In the third part of\u00c2\u00a0Carpe Jugulum<\/i>, Magrat prepares for the naming ceremony while Granny has a crisis. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SCARED.<\/p>\n
King and Queen<\/b><\/p>\n
I sat here and thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be petty about this!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna be petty. The amount of character development that we get from Verence and Magrat in this scene\u00c2\u00a0alone<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is justification enough that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no excuse why the wizards remain so unchanging in the\u00c2\u00a0Discworld\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>series. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need everything to be the\u00c2\u00a0same<\/i>, of course, and the variance we get across this series is one of the things that makes it so fun. But LOOK HOW GREAT PRATCHETT IS AT THIS. This whole section is satisfying because we get to see how Magrat and Verence have changed since the last time we saw them. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not unrecognizable, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very fascinating.<\/p>\n
Magrat, for example, still straddles worlds. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to see the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153old\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Magrat here, the one who is nervous about how she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perceived. Yet there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tinge of something new, too. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that being Queen has gone to her head; I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a step too far. However, I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s adapted to the position. She may complain about the crib and the pomp and the circumstance, but her conversation with Agnes reveals that on some level, she\u00c2\u00a0enjoys<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0all of this. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t all that surprising, I admit; she\u00c2\u00a0wanted<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to be Queen.<\/p>\n
But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a duality here, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a recurring motif so far, with the whole Perdita\/Agnes split, as well as Reverend Oats\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beliefs, and now we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got another one. In King Verence\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not so sure. His kinging (I LOVE THAT AS A VERB) is much more pronounced than it was the last time around. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken to it well, even if Lancre isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily the best place for him to do kingly things. Well, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s adorable!<\/p>\n
Anyway, this is a great set-up, and the tension of the naming ceremony (OH MY GOD, THAT POOR CHILD\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NAME) with the inevitable appearance of the Magpyr clan makes for great fiction. BUT THERE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO MUCH MORE HERE THAN THIS.<\/p>\n
Om<\/b><\/p>\n
So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be curious to know what time period\u00c2\u00a0Small Gods<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0takes place in. Was it so recent that Brutha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s destruction of the Quisition hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reached the rest of the Disc? Or does it happen\u00c2\u00a0after<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this? Regardless, Pratchett does an interesting thing here by having Nanny Ogg react as she does to Reverend Oats. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a complicated set up because, on the one hand, she has a right to fear that Oats is going to\u00c2\u00a0hate<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0her. Actually, not just hate her, but say something about how she shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exist! So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just that she disagrees with him about his religious beliefs. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the right context here. Omnians used to (or might still?) believe that witches should be burned alive, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begrudge her for behaving as she does. Lord knows I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel any sympathy or affinity for religions that tell their believers that I am affront to God for being gay, you know?<\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also an interesting line that made me think of something else, though:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, look\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the worst she could put her little hand up to at her age is a few grubby nappies and keepin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 you awake at night. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hardly\u00c2\u00a0sinful<\/i>, to my mind.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I generally avoid talk of scripture or theology on this blog, not because I find it boring or anything, but because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always conscious of being one of\u00c2\u00a0those<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0atheists. YOU KNOW THEM, YOU ALL DO. At the end of the day, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel a hatred or distaste for religious belief in and of itself, and thus, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel the need to comment on religions from the point of view of an atheist. What could I\u00c2\u00a0possibly<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0say that hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been said before?<\/p>\n
But this line reminded me of one of the central problems I had with Christian religions that believe in original sin. It was one of a few things I simply could not rationalize in my mind, no matter how much my catechism teachers explained it. How could we be\u00c2\u00a0born<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0in sin when we were ignorant to what it was? It seemed so deeply unfair. Beyond that, it felt like the deck was stacked against us from the beginning, as if God had allowed us to flourish with a propensity towards sin, but then got furious with us if we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live up to his standards. (To be fair, I was taught a very angry, resentful God by my mother and my Catholic elders.) How was this just? How was it fair to doom children to Hell if they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t baptized before they could even become conscious beings with free will?<\/p>\n
It all seemed so cruel to me, and it kept me from ever feeling truly close to God or a god or what have you. So I understood Nanny Ogg in these scenes. She recoiled at the thought of an Omnian priest leading the naming ceremony, not because all Omnians are horrible people, but because their religion mandated them to believe these things. Now, the reader knows that Oats is not quite what he seems, but how is Nanny supposed to know that? Why shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she protect herself from him?<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see if Reverend Oats will reveal more of himself to her in the coming pages. What kind of Om\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0he believe in?<\/p>\n
Granny Weatherwax<\/b><\/p>\n
Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Granny. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.\u00c2\u00a0Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all<\/i>. It seemed utterly unbelievable to me (at first!) that Granny would be so salty about an RSVP. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Granny! She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about these things! But Pratchett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prose here is SO FUCKING GOOD, and I know how wrong I am. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? I worried that the Magpyr clan going after Granny was nonsensical, but\u00c2\u00a0it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not<\/i>. Look, Granny likes to pretend she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about the world, that she is distant and detached from it, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply not true. The birth scene in the last section is evidence of that; so is her behavior in\u00c2\u00a0Lords and Ladies<\/i>. And\u00c2\u00a0Wyrd<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Sisters<\/i>. And\u00c2\u00a0Masquerade<\/i>. She cares\u00c2\u00a0fiercely<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0about the world, and the missing RSVP tells her that THE WORLD DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T CARE ABOUT HER. Evidence of her views on this are here:<\/p>\n
That was the worst part about being good \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it caught you coming\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0going.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
and here:<\/p>\n
The smug mask of virtue triumphant could be almost as horrible as the face of wickedness revealed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
and here:<\/p>\n
And always,\u00c2\u00a0always<\/i>, you did it by yourself. You were the one there, on the edge, watching and listening. Never any tears, never any apology, never any regrets\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 You saved them all up in a way that could be used when needed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
and here:<\/p>\n
What had she ever earned? The reward for toil had been more toil. If you dug the best ditches, they gave you a bigger shovel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In a way, Pratchett\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0portray her as being this separate entity from society, the one who makes the difficult decisions that others can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make. And yet, she craves reciprocation just like everyone else. Maybe not\u00c2\u00a0just<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0like everyone else, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still there. So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m posting all this to come to one final point:\u00c2\u00a0What if this is how the Magpyrs will get to Granny Weatherwax?\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>This is the only inkling I have that Granny is vulnerable at\u00c2\u00a0all<\/i>, so\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 maybe???<\/p>\n
GIVE ME THE NEXT SECTION NOW, OH MY GOD.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WuLjFD6kgPM<\/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>
\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":"In the third part of\u00c2\u00a0Carpe Jugulum, Magrat prepares for the naming ceremony while Granny has a crisis. 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":[526,463,248],"class_list":["post-4098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-carpe-jugulum","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4098","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=4098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}