In the ninth chapter of The Amazing Maurice<\/i>, the group fights back against the ratcatchers, only to discover that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something else<\/i> terrible down below. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had this much fun with a Discworld<\/i> novel in a while, and I REALLY LIKE THESE BOOKS! But in The Amazing Maurice<\/i>, Pratchett is hitting on multiple themes that I love, and THIS IS SO FUNNY. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get over the poisoning scene, especially now that I know that THEY WERE GIVEN LAXATIVES, NOT RAT POISON! But the satisfaction isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t purely emotional. I adore<\/i> what Pratchett is doing with stories here, and look\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the first time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read a Discworld<\/i> book about the power of stories, about the pervasive nature of tropes, about fulfilling roles and rejecting them. Across these many, many books in this series, Pratchett has engaged with these notions in many different ways. So why this book? Why is this the one that feels so very unique?<\/p>\n
It must be said that Pratchett has managed to give these rats unique, compelling identities. RATS. (Well, and they have great names, too. I WILL DIE FOR THEIR NAMES.) It is astounding<\/i> to me that there are so many characters here, yet I can instantly tell them apart, and I look forward to watching each of them grow. AND THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122VE ALL GROWN SO MUCH IN JUST UNDER TWO HUNDRED PAGES! Look at Hamnpork! And Nourishing! And Dangerous Beans! Pratchett accomplishes this is less time than most books and at a higher concentration than most books. Maurice is changing, forced to examine his selfishness. Then there are Malicia and Keith, who seem like polar opposites in terms of characterization, but who are learning to appreciate each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective through this conflict. This book is shorter than most Discworld<\/i> novels, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so dense with character development and plot twists. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the essence of a Discworld<\/i> story, boiled down and stretched into a fairy tale story.<\/p>\n
And my god, I love it. SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING. Keith and Malicia threatening the ratcatchers! THE RAT KING. But let me jump right into my thoughts on Darktan, because what the fuck is this book doing to my emotions<\/i>. See, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another reason why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m responding as I am to The Amazing Maurice<\/i>. Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shorter, the elements that Pratchett explores are all the more intense. I thought that we had lost Darktan, that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d become victim to a trap, so yes, I was quite surprised by the twist that Darktan not only didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t die, but that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d experience him almost<\/i> dying. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to imagine that had he not been Changed, this experience would be completely different and probably not as emotional. Even though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all happening to a rat, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indicative of a very human thing. That wonder about the afterlife and death is something practically all of us think about. But death used<\/i> to mean something much different for the rats. Now, with their Changed consciousness, death holds a more haunting meaning. Is there something afterwards? Is there a Big Rat Deep Under the Ground? Darktan contemplates all of this as he slips further toward death, only to be pulled back by Nourishing, who manages to rescue him from the rusty trap.<\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a lot of tension in the story, though, because even though Hamnpork and Darktan have survived, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how long they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll last. Both rats are in terrible shape, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it to the end of the book. But death\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor at least the threat of it\u00e2\u20ac\u201dhas unequivocally changed Darktan. (I imagine it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s changed Hamnpork, too, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to see.) He is the only rat that they know of who has escaped<\/i> from both a trap and the experience of death. The very act of acknowledging that forces Darktan to think about things that are frightening and uncomfortable, which leads us to his epiphany about Dangerous Beans. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ONE OF MY VERY FAVORITE THINGS IN THIS BOOK:<\/p>\n But now he thought: He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a trap hunter, just like me. He goes ahead of us and finds the dangerous ideas and thinks about them and traps them in words and makes them safe, and then he shows us the way through.<\/p>\n We need<\/i> him\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 we need him now<\/i>. Otherwise we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all running around like rats in a barrel\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Of course, Pratchett invokes that image as a metaphor and<\/i> a literal reference to the horrific experience of the rat coursing. That event helped these rats realize just how different they are from their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153natural\u00e2\u20ac\u009d state and how disturbing that reality is. Yet that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Dangerous Beans is so important: none of the other rats are so willing to do uncomfortable things like him, and finally, Darktan gets<\/i> that. He understands the power of thought and consideration, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why he ultimately chooses not to drop that match on the barn. He makes the conscious decision not to become like the humans who tormented his kind.<\/p>\n I AM FULL OF EMOTIONS OVER THIS, OKAY. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just one of a billion things going on in this chapter! Like Darktan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growth, we see how poeticism plays a huge part in the narrative, so much so that Malicia outright mentions it. While the two kids certainly made it seem<\/i> like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d poisoned the ratcatchers, they ultimately choose not to sink to the same level as them. That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a lack of poetic justice here, and I loved that Malicia used her love of stories to come up with a means to torment these horrible, horrible people with laxatives and a couple well-timed lies. ALSO: SHE JUST HAPPENED TO HAVE LAXATIVES ON HER. She is TOO MUCH and she is MY HERO and IS HER BAG A TARDIS. Can we also all applaud the greatest single exchange in the entire Discworld<\/i> series thus far?<\/p>\n Keith sighed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How much did you give them?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lots. But they should be all right if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take too much of the antidote.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What did you give them for the antidote?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cascara.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Malicia, you are not a nice person.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And look, maybe she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a nice person, but goddamn it, sometimes, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be nice. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not worth it! So bless being not nice!!!!<\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just one thing looming over all of this: the Rat King. Look, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about a one percent chance this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t disgusting, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M BRACING MYSELF. The colloquial use of the term is gross enough, but I somehow think Pratchett is going to mess with us in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new and horrifying. The thing can ALREADY talk to other people subliminally, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incredibly violent and pessimistic. Ugh, is it made up of all the rats who died<\/i> in the cellar? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SCARED.<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtu.be\/NQbuxa3Tn5g<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\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":" In the ninth chapter of The Amazing Maurice, the group fights back against the ratcatchers, only to discover that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something else terrible down below. Intrigued? 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