{"id":5066,"date":"2019-10-25T05:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5066"},"modified":"2019-10-20T13:11:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-20T20:11:23","slug":"mark-reads-snuff-part-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2019\/10\/mark-reads-snuff-part-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Snuff’: Part 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tenth part of Snuff<\/i>, Vimes follows Stinky. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on. OF COURSE I AM STILL FLAILING WILDLY IN THE DARK.<\/p>\n

Heh heh. Get it? Cuz Vimes is in the\u00e2\u20ac\u201d oh, nevermind.<\/p>\n

Into the Darkness<\/b>
\nMy first question that I hope this book answers: How much of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153knowledge\u00e2\u20ac\u009d around goblins isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually true? How much of it is based on a misunderstanding of their culture or a misinterpretation of it? The first long scene of this split shows us a number of things that immediately expand what we know of the goblins. They might smell bad to humans, but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re inherently dirty. They do<\/i> collect objects, perhaps either through theft of because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re left behind\/discarded by humans. They have a hierarchal structure, and perhaps it is based on age\/seniority, given that Stinky and the two guards defer to the older goblin once they get to Hangman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hill and the cave that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s their lair. They are certainly observant, too, and now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering if part of the sensation that Vimes has felt\u00e2\u20ac\u201dof being watched in the country\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis also because goblins<\/i> have been watching him. He hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly been there a long time, and yet the goblins know his name, they know he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153po-leess-maan,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and they know to seek him out for justice. I am also guessing that the goblins know about the Summoning Dark, right? Is that what the old goblin meant by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dark inside dark\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? or that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dark must come\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just immensely unprepared again, I still like that Vimes goes because he feels like he has<\/i> to. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his instinct kicking in; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the prickle under his skin telling him that some great terrible wrong has been done; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s him recognizing that the goblins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 desire for him to follow them must<\/i> be coming from a genuine place because otherwise this would be the most absurd trap of all time. So Vimes follows, he brings Upshot along with him, and he heads into the darkness and into the unknown. And I love that Pratchett jokes about this! Once again, Vimes is going to a dark place within humanity, a place that was once a deep part of his own life. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a villain inside Vimes, but he seeks it out in the world around him.<\/p>\n

The Cigar<\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it.<\/p>\n

I mean, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not supposed to yet, but Pratchett gives a few key details in the brief scene with Nobbs, Colon, and Mr. Gumption to lead us towards something. This is how we find out about the new \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tax,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which applies to Mr. Gumption\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s industry, tobacco. Mr. Gumption should<\/i> be struggling, but all the signs point to a thriving business that is eager to grow. This points to two possible explanations: 1) they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t paying the tax at all, or 2) they found some secret way of MASSIVELY saving or making more money. And\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 goblins? It has something to do with the goblins, maybe? It has to be connected to the main plot, right???<\/p>\n

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend<\/b><\/p>\n

OH MY GOD IT WAS TOTALLY FORESHADOWED EARLIER. I love that Pratchett calls back to the events of Thud!<\/i> by having the Summoning Dark \u00e2\u20ac\u0153return\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to Pratchett. Stinky touched Vimes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arm!!! In the spot where the Summoning Dark left a mark!!!! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why he spoke so strangely and made the goblins run off once they entered the cage. But this also implies something terrible, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? When I think about the awful crime that brought about the Summoning Dark in Thud!<\/i>, that means that something truly fucking evil is going on here, right? Why else would the residual remains of the Dark reappear here? Why is Vimes going to have to tap into the dark side within him to solve this case? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this is such a brilliant way to build dread because I am already trying to anticipate just how fucked up this case is, and I still<\/i> don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually going on.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually, not just that. Yeah, a whole cavern room full of goblins staring at you without saying a word? Absolutely unnerving, and that feels like a conservative reading of the situation. So is the presence of a bunch of flowers that appeared to have been dropped as someone ran away, along with evidence of a stampede<\/i>. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have the slightest guess what that is, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. OR HOW ABOUT THE SUMMONING DARK ACTUALLY TALKING<\/i> TO VIMES??? Calling him a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153brother\u00e2\u20ac\u009d???<\/p>\n

This is so much. I know I just said that, but when that crowd of goblins parted to reveal a corpse of one of their own, I was both freaked out and weirdly overjoyed. Because as Vimes put it, it was a body. A piece of evidence that could be solved<\/i>. So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to assume that the body was found on top of Hangman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hill, that someone murdered a goblin\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 for something? And where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jethro???<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/cFuIcqn9NyI<\/p>\n

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

– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\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":"