{"id":5002,"date":"2019-07-19T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5002"},"modified":"2019-07-18T11:01:49","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T18:01:49","slug":"mark-reads-unseen-academicals-part-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2019\/07\/mark-reads-unseen-academicals-part-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;Unseen Academicals&#8217;: Part 18"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the eighteenth part of <i>Unseen Academicals<\/i>, Glenda lets a crab out of the bucket, and Mr. Nutt opens the door. 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>Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all have been laughing at me for SO long, and I completely deserve it.<\/p>\n<p><b>Out of the Bucket<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Well, now I know. Glenda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting with Vetinari was a catalyst. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the only one, mind you, and Pratchett built a complicated story to be told in her. (That isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t over, mind you!!! This might be the longest of the <i>Discworld<\/i> books, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve still got just shy of two hundred pages to go.) Her characterization is often framed by her reactions to the world around her, but thankfully, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got long passages that allow us to see her internal monologue, too. Vetinari really did summarize her general characterization well: she often believes that she must do the dangerous or difficult things for <i>other<\/i> people because they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it themselves. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like a Super Mom of sorts, and while it is undeniable that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s helped out countless people who have crossed her path, this book peels back the surface to reveal Glenda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growing fear that she may be holding people back. <i>Including<\/i> herself.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I get that it is hard for her to trust others, though, and I get that even though Pepe has never done anything untoward to Juliet, she still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite believe that her best friend will be okay. The world of high fashion and modeling seems terrifying. Strange. Risky. Unfathomable.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>To <i>Glenda<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And then she thought, really thought about Juliet, who would read <i>Bu-bubble<\/i> from cover to cover, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t generally go near the <i>Times<\/i>, but would absorb all kinds of rubbish about frivolous and silly people. People that glittered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is what Juliet enjoys. She loves this culture, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wanted to be a part of it for a while. But until she crossed paths with Pepe and Madame Sharn, it was only a dream. Prior to that, Juliet believed that her life\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand all that was important\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwas in the Night Kitchen. Or the Shove. Or in a world that was small but understandable. And that world had Glenda Sugarbean in it, a force for good, for stability, for certainty. Despite that Glenda wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever really sure if her advice and knowledge was sticking, she has to admit just how much of an influence she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had on Juliet when she discovers that Juliet has been in the kitchen THE WHOLE TIME. Why?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what else to do and Trev was busy with the footballing and I thought they would be wantin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pies tomorrow and I thought I better do some,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 said Juliet. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcSorry.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And thus, Glenda changes. She has to! She sees Juliet in a different light, as someone who is possibly afraid to try new things, but maybe that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because Glenda doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t <i>let<\/i> her try new things! All Juliet knows with any comfort is the Night Kitchen, and LOOK WHAT SHE DID! She baked all those pies BY HERSELF, and she worked herself to exhaustion just to do the right thing. So, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Glenda does, too: the right thing. Pratchett has maneuvered Glenda right to this moment, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written with such empathy <i>and<\/i> fear here. Because she really is trying to understand while also being afraid of what it means to let someone leave the crab bucket. I do love that Pepe is the one to witness this, too, since he was the one who initially put the thought in Glenda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head. (Also, I enjoyed that Pepe was the one to suggest that maybe Trev wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t straight!!!)<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a repetitive phrase that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s used here to convey all this: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up to you.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so simple, yet so effective. Glenda cannot hold anyone back in the bucket. She <i>has<\/i> to let Juliet go, to let Juliet live her own life, to let Juliet make her own choices, even if Glenda doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really understand them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sequence that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s both thrilling\u00e2\u20ac\u201dy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I love character growth SO MUCH\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand heartbreaking. Because Juliet leaves, and Glenda has no idea if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see Juliet again. And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI wonder what would have happened if I had left the lid off?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI wonder how fast crabs learn?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Hi. Ouch. OUCH. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know the answer to this question. How many other people did she treat like this? Were there others before Juliet or Trev or Mr. Nutt? (Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to say they were all treated the same, but just that they were each on the receiving end of Glenda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior.) Yet I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny how PROUD I am of her for realizing this and <i>changing<\/i>. UGH, THIS BOOK.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Book in the Cupboard<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Look, I wanted to spend a decent amount of time discussing the other huge moment in this book before I just devolved in front of you all. Let me quote my DAMN SELF:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Two things came to mind when I read this: first, this sounds a whole lot like orcs, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that species exists in the <i>Discworld<\/i> series, since we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not seen or heard of them before. So perhaps this is just Pratchett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reference to them, and goblins\u00e2\u20ac\u201dat least one species of them, at least\u00e2\u20ac\u201dserves this role. If this is the case, then wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this make the behaviors of others justified in some sense? If these creatures were bred for destruction, then where does that leave someone like Nutt?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I figured it out. AND THEN I IMMEDIATELY AND REPEATEDLY CONVINCED MYSELF THAT THIS WAS NOT THE FUCKING ANSWER. I??? I did this? I did this to myself?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lemme back up a bit, because holy <i>shit<\/i>, this whole scene is so damn suspenseful. After the stress of the past day\u00e2\u20ac\u201dseriously, Mr. Nutt has been going non-stop for a long time\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit makes sense that this all took a toll on him. But Pratchett also told us long ago that Mr. Nutt was obsessed with reading, that he sought out knowledge in the library. So, I could see a reading of this scene as both literal and metaphorical. Was there an <i>actual<\/i> book inside the Unseen University titled <i>Orc<\/i>, or is that just how it looked in his mind? Is that how the hypnosis appeared to him, and the stress broke down the door? (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m leaning toward metaphorical because of the very final scene in the split, which refers to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the soul of Nutt.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) I mean, this shit was a little confusing to me, so it was beautifully hilarious that Glenda and Trev were much more lost than me. And yet, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give up on Mr. Nutt. Do they understand hypnosis? (OH MY GOD, MR. NUTT HYPNOTIZED TREV IN THAT EARLY SCENE????) Do they get what questions they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to ask? Nope. <i>But they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give up<\/i>. They both know Mr. Nutt needs help, and they do what they can, even when Mr. Nutt starts talking in two different voices. I also want to state that I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what those bird creatures are. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what the hell? This didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shed any more light on them!!! What <i>are<\/i> they?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So here we are. Mr. Nutt is an Orc, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s transforming into one as the truth is revealed in his own mind. I genuinely have no clue where this book is going, and there is so much more left!<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HYxBci5FpG8<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markoshiro.com\/blog\/2019\/5\/7\/the-anger-is-a-gift-trade-paperback-is-out-today\">The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\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 eighteenth part of Unseen Academicals, Glenda lets a crab out of the bucket, and Mr. Nutt opens the door. 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":[463,248,561],"class_list":["post-5002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-unseen-academicals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002","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=5002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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