{"id":4758,"date":"2018-11-05T05:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4758"},"modified":"2018-11-04T18:50:59","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T02:50:59","slug":"mark-reads-going-postal-chapter-9-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-reads-going-postal-chapter-9-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Going Postal’: Chapter 9, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first half of the ninth chapter of Going Postal<\/i>, Moist makes a deal. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Going Postal<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Can the opening scene of this chapter just be more<\/i> evidence that Vetinari put the exact right person in charge of the post office? I said this on video, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so clear to me that Moist knew how to talk to the Upwrights and get what he wanted because<\/i> he is a conman. (Was? I think he still is, but now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested in whether or not I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll feel this way by the end of the novel.) Moist speaks to the Upwrights in a manner that appeals directly to their sensibilities. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like he speaks their language, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of that technique that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to navigate their threats, level a few of his own, and then get exactly<\/i> what he wanted. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a bold move, but it works! Beautifully! And in a sense, I feel like he earned their respect in the process.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Moist does, though. Well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he did<\/i>, but the context was different. He always sought to defraud others, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s using a similar technique to actually get shit done this time around. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a con at work here; Moist needs those carriages, and there really is<\/i> a reason why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be good for business if the Upwrights continue to deliver the mail. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the reveal that Gilt (at least, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s who I assume reached out to the Upwrights) tried to buy off this company that makes me MOST intrigued by all of this. As Harry Upwright notes, the Grand Trunk company offered too much money, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to eliminate any competition or any threats to their business. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no honest competition with men like Reacher Gilt; no, they achieve monopolies through deceit and destruction, not because they offer the best product. Which is what is often so mind-blowing about libertarians and Objectivists and their ilk. They swear<\/i> that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what a free market actually supports, but it rarely does. Free markets are built for greed<\/i>. And look what happens here, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. The Grand Trunk owns the clacks, a once-dependable and necessary utility in Ankh-Morpork and beyond. The system has become bloated and inefficient; there are periods of mandatory downtime meant specifically to create demand, and thus, the company justifies charging exorbitant prices for what people \u00e2\u20ac\u0153need.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Hour of the Dead. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole culture that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cropped up because of this industry, and the Hour of the Dead is part of it. Well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a bit of mythology, too, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a story told about the hour when the clacks go down for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153repairs, replacements, maybe even some paperwork.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This necessary moment, which allowed previous workers to carefully repair broken shutters, has been reduced to just twenty minutes under the Grand Trunk. And with that lack of time comes a desperation, and with that desperation comes accidents. Death<\/i>. And I am sure those deaths are factored into the overall \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cost\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of running the clacks, meaning that as long as Grand Trunk is making a profit (and one that continues to grow), then the deaths are worth it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something to this Smoking Gnu (I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET OVER THIS TERM) and to the overhead. I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any real theory as to what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on here with it, but I believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve learned so much about the culture that surrounds the clacks and the people who operate it. Those details have<\/i> to be important, right? And what I do feel comfortable guessing is that Moist is going to get his hands on this Gnu, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to use it to take down the Grand Trunk company. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a component to this beyond the competition. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m beginning to think that Moist sees the moral dilemma here. How can the Grand Trunk owners continue to exploit people like this anymore? I think Moist is going to get involved not<\/i> because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll help himself, but because he can genuinely help someone else.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a theory.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/kYhd4HF7qtc<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"