{"id":4655,"date":"2018-08-01T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T16:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4655"},"modified":"2018-07-23T12:38:42","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T19:38:42","slug":"mark-re-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/08\/mark-re-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Re-Reads &#8216;Monstrous Regiment&#8217;: Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hello once more, <i>Discworld<\/i> friends! Well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve reached the last one of these posts. I know the last one was shorter, but the book is fresher on my mind than the early parts, some of which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d read two months ago. Still, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so excited for the final three sections WHAT HORRIBLE PUNS AWAIT ME.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>Part 21<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I actually felt more nervous about Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s last stand knowing what was about to happen than I did the first time around. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a complicated scene, and based on what little canon information we have in the text on some of these characters, I think they read differently than Jackrum, though that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largely because we get to spend so much more time with him than anyone else. Froc pretty much confirms it after Wazzer collapses, saying that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perhaps \u00e2\u20ac\u0153not yet the time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Another thing I got out of the comments was that I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t presume to know what these characters are going through. The biggest thing I missed was the notion of how Borogravia <i>specifically<\/i> targeted women through its policies and its culture, and thus, each of these generals could have escaped that life as well. And there didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to be a complicated backstory for that, either! If you had the means to escape the world of Borogravia, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you take it?<\/li>\n<li>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what passes or what stays, sir.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That is&#8230; right there. Indeed.<\/li>\n<li>THE DUCHESS POSSESSION SCENE IS STILL ELECTRIFYING, HOLY SHIT. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so good! I also believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one reason I was perplexed by the ending. The Duchess spoke! She wanted Borogravia to save <i>itself<\/i>! Certainly, that would change things, right? But there really is a motif throughout the last third of this novel about how the world changes much slower than we may like it at times. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still sad to think that Borogravia hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t <i>totally<\/i> learned when it comes to war, but at least they appear to have done so when it comes to Nuggan.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Did Jackrum know, deep down, that this was it for him? That this was his <i>real<\/i> last stand? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so <i>joyous<\/i> after the Duchess\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance. Granted, the Duchess just PROMOTED him, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s understandable. Perhaps he was happy to go out in a blaze of glory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Part 22<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ugh, I just have so many feelings about Angua\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence in this book. I know we have all talked about the power of representation over and over again, but there truly <i>is<\/i> a magic in getting to see yourself in someone, fictional or real. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know brown folks could write books that other people would read until I found out about Sandra Cisneros. That seems absurd, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>reality<\/i>. And sure, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten better, but not in every context and not in every place. Angua gets to live as herself in the Watch, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Mal has such a visceral reaction to her presence. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never seen someone so openly true to themselves <i>without<\/i> the fear and terror. And I did pick up on this in my original read, at least in terms of understanding Mal telling the truth about themselves, too.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brief moment here that I think serves as a commentary on what we here in America have: a military-industrial complex. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly present in other countries and throughout history, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mention of it in the context of Borogravia. How much of what Borogravia produces goes directly to the military? How many people are starving or living by meager means because their nation requires that everything be sent to the battlefield? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unsustainable! And I say that while living in a country where our bloated budget is going overwhelmingly towards a military state. How many other things would the US be able to fund if we stopped being an imperial force? How much infrastructure could we build if we stopped giving money to a system that bullies and destroys around the world?<\/li>\n<li>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s further complication of the Borogravian-Zlobenian conflict, too. Vimes gets involved because he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want Heinrich to combine countries and make one BIG country that Heinrich will inevitably want to expand. Makes sense. But isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Borogravia <i>technically<\/i> Heinrich\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anyway? Thus, I believe Vimes wanted Polly to make sure that as peace was made, Borogravia was kept separate.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Part 23<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I really think this moment is more important that I thought it was the first time around: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I killed five poor devils when we attacked today, and afterwards I found meself wonderin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 why.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d As much as Jackrum influenced Polly, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to think this is the same thing in reverse. Polly was the one to confront Jackrum over the murder of Towering, and I wonder if it got under his skin just enough that he finally, <i>finally<\/i> started doubting his whole outlook.<\/li>\n<li>I read this section, and it feels right that Jackrum is a trans man, even with some of the pronoun usage. Again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all through Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes, and she lacks terms we have to describe or explain a lot of this. That being said, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the take on the whole \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Upon my oath, I am not a dishonest man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d joke that Jackrum kept making? Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that joke rely on Jackrum <i>not<\/i> being a man? I suppose it could also be that Jackrum is just very comfortable talking about this, that he has no problem being sly, cunning, and humorous about his own past. But part of the point of this book is that the world is slowly, slowly changing. Borogravia is not Ankh-Morpork. Even the more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enlightened\u00e2\u20ac\u009d members of this nation still struggled with a LOT of things. So, here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how Jackrum talks about himself, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>his<\/i> story. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>his<\/i> comfort level. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to be neat and easily categorizable.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Anyway, this backstory still makes me so sad. You know, when Jackrum starts talking about how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had a good life, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s&#8230; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all battles. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all <i>death<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not until he starts talking about all the women he has helped along the way that I <i>then<\/i> felt like he was speaking of his good life. <i>That<\/i> is the good that he did in the world, right alongside all the sins of a soldier that the Duchess referenced.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Jackrum thanking Polly breaks me. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so&#8230; pure? There is no pretension, no persona, no grand act&#8230; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just one man thanking one of the only people who has ever spoken truly to them. IT HURTS.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>You know what other sentence still destroys me? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wazzer had joined the general\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s household, and had a room of her own and quietness, and made herself useful, and was never beaten.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Followed up by: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153&#8230;a world without beatings was heaven.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d True, real, and heart-shattering.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>THE ICONOGRAPH. DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DO THIS TO ME.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>I <i>do<\/i> feel different about this ending. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that Polly is going to make war <i>better<\/i> by being a part of it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that she really is trying to undo all the harm that <i>used<\/i> to pass as normalcy. What tools can she now utilize to get things done? To provide other options? To view the upcoming conflict with Prince Heinrich in a way that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always rely on violence and seeing someone as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153other\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? Polly could change so much, and she does right at the end of the book: she gives people a choice, a choice they never had before.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m finishing this up while also still checking in on the comments (and doing Patreon videos), and even this re-read can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t address everything. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pervasive thread\/motif\/theme about how Borogravia is designed to bring down women, to target them, to make them feel as many of the characters in this book feel. So, thinking about Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choice at the end of the novel AND putting it in light of what many of you said on the final review, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that there was a huge segment of this that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get. Not just the metaphorical nature of <i>Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, but how her choice and the choice she presents others IS the world changing around her. In this re-read, you can see the cyclical nature of the story, yes, but the cycle, as it begins at the end of the book, <i>is not the same<\/i>. If you compare Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recruitment scene with this one at the end of the book, look how vastly different they are. Polly is open; honest; eager. She encourages others to be honest about themselves. And with that, she introduces them to a world she and the others had to fight for. LITERALLY. My initial interpretation, though, was <i>only<\/i> on the literal reading of that scene.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is weird going back through this because I <i>thought<\/i> it seemed like I was enjoying this book, but what I was convinced I had communicated&#8230; did not really make it to the page. Which I understand now not just because this book is different than I thought it was, but because I approached it from a negative place. As a whole, I actually do believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better a second time around? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to talk about what you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153know\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on a cold read because even if I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had a bunch of shit going on, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been able to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this book on a first run ANYWAY. It is such a dense book, first of all, and Jackrum is written so well that unless you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really, really looking or sensitive to certain clues, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one hell of a secret. And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a primary character, one who affects almost every part of this book, and his interactions have a totally different context once you know the truth. But it goes beyond that, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I am doing my best\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnot just with this book!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto approach a text\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, not like this. Is it possible to always get everything \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? No, but there are other things I <i>can<\/i> do to be more careful, caring, and respectful about the process.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad I did this, and I hope y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all have enjoyed this, too. I think it would be fun to revisit some key books later on down the line. I would need to be able to devote my time to a closer read, so it would have to be another down period in my schedule. (I <i>am<\/i> curious which <i>Discworld<\/i> books are particularly good re-reads. I definitely couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do them all.)<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But I also want to make sure that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doing a couple things so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not repeating this shit over again. I really <i>am<\/i> trying to give my all while reading and participating in the comments. It does help. However, on a larger note, I have to forgive myself more when it comes to my mental health. If I am feeling like it is difficult to work, I may have to take some time off, and I will always let y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all know before that happens. And I am <i>definitely<\/i> going to take time off around the release of Book #2 because NEVER AGAIN. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m also happy to say I have an honest-to-gods vacation coming up in September. I really need it.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, friends. For joining me on this journey, for your patience and understanding, and for your support.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello once more, Discworld friends! Well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve reached the last one of these posts. I know the last one was shorter, but the book is fresher on my mind than the early parts, some of which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d read two months &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/08\/mark-re-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-5\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/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-4655","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\/4655","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=4655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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