{"id":5062,"date":"2019-10-16T05:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5062"},"modified":"2019-10-13T10:47:51","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T17:47:51","slug":"mark-reads-snuff-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2019\/10\/mark-reads-snuff-part-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;Snuff&#8217;: Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the sixth part of <i>Snuff<\/i>, Vimes tries to seek out something wrong. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <i>Snuff<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Oh my god, VIMES FOUND SOMETHING?????<\/p>\n<p><b>Ariadne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Daughters<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You know, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a crucial bit of context that we get at the <i>end<\/i> of this long scene from Lady Sybil, though there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a hint of it from one of the daughters: Ariadne is running out of money. And within this very specific society, to have not \u00e2\u20ac\u0153much of an income\u00e2\u20ac\u009d AND be without a husband is a dire thing. Initially, I was worried that Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior would be read as more condescending and paternalistic than anything else, especially since his vibe was making it feel like he just knew so much better than all these women. So the optics were odd! But throughout this scene, I wondered aloud at least once why Sybil wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stopping Vimes. Why had she brought him to this house, knowing what would inevitably be the topic of conversation?<\/p>\n<p>Well, it was all intentional. So I wanted to start at the end and work my way back because of this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I told Ariadne that you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let her down. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have much of an income, and if you hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t given them the righteous word I think she would have eventually driven them out with a shovel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Knowing this, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy for me to re-interpret what I read. Ariadne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughters were waiting for a solution to come into their lives. And I get why! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what they were <i>supposed<\/i> to do. The expectation was that their father would pay a dowry, they would be married off, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have new lives handed to them. As Mavis (possibly) states, it would be scandalous for them to pick up some sort of trade or skill. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not done,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says.<br \/>\nExcept&#8230; one of their sisters <i>already did this<\/i>. And she might be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153an embarrassment to the family,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also not waiting around for anything. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not in a predicament where she has to hope that her Great-aunt Marigold passes so that there can be a money for a dowry. What I really enjoyed about this is that Vimes did not just complain and criticize, though. He actually offered them a means to pursue something that they otherwise could not consider. And I really appreciate criticism that is genuinely constructive, you know? Vimes mentions the proper that he and Sybil own in Old Cobblers, and then offers rent free occupancy for THREE MONTHSn while they settled in. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s generous and helpful and meaningful! AND WE HAVEN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T EVEN GOTTEN TO JANE. I love that she hears all of this and then basically goes, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I have a different idea about how to get out of this predicament.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d WRITING. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gloriously meta, of course, and Pratchett pokes fun at writing as a career and the very nature of gritty crime novels, but he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have Vimes crush Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dream. Because to me, the whole point of this is that Ariadne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughters weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really <i>dreaming<\/i> of anything else!<\/p>\n<p><b>Instinct<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Look, I said this on video, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth repeating: I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that of all the characters introduced thus far, Jethro would be the first one to open up to Vimes. I thought it would be Jiminy! That seemed to be the most obvious of them all because he used to be a policeman, so there was this shared connection of experience and instinct. Vimes, once he gets that sensation that something has gone wrong, even seeks Jiminy out first. But this is Terry Pratchett I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing about, and so often, he subverts my expectations. Here, he does it yet again by having Vimes miscalculate. What he attempts to do would probably have worked in the city, but:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the city you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a face in the crowd. In the country people will stare at you until you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out of sight, just for the entertainment value. Like you say, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not a copper anymore: I ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got a warrant card, and I ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got the inclination. And now, if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mind, I have some work to do. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be more customers soon. Watch where you tread, your grace.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I admit that I was also <i>very<\/i> surprised that Vimes then issued a threat about owning the pub itself. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bold move, sure, but it almost felt slightly out of character for him, only in the sense that Vimes has really not used his wealth in this specific way before. But his original attempt didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work, so I read this as him experimenting! He tried a different technique and&#8230; it also didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work. Jiminy didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t respond to the threat as Vimes wanted him to! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at this point that Jethro entered and I was CERTAIN there was going to be a fight. I mean, how could I <i>not<\/i> think that? Jethro goaded Vimes on; Vimes kept nudging him, ever so softly, in the wrong direction. Seriously, once he said that line explaining how he came to own the land, I was sure Jethro Jefferson was going to throw a punch.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>GODS. BLESS. WILLIKINS. I am just so HAPPY with how Pratchett uses him here, especially since Willikins gets to openly be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153his sort\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the story itself. But what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also so fascinating about this is how <i>quickly<\/i> the tone of that room changes. Even though Jethro still tries to intimidate Vimes, the dynamic shifts, and I think it is in part because Vimes does not budge. Jethro threatens him, he is certainly physically capable of winning a fight with Vimes, and yet&#8230; Vimes. VIMES IS OUT OF CONTROL. Except he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>not<\/i>! He has so much experience dealing with big men and bullies and blowhards, and so much of what Vimes does is purely mental. He freaks out Jethro, gets under his skin, plants himself in his head. And as more and more people gather to watch the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153little demonstration of fisticuffs, I believe Jethro started panicking. Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smile didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help matters! Why was Vimes so <i>sure<\/i> he was going to win? That had to be what was going through Jethro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s victory was stunning, but not surprising. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also such a clever way of gaining some little shred of Jethro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trust, but I think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a more important aspect to this fight: Vimes revealed that he used to be a street kid. Jethro knows the truth! How long until he shares that with others? How long until that eats away at his mental narrative for Vimes? God, it was so smart of him to wait to reveal this until it was just him and Jethro!!!<\/p>\n<p>SO WHAT IS JETHRO\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SECRET??? What does he know?<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/KPYdZHc7lms<\/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 sixth part of Snuff, Vimes tries to seek out something wrong. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Snuff.\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":[463,563,248],"class_list":["post-5062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-snuff","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062","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=5062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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