{"id":4554,"date":"2018-05-24T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4554"},"modified":"2018-05-20T08:51:54","modified_gmt":"2018-05-20T15:51:54","slug":"mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/05\/mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;Monstrous Regiment&#8217;: Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the third part of <i>Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, Polly and the new recruits repeatedly ruin Corporal Strappi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s day, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m HERE for it. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <i>Discworld<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I AM JUST GONNA START WITH THIS: PLEASE LET MOST OF THIS BOOK BE THE RECRUITS CONSTANTLY EMBARRASSING STRAPPI AND MAKING EVERY JOB OF HIS A MILLION TIMES HARDER THAN IT NEEDS TO BE. I just!!! I love it so much! I am well aware that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>very<\/i> easy to hate him. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s designed to be despicable in practically every sense, so I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but love how frequently he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proved wrong. Contradicted. Interrupted. Humiliated. It is <i>pure<\/i> entertainment, and I WILL STAND FOR IT FOREVER.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much more to this than just the chaotic hilarity that Pratchett has imbued into this ridiculous group. I MEAN, I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WANT TO IGNORE THAT, EITHER. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very important to the style of the story! Why? Well, it conveys the sense of desperation that Strappi and Jackrum are operating under. People don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to be rushing to sign up for the military in huge numbers, so what are they left to recruit from? <i>These<\/i> people, who are either a huge mess themselves or who exist along the margins of society in Borogravia. Strappi, though, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care one way or another. I suspect he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little harsher with this <i>specific<\/i> batch of recruits than others because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so angry, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be real: this really feels like his baseline level of operations. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the man speaks in nothing but a shout, and he <i>actually<\/i> started crying during Borogravia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national anthem. OKAY, SO HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Which also means that he is <i>ruthless<\/i> in his leadership style. As Polly does her best to both hide in plain sight <i>and<\/i> adjust to her brand new life, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already the subject of his merciless attention. In the last section, he picked on her for using that specific cup. Here, though, her morning routine includes Strappi zeroing in her for having any sort of knowledge of sword fighting. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I an endlessly amused that I managed to read two separate books, one right after the other, where the main character headbutts a total bigot. HOW DID THE UNIVERSE SYNC UP SO BEAUTIFULLY??? Of course, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel bad that Strappi picked on someone, only to be immediately proved wrong. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s satisfying and <i>this book just started.<\/i> THIS IS CHAOTIC GOOD, I LOVE IT SO MUCH ALREADY.<\/p>\n<p>While I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting a huge kick of just how funny all of this is, I was equally impressed by how <i>honest<\/i> these characters were about their predicament. When they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re speaking with Strappi, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really get a feel for their true opinions on the military. They all just seem either slightly interested to join or as if it is their only real choice. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that any of these characters are <i>exuberant<\/i> to be part of this, you know? Thus, after their first day on the road, I was pleased to see their frustrations with nationalism and the military start to creep through in their words. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the lesson for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What We Are Fighting For\u00e2\u20ac\u009d IS SO GOOD. Right off the bat, Pratchett addresses how historical narratives can be twisted to serve the agendas of nations that want to feel <i>justified<\/i> in going to war. In this case, the recruit Shufti is quick to point out that Borogravia was actually the one who attacked the city of Lipz. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not exactly important for someone like Strappi, who long ago made up his mind about who is right and who is just.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Then there are his thoughts on Ankh-Morpork. HOW MANY OF US HAVE MET SOMEONE WHO TALKS JUST LIKE THIS ABOUT BIG CITIES, OH MY GOD. Of <i>course<\/i> he thinks the place is godless and terrible, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just appreciate Tonker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comeback:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was just wondering why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so crowded, Corp,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Tonker. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so bad, I mean.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>YEAH, STRAPPI, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M WONDERING, TOO. Is it possible that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about??? Unsurprisingly, the man would never admit to being wrong about <i>anything<\/i>, despite that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proven wrong about five seconds after he says\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, anything. Even when he calls Vimes \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Butcher,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Polly is quick to point out that Ankh-Morpork is mad because Borogravia cut down their clacks towers.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Logic and reality is not Strappi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strong point. The soldiers are <i>much<\/i> more aware of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually going on, though, and their convo in the tent that second night is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 seriously, look at this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not buying it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all trickery. They keep you down and when they piss off some other country, <i>you<\/i> have to fight for them! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only <i>your<\/i> country when they want to get you killed!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Tonker.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I MEAN, HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NOT WRONG. So, Tonker is already aware of the fact that he exists as a pawn for other, more powerful men, who won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to suffer from the painful and deadly ramifications of war. Even Polly vocalizes her discontent:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But they always lie,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said someone, and then Polly realized it was her. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They lie all the time. About everything.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I feel like this speaks to Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motivation, too. She knows that Paul was lied to about glory and duty, and now he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s missing, lost in some terrible war with no end in sight. She really <i>is<\/i> going to go get him, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she???<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/f8PzW2p3nrM<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>My YA contemporary debut, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markoshiro.com\/blog\/2017\/9\/22\/i-am-proud-to-announce-my-ya-contemporary-debut-anger-is-a-gift\">ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><strong>If you&#8217;d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/ey636\">sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the third part of Monstrous Regiment, Polly and the new recruits repeatedly ruin Corporal Strappi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s day, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m HERE for it. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.\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":[463,545,248],"class_list":["post-4554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-monstrous-regiment","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554","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=4554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. The path to wp-cache-phase1.php in wp-content/advanced-cache.php must be fixed! -->