In the eleventh part of\u00c2\u00a0Maskerade<\/i>, Agnes makes a discovery, while Granny and Nanny go to lunch. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.<\/i><\/p>\n
GODS ALL BLESS THIS SECTION, I LOVED IT SO MUCH.<\/p>\n
Agnes<\/b><\/p>\n
Just for the sake of talking about this, I thought it best to address the two plots that weave through this part of the book as separate things. This part works so well, though, because Pratchett deftly combines the scenes that make up the story, rushing from one to the next, keeping us eager to find out where it will go next. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much fun!<\/p>\n
So, let me start with Agnes. More so than many of the recent parts of this book, the text heaps tons of satire onto\u00c2\u00a0Phantom of the Opera\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>here<\/i>, but Pratchett doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accomplish that by forgetting how important Agnes is as a character. Her journey into the skeleton of the Opera House mirrors that of the Ghost himself. She thinks of herself as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wandering voice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when compared to others; is that not the Ghost, too? Whereas Agnes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fate is often due to how others perceive her, she still finds herself isolated from those in the Opera House, much like the Ghost does.<\/p>\n
Agnes allows herself to be consumed by her alter-ego, Perdita, because the fairy tale is better than reality. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a criticism of her; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a huge fan of escapist fantasies, and I get why she imagines that the Ghost has a lair that is in sync with the stereotypical trope. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comforting. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fulfilling to imagine one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self as being desired in this manner. To the Perdita side of her, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the perfect escape.<\/p>\n
And I imagine that the reality is not going to match up to what she wants.<\/p>\n
The Lunch Party<\/b><\/p>\n
I DESPERATELY WANT A LIVE-ACTION OR ANIMATED VERSION OF THIS SEQUENCE TO WATCH WHENEVER I AM FEELING SAD. Pratchett combines so many comic techniques \u00e2\u20ac\u201c physical humor, sounds, expressions made behind someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back, coincidences, massive misinterpretations of actions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c into one of the funniest scenes in the entire\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0series. I know that I said earlier that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand why Henry Slugg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story mattered at all, and JESUS, LOOK HOW MUCH IT MATTERS NOW.<\/p>\n
The amount of comic coincidences in this scene is astounding, and I love so dearly how Pratchett set this up. Right after Se\u00c3\u00b1or Basilica arrives for lunch with Mr. Bucket, Lady Esmerelda Weatherwax makes\u00c2\u00a0her<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0first appearance, and the shenanigans never end. NEVER. Oh my god, all of Henry Slugg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reactions killed me. THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE SO PERFECT. But it also provides Granny with the ideal chance to have someone else verify her lie. The best part is that Slugg probably believes that Granny and Nanny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence was intentional, that they knew he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be there. I know that Granny relies on this unspoken agreement to get what she wants, so I found it very touching that Nanny returned the favor:<\/p>\n Nanny carefully took the broom out of the cook\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tell you what,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you make enough dumplings and slumpie for five people, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll help by knocking up a quick pudding, how about that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Bless her heart. She makes sure that Henry doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to eat Brindisian food again!!! I am also curious about what all these foods taste like. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0think<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had mutton before, nor slumpie. (Which I now realized I mispronounced. LORD.) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve somehow missed out on clootie dumplings every time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been to Scotland!!! SCOTTISH READERS, WHY HAVE YOU FAILED ME. Okay, I know that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a cookbook out there. Perhaps I need to make it when I can. AN ADVENTURE.<\/p>\n Anyway, I think that Mr. Bucket and Salzella are going to sell Granny Box Eight. Actually, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to happen. Two thousand dollars is a\u00c2\u00a0lot<\/i>. A LOT OF MONEY. Is it enough to pay off all of the Opera House\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bills??? If so, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all the motivation Mr. Bucket needs to accept the money, but I wonder which man Granny will bring with her to accompany her in the Box. It can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be Henry Slugg. Maybe his translator? OH GOD, IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GONNA BE GREEBO AS A HUMAN, ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T IT?<\/p>\n Diane Duane is still offering a massive discount on the first 9 books in the\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0series just to this community, so please take advantage of this deal while you still can:<\/b><\/p>\n http:\/\/bit.ly\/markreadsYW<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nCzY2vevlJM<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>. In the eleventh part of\u00c2\u00a0Maskerade, Agnes makes a discovery, while Granny and Nanny go to lunch. 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":[463,514,248],"class_list":["post-3837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-maskerade","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3837","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=3837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"