{"id":3065,"date":"2014-12-19T05:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=3065"},"modified":"2014-12-14T10:43:21","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T18:43:21","slug":"mark-reads-pyramids-part-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2014\/12\/mark-reads-pyramids-part-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;Pyramids&#8217;: Part 10"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the tenth part of\u00c2\u00a0<i>Pyramids<\/i>, chaos reigns. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0<i>Discworld<\/i>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0<i>quite<\/i> understand this, but I comprehend it enough to now that EVERYTHING IS TRULY MESSED UP AND I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M BARELY HALFWAY THROUGH THIS NOVEL. How?\u00c2\u00a0<i>How???<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Panic<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise, given what I finally learned about the true nature of pyramids, that this monstrosity is affecting time and space as it is. But the violence we see here is just so much more overwhelming than I anticipated. That grinding sound\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 lord, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so unsettling to me. Knowing what I know from the end of this section, it sounds like Djelibeybi itself was being ripped from its foundations, right? What else could have caused that grinding and creaking?<\/p>\n<p>So while the Ptaclusp twins futilely try to cap the Great Pyramid, Teppic is off panicking in his own way. His escape on a camel (the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest mathematician, mind you) is thwarted by the appearance of royal guards and Dios, and IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SUCH A FRUSTRATING SCENE. As Dios sentences Teppic to death-by-crocodile by order of the king, Teppic points out that he\u00c2\u00a0<i>is<\/i> the king, and THIS IS TOO MUCH:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is not funny,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Teppic. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I order you to tell them who I am.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As you wish. This\u00c2\u00a0<i>assassin<\/i>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dios, and the voice had the cut and sear of a thermic lance, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153has killed the king.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00c2\u00a0<i>am<\/i> the king, damn it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Teppic. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How could I kill myself?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are not stupid,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Dios. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These men know the king does not skulk the palace at night, or consort with condemned criminals. All that remains for us to find out is how you disposed of the body.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I honestly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think this is denial on Dios\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part at all. I think he is willingly using this culture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absurd reliance on tradition against Teppic. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter that this man is clearly Teppic; what matters is appearance and the roles they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re cast to play. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how Dios is able to command these guards to go after Teppic in this way; they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even question this.\u00c2\u00a0<i>Order is supreme<\/i>. Which is terrifying! Yes, what happens here is an extreme example of that, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sort of the point. This whole system is so rigid that no one questions it and\u00c2\u00a0<i>no one even has the skills to begin to question it<\/i>. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important part of this, one we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen in these recent sections. It would be a lot easier to begin to dismantle Dios\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s system of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tradition\u00e2\u20ac\u009d if people were even remotely equipped to criticize it in\u00c2\u00a0<i>private<\/i>. But look how relieved Teppic was in the last part when Ptraci said that she though Dios was not a good person. HAS ANYONE\u00c2\u00a0<i>EVER<\/i> SAID THIS OUT LOUD? Probably not. Dios knows this; he is not blissfully oppressing people. HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING.<\/p>\n<p><b>What The Fuck<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know how to properly describe or analyze what happens here, so let me allow Pratchett to do it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The stables stretched and shrank like a picture in a distorting mirror. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d gone to see some once in Ankh, the three of them hazarding a half-coin each to visit the transient marvels of Dr. Mooner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Traveling Take Your Breath Away Emporium. But you knew then that it was only twisted glass that was giving you a head like a sausage and legs like footballs. Teppic wished he could be so certain that what was happening around him would allow of such harmless explanation. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d probably\u00c2\u00a0<i>need<\/i> a wobbly glass mirror to make it look normal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I think that because Ptraci figures out that if you close your eyes, navigation is perfectly fine, this means that whatever is happening with the Great Pyramid affects perception rather than the physical composition of the world. Still, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s horribly messed up, a complete mind-fuck of an event, one that is best comprehended by\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 camels. Specifically, You Bastard, the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest mathematician. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Pratchett seeded this joke AGES AGO, and now it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s come to fruition, and I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T. So, while Teppic and Ptraci try to escape town and the horrifying pull of the Great Pyramid, You Bastard is busy completing advanced mathematics, all to compute the best route, the proper speed, and, in my favorite moment in this section, the perfect arc of a glob of cud so that it splats gloriously on Dios\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face.<\/p>\n<p>But where does the Great Pyramid\u00c2\u00a0<i>go<\/i>? Teppic observes it fading in and out of reality\u00c2\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0changing shape\u00c2\u00a0<i>and<\/i> the world is constantly bending and twisting, and when they all stop sensing this horrific mutation of time and space, THE ENTIRE VALLEY HAS DISAPPEARED. So, it slipped to\u00c2\u00a0<i>another<\/i> time and place? Perhaps?<\/p>\n<p>Except that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t explain the section that follows it. Dil and Gern look on in horror as the beliefs that they have held their entire lives become real. It is a remarkably unsettling moment. Dil and Gern have believed that the stars in the sky are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153on the body of the goddess of Nept.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a cultural myth. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a religious belief. But how does belief work when suddenly, the sky\u00c2\u00a0<i>is<\/i> the body of Nept??<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where belief stops, because it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t needed anymore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So what does this\u00c2\u00a0<i>mean<\/i>? Weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Dil and Gern in the valley that disappeared? Where are they now? What the hell is Dios going to do now that Teppic has escaped his grasp? How does\u00c2\u00a0<i>his<\/i> belief in tradition factor into this recent development? HOW IS THIS HAPPENING WITH SO MUCH OF THE BOOK LEFT?<\/p>\n<p>The original text contains use of the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lunatic,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stupid.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3UpRDA7vH-o<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/markdoesstuff\">Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a> I&#8217;ve got a community page up that I&#8217;m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<br \/>\n&#8211; If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, <a href=\"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2013\/09\/help-keep-mark-does-stuff-running\/\">I&#8217;ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a><br \/>\n&#8211; Please check out the <a href=\"http:\/\/markdoesstuff.com\/\">MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<br \/>\n&#8211; I will be at quite a few conventions and will be hosting numerous events throughout 2015. <a href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/tour-dates-appearances\/\">Please check my Tour Dates\/Appearances page often to see if I&#8217;m coming to your city!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the tenth part of\u00c2\u00a0Pyramids, chaos reigns. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,484,248],"class_list":["post-3065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-pyramids","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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