable one-liners and paragraphs that it would be too much to put them in one review. Besides, it would be a shame not to read it.
One of the best things about this book is that it doesn't mock beliefs, but the way organized religion uses them for its own purposes.
I loved Om's musings and his interactions with Brutha. In the end even Om learned a simple truth: 'if you want thousands, you have to fight for one.' Vorbis, on the other hand, forgot one.
'Fear is strange soil. Mainly it grows obedience like corn, which grows in rows and makes weeding easy. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.'
September 12, 2018
"It's not my fault if people misuse the--"
"It is. It has to be! If you muck up people's minds just because you want them to believe in you, what they do is all your fault."
Fun, fun, fun.
I loved the premise of what happens to small gods; gods that either lose their followers or only had a few to begin with? Om is such a god with only one believer left. Ignominy and the dire consequences of losing one's last devotee leads to much elbow shoving and jockeying.
But no tortoise had ever been a god, and knew the unwritten motto of the Quisition: Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.
This tickled me silly. Absolutely irreverent and utterly amusing.
VI. This is Religion, Boy. Not Comparison Bloody Shopping! You Shall Not Subject Your God to Market Forces!
My thanks to BlackOxford's enticing review and question answering. My first Pratchett, and definitely not my last.
"It is. It has to be! If you muck up people's minds just because you want them to believe in you, what they do is all your fault."
Fun, fun, fun.
I loved the premise of what happens to small gods; gods that either lose their followers or only had a few to begin with? Om is such a god with only one believer left. Ignominy and the dire consequences of losing one's last devotee leads to much elbow shoving and jockeying.
But no tortoise had ever been a god, and knew the unwritten motto of the Quisition: Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.
This tickled me silly. Absolutely irreverent and utterly amusing.
VI. This is Religion, Boy. Not Comparison Bloody Shopping! You Shall Not Subject Your God to Market Forces!
My thanks to BlackOxford's enticing review and question answering. My first Pratchett, and definitely not my last.
December 17, 2019
This one really pulled together. I was enjoying but not loving it, and then the end was just...perfect.
A story of religion, politics, the nature of man, and why that nature means that we will always have religions and politics, even if they're unnecessary and even harmful. Told with wit, intelligence, and yes, grace, this encourages people to find reasons for living that are predicated on innate goodness, but understanding if you need a bit of a reminder from whatever your preferred belief system is.
A true delight. Also, as I finished the book, I felt my cold go away. Sure, also it's been 4 days since I got the cold, and that's its lifecycle, but as Pratchett says, even if you understand why a miracle happens, it can still be a miracle. So hallelujah for the curative properties of wonderful books.
A story of religion, politics, the nature of man, and why that nature means that we will always have religions and politics, even if they're unnecessary and even harmful. Told with wit, intelligence, and yes, grace, this encourages people to find reasons for living that are predicated on innate goodness, but understanding if you need a bit of a reminder from whatever your preferred belief system is.
A true delight. Also, as I finished the book, I felt my cold go away. Sure, also it's been 4 days since I got the cold, and that's its lifecycle, but as Pratchett says, even if you understand why a miracle happens, it can still be a miracle. So hallelujah for the curative properties of wonderful books.
September 22, 2024
The 13th in my re-read of the entire Discworld series is tackling the big questions for sure!
One reason why I decided to re-read the series is that I can never just indulge in one of the volumes. The other is that the audiobooks were newly produced and the casts looked amazing.
Reading this 13th book (in chronological order) are:
Blessed be the fools, for their lives seem to be much easier - well, except for Brutha��s, probably. Because when the novice is in his temple's garden, a tortoise is dropped from the sky by an eagle ... the only problem is that this tortoise is actually Brutha’s god Om.
Three years ago, a transformation has gone terribly wrong so instead of being a stately and menacing bull for a day or so, Om turned into a cute little tortoise and had to stay that way for 3 years (and counting).
Brutha soon learns that being your god's prophet isn't all it is said to be. Not least because nobody else can hear the god and the god himself isn't how the "holy texts" claimed either.
Thus we experience one hell of a journey of discovery through all the silly misconceptions, outright lies, and dangerous manifestations of Religion.
I LOVED how Om was pretty abhorred by what his worshippers are actually doing in his name. OK, I loved even more when he cursed and threatened because it was just adorable. *chuckles* However, I liked the little god and his treatment of Brutha.
Brutha, on the other hand, had one steep learning curve. If only he had been more of a willing and capable student. Though there is something to be said for his tranquility and peaceful nature. *lol*
Religion is a very touchy subject regardless of what kind we're talking about. I, myself, am an Atheist although I have been born into a Roman Catholic family and what Terry Pratchett observed and criticized through his characters in this book fit my observations and complaints to a T.
Narrated by none other than Andy Serkis, this new audio version was once again a delight. At first, I wasn’t even sure it was „just“ Andy Serkis because depending on who he was voicing, I swear I heard prominent actors such as Jeremy Irons - he’s THAT talented.
One reason why I decided to re-read the series is that I can never just indulge in one of the volumes. The other is that the audiobooks were newly produced and the casts looked amazing.
Reading this 13th book (in chronological order) are:
Blessed be the fools, for their lives seem to be much easier - well, except for Brutha��s, probably. Because when the novice is in his temple's garden, a tortoise is dropped from the sky by an eagle ... the only problem is that this tortoise is actually Brutha’s god Om.
Three years ago, a transformation has gone terribly wrong so instead of being a stately and menacing bull for a day or so, Om turned into a cute little tortoise and had to stay that way for 3 years (and counting).
Brutha soon learns that being your god's prophet isn't all it is said to be. Not least because nobody else can hear the god and the god himself isn't how the "holy texts" claimed either.
Thus we experience one hell of a journey of discovery through all the silly misconceptions, outright lies, and dangerous manifestations of Religion.
I LOVED how Om was pretty abhorred by what his worshippers are actually doing in his name. OK, I loved even more when he cursed and threatened because it was just adorable. *chuckles* However, I liked the little god and his treatment of Brutha.
Brutha, on the other hand, had one steep learning curve. If only he had been more of a willing and capable student. Though there is something to be said for his tranquility and peaceful nature. *lol*
Religion is a very touchy subject regardless of what kind we're talking about. I, myself, am an Atheist although I have been born into a Roman Catholic family and what Terry Pratchett observed and criticized through his characters in this book fit my observations and complaints to a T.
Narrated by none other than Andy Serkis, this new audio version was once again a delight. At first, I wasn’t even sure it was „just“ Andy Serkis because depending on who he was voicing, I swear I heard prominent actors such as Jeremy Irons - he’s THAT talented.
October 2, 2024
„Малки богове“ е брилянтна сатира на организираните религии... Мрачната същност на всяка църква и превръщането на вярата във фанатизъм са много сериозни теми за размисъл, обаче Тери Пратчет е успял да ги постави на вниманието на четящите хора по своя изключително увлекателен и забавен начин! Чувството за хумор винаги е било и ще бъде страшно необходимо на човечеството, за да може да осъзнава своите недостатъци и да се стреми към по-добър живот... Книгата е самостоятелно четиво, така че ако не сте чели Пратчет, тя би била чудесен избор за първа среща творчеството на големия писател!
„Боговете не обичат хората да не вършат нищо. Ако не са заети непрекъснато, хората биха могли и да се замислят. Част от мозъка съществува, за да не позволи това. И постига резултати. Кара хората да скучаят насред чудеса.“
„Боговете не обичат хората да не вършат нищо. Ако не са заети непрекъснато, хората биха могли и да се замислят. Част от мозъка съществува, за да не позволи това. И постига резултати. Кара хората да скучаят насред чудеса.“
December 27, 2016
'Intellectually amused emotionally detached' best describes my relationship with T.Pratchett.
This book made me realise that despite my love for humour, humour by itself is not enough – I need an engaging story and characters I could care for as well. Unfortunately this story didn’t hook me in and I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. Whenever I left the book I had no urge to come back to it.
Humour on the other hand is brilliant! Clever witty cynical ironic – you name it. What it does to religion is both hilarious and very brave. And that’s coming from non-religious person from non-religious family with non-religious friends. Some brilliant ideas out there.
Since I had similar experience with the Good Omens - regretfully I have to admit that Pratchett’s writing is not for me.
I think I would enjoy him more in a short story format or perhaps reading in fragments along some other more gripping book.
December 2, 2016
There are some single/non-series in Discworld novels, that not included in Watch, Rincewind, or other sub-series in Discworld. In my opinion Small Gods is the BEST single Discworld novel. With single novel, the character growth aspect is more significant than the series.
The main premise of this novel is the relationships between gods, believers, and organized religion. Oh yeah, with that kind of premise, you can find some philosophical witty and wise words here and there on novel.
My favourite aspect of this novel that made me rated this book as 5 star: conflicts between main protagonist and antagonist. Without much spoiler, in my opinion the conflict is unique, and as far as I know the author did not use similar plots in author's other stories.
The main premise of this novel is the relationships between gods, believers, and organized religion. Oh yeah, with that kind of premise, you can find some philosophical witty and wise words here and there on novel.
My favourite aspect of this novel that made me rated this book as 5 star: conflicts between main protagonist and antagonist. Without much spoiler, in my opinion the conflict is unique, and as far as I know the author did not use similar plots in author's other stories.
May 7, 2019
“Words are the litmus paper of the mind. If you find yourself in the power of someone who will use the word “commence” in cold blood, go somewhere else very quickly. But if they say “Enter,” don’t stop to pack.”
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books are always pleasant to return to every now and then. I am not a hardcore fan that would have already devoured all 40+ books by now, I am more of a casual fan that likes to dip into the series now and then; to soak up Sir Terry’s witticisms. Small Gods is one of the most popular Discworld books (I googled) generally included in fans’ top 5 and often placed at the top.
Another wonderful Discworld cover art by Josh Kirby (click image to enlarge)
Small Gods is basically only about one such god, called Om, and his single believer Brutha. Interestingly Om has plenty of worshippers and his own Omnian religion, the trouble is all but one of these worshipers really believe in him. As a god’s power is based on the number of believers, when Om manifests in the mortal realm he finds himself in the form of a tortoise with no godly powers and discovers that he only has one believer. Somehow Om must find more believers or be stuck in a tortoise body forever.
Small Gods is a delightful read, it is charming, funny and even somewhat profound. Pratchett sends up religions, and certain types of religious people, the zealots, the supposedly pious, the alleged true believers, etc. However, he does so in his usual witty, good-natured way; no reasonable person should be offended by this book. This book is more than just satire, Pratchett is inviting us to look at human nature, the self-interest and the oppression of others under the guise of organized religion; all in the name of a god they don’t believe in. This sounds terribly serious but Pratchett uses humour to convey his underlying themes. There is something comical going on in every page, the characters are magnificently drawn and develop, and the dialogue sparkles.
While the Discworld books are always funny, I think that an uninitiated reader should not expect them to be laugh-a-thon, side-splitting joke fests. This is not how these books work. Pratchett’s tends to rely more on witticism, clever satires and spoofing human nature. I have never met anyone who read Discworld books and do not like them, but then I have not met everybody in the world so I suppose such persons exist. Read Small Gods and avoid being one of them.
Note:
The Discworld series is mostly made up of sub-series, each one follows the adventures of a regular protagonist and their supporting characters. However, Small Gods is one of the rare “standalones” in the series, the main characters do not appear in another novel (as far as I know).
Quotes:
“Words are the litmus paper of the mind. If you find yourself in the power of someone who will use the word “commence” in cold blood, go somewhere else very quickly. But if they say “Enter,” don’t stop to pack”
“You couldn’t put off the inevitable. Because sooner or later, you reached the place when the inevitable just went and waited.”
“We get that in here some nights, when someone’s had a few. Cosmic speculation about whether gods really exist. Next thing, there’s a bolt of lightning through the roof with a note wrapped around it saying ‘Yes, we do’ and a pair of sandals with smoke coming out. That sort of thing, it takes all the interest out of metaphysical speculation.”
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books are always pleasant to return to every now and then. I am not a hardcore fan that would have already devoured all 40+ books by now, I am more of a casual fan that likes to dip into the series now and then; to soak up Sir Terry’s witticisms. Small Gods is one of the most popular Discworld books (I googled) generally included in fans’ top 5 and often placed at the top.
Another wonderful Discworld cover art by Josh Kirby (click image to enlarge)
Small Gods is basically only about one such god, called Om, and his single believer Brutha. Interestingly Om has plenty of worshippers and his own Omnian religion, the trouble is all but one of these worshipers really believe in him. As a god’s power is based on the number of believers, when Om manifests in the mortal realm he finds himself in the form of a tortoise with no godly powers and discovers that he only has one believer. Somehow Om must find more believers or be stuck in a tortoise body forever.
Small Gods is a delightful read, it is charming, funny and even somewhat profound. Pratchett sends up religions, and certain types of religious people, the zealots, the supposedly pious, the alleged true believers, etc. However, he does so in his usual witty, good-natured way; no reasonable person should be offended by this book. This book is more than just satire, Pratchett is inviting us to look at human nature, the self-interest and the oppression of others under the guise of organized religion; all in the name of a god they don’t believe in. This sounds terribly serious but Pratchett uses humour to convey his underlying themes. There is something comical going on in every page, the characters are magnificently drawn and develop, and the dialogue sparkles.
While the Discworld books are always funny, I think that an uninitiated reader should not expect them to be laugh-a-thon, side-splitting joke fests. This is not how these books work. Pratchett’s tends to rely more on witticism, clever satires and spoofing human nature. I have never met anyone who read Discworld books and do not like them, but then I have not met everybody in the world so I suppose such persons exist. Read Small Gods and avoid being one of them.
Note:
The Discworld series is mostly made up of sub-series, each one follows the adventures of a regular protagonist and their supporting characters. However, Small Gods is one of the rare “standalones” in the series, the main characters do not appear in another novel (as far as I know).
Quotes:
“Words are the litmus paper of the mind. If you find yourself in the power of someone who will use the word “commence” in cold blood, go somewhere else very quickly. But if they say “Enter,” don’t stop to pack”
“You couldn’t put off the inevitable. Because sooner or later, you reached the place when the inevitable just went and waited.”
“We get that in here some nights, when someone’s had a few. Cosmic speculation about whether gods really exist. Next thing, there’s a bolt of lightning through the roof with a note wrapped around it saying ‘Yes, we do’ and a pair of sandals with smoke coming out. That sort of thing, it takes all the interest out of metaphysical speculation.”
March 5, 2024
знову пан Пратчетт помагає не поїхать дахом☁️
August 31, 2024
A bit more serious than most Pratchett books I have read. Satirical, philosophical and a satisfying story
May 18, 2024
Decent story.
January 30, 2021
Where does it begin? A simple question with complex answers, and they are all correct. Everything starts somewhere.
For the monk, Lu Tze, History began before his time and his task was to preserve it, more or less. For the God, Om, power began with a shepherd but real power had to be rebuilt from ground up… very closely from the ground. And for Brutha, the illiterate novice with the unquestioning belief? Questions began the day a tortoise appeared in the melon patch he was hoeing, but answers only found him when he began to search his heart. As for all the other believers, whether true faith ever began is a more philosophical question. The answer is simplest, for this newcomer to Discworld, for my story began with Small Gods.
Pick a time in Discworld and go back one hundred years to Omnia. Here, the religion of Om is king and The Word is the Law. The law is dictated by rituals, hierarchy, Books of Prophets and above all by Vorbis, the Exquisitor, whose word is religiously feared. After all, sheep follow where the shepherd goes, especially when prodded with a red hot iron staff and manacled at the ankles to one another. For one among them, Brutha, dumb as the ox, his blind faith would have meant a lifetime of subservience and placid calm behind walled gardens. But no, a tortoise had to drop from the sky and loudly declared himself Om as heard in the tiny voice of God in Brutha’s mind.
When God speaks to you, and you only, it can be only one of two reasons. Either you are mad, or everyone else is deaf. Metaphorically, of course. There is also, to Brutha and Om’s collective dismay, a far more remote, and much more heretical third reason - that God only has one true believer left to hear. From here on out, and not quite of their own volition, Brutha and Om embark on a journey of self-discovery across stormy seas to a foreign land, and return through the scorching desert. Novice and tortoise each bore a heavy burden on their backs, but with each step and from each other, man and God find enlightenment.
Small Gods is a brilliant satire on organized religion with its mighty tentacles a stranglehold on humanity and freedom. Doctrines, be it science or religion, even philosophy are poked fun at, not with the intent to ridicule, I don’t think, but to gently challenge ingrained convictions. Personally, I take no offense at what might be considered as polemic but I can understand if it ruffled some feathers. Especially if you are an eagle bitten on the leg by your food. It is shocking at first, and painful too, but everything can be rationalized.
Fear not, Small Gods is not all hellfire and brimstone (there was lightning aplenty, but no sulphur and DEATH did make cameos). It is Terry Pratchett, after all! Now, I cannot profess to knowing exactly what that means, since this is my first Pratchett, but I have it on good authority that he writes with a humorous turn of phrase, that is at once witty and cynical and warm. There is profound philosophical underpinning too, right beneath the comedic surface. The prose is accessible and even resembling beautiful at times, but it never takes itself too seriously unless it is seriously funny. Nothing I have read in Small Gods speaks to the contrary, so suffice to say, I am now a believer.
Where does a newly convert go from here? Why, to the future, of course! (This might be an opportune moment for The Librarian to appear again). Roughly one hundred years from now in Small Gods DiscWorld #13 to where it all really began with The Color of Magic, DiscWorld #1. See you there.
For the monk, Lu Tze, History began before his time and his task was to preserve it, more or less. For the God, Om, power began with a shepherd but real power had to be rebuilt from ground up… very closely from the ground. And for Brutha, the illiterate novice with the unquestioning belief? Questions began the day a tortoise appeared in the melon patch he was hoeing, but answers only found him when he began to search his heart. As for all the other believers, whether true faith ever began is a more philosophical question. The answer is simplest, for this newcomer to Discworld, for my story began with Small Gods.
Pick a time in Discworld and go back one hundred years to Omnia. Here, the religion of Om is king and The Word is the Law. The law is dictated by rituals, hierarchy, Books of Prophets and above all by Vorbis, the Exquisitor, whose word is religiously feared. After all, sheep follow where the shepherd goes, especially when prodded with a red hot iron staff and manacled at the ankles to one another. For one among them, Brutha, dumb as the ox, his blind faith would have meant a lifetime of subservience and placid calm behind walled gardens. But no, a tortoise had to drop from the sky and loudly declared himself Om as heard in the tiny voice of God in Brutha’s mind.
When God speaks to you, and you only, it can be only one of two reasons. Either you are mad, or everyone else is deaf. Metaphorically, of course. There is also, to Brutha and Om’s collective dismay, a far more remote, and much more heretical third reason - that God only has one true believer left to hear. From here on out, and not quite of their own volition, Brutha and Om embark on a journey of self-discovery across stormy seas to a foreign land, and return through the scorching desert. Novice and tortoise each bore a heavy burden on their backs, but with each step and from each other, man and God find enlightenment.
Small Gods is a brilliant satire on organized religion with its mighty tentacles a stranglehold on humanity and freedom. Doctrines, be it science or religion, even philosophy are poked fun at, not with the intent to ridicule, I don’t think, but to gently challenge ingrained convictions. Personally, I take no offense at what might be considered as polemic but I can understand if it ruffled some feathers. Especially if you are an eagle bitten on the leg by your food. It is shocking at first, and painful too, but everything can be rationalized.
Fear not, Small Gods is not all hellfire and brimstone (there was lightning aplenty, but no sulphur and DEATH did make cameos). It is Terry Pratchett, after all! Now, I cannot profess to knowing exactly what that means, since this is my first Pratchett, but I have it on good authority that he writes with a humorous turn of phrase, that is at once witty and cynical and warm. There is profound philosophical underpinning too, right beneath the comedic surface. The prose is accessible and even resembling beautiful at times, but it never takes itself too seriously unless it is seriously funny. Nothing I have read in Small Gods speaks to the contrary, so suffice to say, I am now a believer.
Where does a newly convert go from here? Why, to the future, of course! (This might be an opportune moment for The Librarian to appear again). Roughly one hundred years from now in Small Gods DiscWorld #13 to where it all really began with The Color of Magic, DiscWorld #1. See you there.
December 16, 2023
This just might be Pratchett´s best novel ever. IMO.
(I am also very biased towards Men at Arms)
2023 reread, this time in audiobook AND paper:
One of the sad, if selfish, things of Terry Pratchett dying much too young is often thinking, "I wonder what he would write about this", or that. Rereading this book, first published in 1992 (which I first read in 1996), well, people do not change that much, it is like he was seeing 2023 loud and clear enough.
This was my gateway Pratchett. I had tried him before though library books, Pyramids and The Light Fantastic, and returned them just partially read, not clicking with the nonsense (I later tried again). But friends were enthusiastic, and then I found a second hand copy in a flea market of this when I was in a place with a scarcity of cheap books in a language I could read, and that was how I become a Pratchett fan. This is probably Pratchett at peak Pratchett, and like mentioned above it is timeless (even if maybe Karate Kid jokes have a little less context now...). I read somewhere he got fan letters BOTH from enthusiastic atheists and from devout christians thanking him for the book and how much it meant to them, and I believe it.
Fantastic of course.
This time I got the audiobook, the new one narrated by Andy Serkis (apart from the footnotes and Death's lines) - I had been meaning to try a Pratchett audiobook, these new ones, I bounced off samples of almost all other ones (one narrator was reading book 1 as if she had not read all the books several times and was totally getting personality wrong!) but this seemed OK and I was not invested in how Brutha and Om should sound. It turned out Serkis comes out with seemingly unlikely accents which were a real joy and made keeping track of who was who so much easier. He did a great job here, the dialogue is so priceless. The petulance, cannyness and vulnerability of the great (temporarily embarrassed) god Om, and Brutha being so profoundly decent, and the philosophers... But it is a theory of mine, no matter how brilliant a narrator, some narratives are more difficult to keep track in audiobooks than in print, and this was surprisingly hard to follow the plot on, even if I had read it before (many short scenes, cinematic like, meaningless on themselves but setting up plot for later...). So I was listening to the audiobook during the day and rereading the book in the evening . So worth it, but admittedly not efficient, if one cares about that (but who does anyway?)
(I am also very biased towards Men at Arms)
2023 reread, this time in audiobook AND paper:
One of the sad, if selfish, things of Terry Pratchett dying much too young is often thinking, "I wonder what he would write about this", or that. Rereading this book, first published in 1992 (which I first read in 1996), well, people do not change that much, it is like he was seeing 2023 loud and clear enough.
This was my gateway Pratchett. I had tried him before though library books, Pyramids and The Light Fantastic, and returned them just partially read, not clicking with the nonsense (I later tried again). But friends were enthusiastic, and then I found a second hand copy in a flea market of this when I was in a place with a scarcity of cheap books in a language I could read, and that was how I become a Pratchett fan. This is probably Pratchett at peak Pratchett, and like mentioned above it is timeless (even if maybe Karate Kid jokes have a little less context now...). I read somewhere he got fan letters BOTH from enthusiastic atheists and from devout christians thanking him for the book and how much it meant to them, and I believe it.
Fantastic of course.
This time I got the audiobook, the new one narrated by Andy Serkis (apart from the footnotes and Death's lines) - I had been meaning to try a Pratchett audiobook, these new ones, I bounced off samples of almost all other ones (one narrator was reading book 1 as if she had not read all the books several times and was totally getting personality wrong!) but this seemed OK and I was not invested in how Brutha and Om should sound. It turned out Serkis comes out with seemingly unlikely accents which were a real joy and made keeping track of who was who so much easier. He did a great job here, the dialogue is so priceless. The petulance, cannyness and vulnerability of the great (temporarily embarrassed) god Om, and Brutha being so profoundly decent, and the philosophers... But it is a theory of mine, no matter how brilliant a narrator, some narratives are more difficult to keep track in audiobooks than in print, and this was surprisingly hard to follow the plot on, even if I had read it before (many short scenes, cinematic like, meaningless on themselves but setting up plot for later...). So I was listening to the audiobook during the day and rereading the book in the evening . So worth it, but admittedly not efficient, if one cares about that (but who does anyway?)
March 31, 2024
Черепаха рухається 🐢
Третій позацикловий роман в Дискосвіті, який ідеально підійде для знайомства із стилем автора 🧙🏻♂️
В центрі сюжету боженятко на імʼя Великий Ом, який через брак віри з могутнього Бога перетворюється на маленьке Боженятко та приходить до тями у тілі звичайнісінької черепахи. У всьому Дискосвіті залишається тільки одна єдина людина, яка все ще вірить Омові - і це трішки недолугий послушник Брута, який доглядає грядки з динями і квасолею 🍈 Саме там, на грядках, у Ома та Брути завʼяжеться розмова, після чого починаються пригоди.
До речі, я вже стикалася з Богами Дискосвіту, коли читала підцикл про Ринсвінда. Памʼятаю те, що в тій історії Боги полюбляли грати людьми, наче в шахи ♟️
Якщо говорити про підтексти, то в цій книзі обережно, але саркастично, піднімається тема релігії. А також присутні посилання на інквізицію, давню Грецію, філософів тощо
Прикольні моменти:
• епізодично ми зустрічаємо вже відомих нам персонажів: Смерть та бібліотекаря з Невидної академії
• при якісній світобудові моментами виринають раптові посилання на реальній світ (філософ з Ефебії/Давньої Греції запитує про 5% роялті за розповсюдження його текстів)
• філософи в Ефебії - це щось 😍 вони там постійно приймають ванни, щоб до них приходили геніальні ідеї, постійно шукають рушники, а потім дуже багато дискутують/сваряться між собою
• каламбури | казати, що світ у формі кулі - це єресь 🌍 бо в Дисксвіті світ має форму диску, який розташований на слонах, які стоять на великій черепасі на імʼя Атуїн
Ця книга трошечки відрізняється від попередніх, бо тут влучних цитат та роздумів трошки більше, ніж жартів та сатири:
«Усе здавалося можливим учора
ввечері. Але в цьому й була біда з учорашніми вечорами. Після них завжди наставали сьогоднішні ранки»
Хочу знову зробити комплімент ВСЛ, за неймовірні обкладинки для книг Пратчетта 😍 Все продумало до деталей 🤌🏻
Моя щира порада. Якщо ви почнете знайомство з Дискосвітом з позациклової книги і стиль вам сподобається, то далі раджу спробувати почитати книги з найпершої (Колір магії) в хронологічному порядку.
*і памʼятайте, Черепаха рухається 🐢
Третій позацикловий роман в Дискосвіті, який ідеально підійде для знайомства із стилем автора 🧙🏻♂️
В центрі сюжету боженятко на імʼя Великий Ом, який через брак віри з могутнього Бога перетворюється на маленьке Боженятко та приходить до тями у тілі звичайнісінької черепахи. У всьому Дискосвіті залишається тільки одна єдина людина, яка все ще вірить Омові - і це трішки недолугий послушник Брута, який доглядає грядки з динями і квасолею 🍈 Саме там, на грядках, у Ома та Брути завʼяжеться розмова, після чого починаються пригоди.
До речі, я вже стикалася з Богами Дискосвіту, коли читала підцикл про Ринсвінда. Памʼятаю те, що в тій історії Боги полюбляли грати людьми, наче в шахи ♟️
Якщо говорити про підтексти, то в цій книзі обережно, але саркастично, піднімається тема релігії. А також присутні посилання на інквізицію, давню Грецію, філософів тощо
Прикольні моменти:
• епізодично ми зустрічаємо вже відомих нам персонажів: Смерть та бібліотекаря з Невидної академії
• при якісній світобудові моментами виринають раптові посилання на реальній світ (філософ з Ефебії/Давньої Греції запитує про 5% роялті за розповсюдження його текстів)
• філософи в Ефебії - це щось 😍 вони там постійно приймають ванни, щоб до них приходили геніальні ідеї, постійно шукають рушники, а потім дуже багато дискутують/сваряться між собою
• каламбури | казати, що світ у формі кулі - це єресь 🌍 бо в Дисксвіті світ має форму диску, який розташований на слонах, які стоять на великій черепасі на імʼя Атуїн
Ця книга трошечки відрізняється від попередніх, бо тут влучних цитат та роздумів трошки більше, ніж жартів та сатири:
«Усе здавалося можливим учора
ввечері. Але в цьому й була біда з учорашніми вечорами. Після них завжди наставали сьогоднішні ранки»
Хочу знову зробити комплімент ВСЛ, за неймовірні обкладинки для книг Пратчетта 😍 Все продумало до деталей 🤌🏻
Моя щира порада. Якщо ви почнете знайомство з Дискосвітом з позациклової книги і стиль вам сподобається, то далі раджу спробувати почитати книги з найпершої (Колір магії) в хронологічному порядку.
*і памʼятайте, Черепаха рухається 🐢
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