{"id":4767,"date":"2018-11-12T05:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T13:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4767"},"modified":"2018-11-11T20:52:41","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T04:52:41","slug":"mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-ii-chapter-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-ii-chapter-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Science of Discworld II’: Chapter 27"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-seventh chapter of The Science of Discworld II<\/i>, Rincewind and Ponder detail how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve successfully changed the world. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I imagine if I read the story straight through, I might feel just slightly<\/i> different about this chapter. I think that a number of factors have contributed to this feeling a tad rushed, and I recognize that most of them are because of me. Not only is this book being alternated with another one, but the story ITSELF is alternated with the Roundworld chapters, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stretched out anyway. But I felt like there was going to be another story beat before this point. AND I AM FULLY AWARE THAT THERE MIGHT BE EXACTLY WHAT I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M LOOKING FOR IN CHAPTER 29. But, as it stands, is this all resolved just like that<\/i>? The resolution itself isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a problem; this is what this book has been leading to for a while. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that this feels like it all got wrapped up in ten pages, and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh god, wait. What if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional? What if I am meant <\/i>to think everything\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resolved, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all a TRICK???<\/p>\n

Okay, maybe not, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about this! There are two major things that I wanted to talk about, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re related to one another. First, the wizards manage to give humans the compulsion and drive to tell stories. Most of The Science of Discworld II<\/i> has been devoted to the importance of stories to the development of our species. And with that drive implanted in us again, Rincewind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Stage Two is implemented: the intersection of belief and action. Now, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a point to be made here about progress and humanity, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really disagree with it. As humans have been able to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153see\u00e2\u20ac\u009d more of the world, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve generally been able to shift their major belief systems. Even for religions that have lasted for a long, long time, there have been significant changes in what constitutes the tenets of said belief systems. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just restricting this conversation to religion. What about rudimentary ideas of science? Philosophy? Psychology? We observe more and more things, we learn, and we adapt. In general<\/i>, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been how we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve changed in the long run.<\/p>\n

Of course, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in a weird time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard talking about this stuff in 2018 because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re living in an age where observation does not matter, when people are so entrenched in their beliefs and their bigotry that they can literally observe the same thing as everyone else, yet come to a completely different conclusion. There are people proud<\/i> of their ignorance, who are proud that they peddle fake news, who know that the world is no longer dominated and influenced by what constitutes a fact. Which is not to suggest that this has never<\/i> happened before; it certainly has. History is cyclical, and we as a people repeat the same mistakes, just with different contexts. Still, sometimes, this current era we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re living in feels so unreal, you know?<\/p>\n

So, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that, but then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the whole gods thing. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m am atheist, but I feel like the authors all stretch just<\/i> a little bit further than maybe they should? So much of this book feels like a reaction\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand one I understand!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto the dominant organized religions in the world. But once Rincewind and Ponder start talking about how their influence has set humanity on a course to eventually \u00e2\u20ac\u0153kill\u00e2\u20ac\u009d all their gods, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not so sure they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right? I mean, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to read that and then look around at the world we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in now, where it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ready to do such a thing at all. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bigger question: should<\/i> we? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m biased when it comes to certain monotheistic religions, but there are plenty others that I have no experience with and which don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to be harming others en masse, so do we really<\/i> need to excise ourselves of those, too? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sort of cultural certainty that comes from believing your own culture can exist without a god, so therefore, all<\/i> cultures should live without them. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not interested in that at all<\/i>, and for a book that is so specific most of the time, this felt way too general.<\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the ending, which I did actually love A LOT. It all felt like a giant joke aimed at time travel narratives, particularly the notion that all you have to do is just change one single thing, and then a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life can be put on the exact path that you want them on. Oh, no, the world (and time) is so much more complicated than that! The constant trips back to correct Shakespeare\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life were HILARIOUS, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so very Pratchett-esque, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. He makes fun of a trope we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re familiar with, and he takes it way further than anyone else would.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/GgJvD5k68Sk<\/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":"