In the fourth part of\u00c2\u00a0The Last Continent<\/i>, the wizards make a discovery, and Rincewind avoids one. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is happening in this book???<\/p>\n
Window<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a cultural thing at work here in Pratchett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s depiction of all the professors and staff members at Unseen University. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very long bit here in which each of them \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pretend\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that they are not interested in the beach locale through the Egregious Professor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s window. Those who work at Unseen University aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t allowed to ever enjoy themselves! Everything must be Serious All of The Time.<\/p>\n
That is, of course, an absurd notion, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the wizards have a grand old time before. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking of\u00c2\u00a0Moving Pictures<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0specifically.) But this feels like an exaggeration of how others perceive them. They have to maintain that image because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s who they are. And we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen, time and time again, that the meaning that others provide for a thing or a person or a place is\u00c2\u00a0powerful<\/i>. So what happens if people start viewing wizards as\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, just like everyone else?<\/p>\n
I admit that this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a fully-formed theory or analysis, but it popped up in my brain, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m now sharing it with you. Will all hell break loose if the wizards just have some\u00c2\u00a0fun<\/i>? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so, but I\u00c2\u00a0am<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0worried about what this tropical place\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i>. The wizards all assume that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably Fourecks, but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem right. I had nothing to base that on, though, until Pratchett switched briefly to the Librarian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s point of view. As far as I could tell, he was feeling a little bit better. Which is a good thing! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if this place helped him or if this was just a coincidence. However, this concerned me:<\/p>\n But there was something\u00c2\u00a0wrong<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0with the trees. He looked down at the pretty shells on the beach. There was something wrong with them, too. Creepily, worryingly wrong.<\/p>\n A few birds wheeled overhead, and they were wrong. They were the right shape, as far as he knew, and they seemed to be making the right noises. But they were still\u00c2\u00a0wrong<\/i>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Is it because everything\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0too<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0perfect? Is this place on the Disc\u00c2\u00a0or is it somewhere else<\/i>?<\/p>\n I AM WORRIED.<\/p>\n Rincewind<\/b><\/p>\n So, Rincewind has another interaction with this book\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of the Aborigines, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 pretty insignificant? These characters don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to do anything except exist to point out how \u00e2\u20ac\u0153foreign\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the place is, though I did find it funny that the one man Rincewind speaks to doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even bother trying to deal with him. He just walks away because\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>.<\/p>\n And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the figures in the rocks. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing this is all tied to the Trickster god, who is trying to get Rincewind involved in\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a thing? In one sense, this is\u00c2\u00a0exactly<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the same as every previous Rincewind story: the universe conspires to get Rincewind involved, and he runs away screaming until he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forced into the conflict in one way or another. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see how a Trickster god might change up this format and mess with my expectations. The chicken sandwich under the rock was a nice touch, but you know what? That could be Rincewind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heat exhaustion, not the work of a Trickster god attempting to push him in the direction he wants. Or maybe Rincewind is\u00c2\u00a0supposed<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to think that.<\/p>\n I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure out which is which. Like, he definitely did not imagine the kangaroo talking to him, urging him onto a quest of some sort. Right? That\u00c2\u00a0definitely<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0happened. But what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at the bottom of a pit that Rincewind needs to help with? Another person? What does the Trickster god have to do with all of this???<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m lost. Surprise.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ewGU5YlXzmw<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b> In the fourth part of\u00c2\u00a0The Last Continent, the wizards make a discovery, and Rincewind avoids one. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.\u00c2\u00a0<\/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":[463,248,522],"class_list":["post-4045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-the-last-continent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4045","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=4045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check 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 have been announced here.<\/a>
\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":"