{"id":4552,"date":"2018-05-22T05:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4552"},"modified":"2018-05-20T08:50:20","modified_gmt":"2018-05-20T15:50:20","slug":"mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/05\/mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Monstrous Regiment’: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second part of Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, Polly watches the new recruits come in. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of war, bigotry, transphobia<\/b>.<\/p>\n

SUPER SPECIAL ALERT: OH MY GOD, MY BOOK IS OUT TODAY.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>You can buy\u00c2\u00a0Anger Is A Gift\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>now wherever books are sold. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH<\/p>\n

Upon a closer reading (as I am writing this review), I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brother, Paul, is dead. I think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just missing<\/i>. But I can see why my brain instantly jumped to that conclusion. As funny as some of this is, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pervasive sense of how messed up this war and this country is. After spending so much time in Ankh-Morpork, Borogravia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conservatism is a bit of a shock. There is much less of the stigma around being a vampire or a troll in the city, though that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to suggest it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s completely<\/i> gone. Corporal Strappi is even worse than some of the more ignorant citizens of Ankh-Morpork, though! He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so open<\/i> about his distaste for Maladict (MY NEW FAVORITE) and Carborundum, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safe<\/i> to express those opinions. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in a position of power, and he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had to be accountable for holding those ideas.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, until now<\/i>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the reason he is so flustered as all the new recruits join Polly in the Army. The common behavior for these people is to reject them, to treat them with disdain, and Sargeant Jackrum ignores all of that and welcomes them in with open arms. For a purely selfish reason, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad this is happening. As I said during the video reading, one of my favorite tropes is RAGTAG BANDS OF WEIRDOS. And look what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got here! Polly is pretending to be a boy; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a vampire who is part of the Temperance League; then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Carborundum, who signs up and immediately gets so drunk he passes out. THIS HAPPENS IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES. Not just that, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s someone else<\/i> who might be trying to pass as a boy.<\/p>\n

Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 so, as I try to grow as a person and understand the world better, that means I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t unsee<\/i> certain things. A decade ago, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I would have even been all that aware of the tropes surrounding a character like Polly. Granted, this feels even more applicable to modern times. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole scene near the end of this section that deals with packing and how best to appear like another guy. That is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 not a joke for a lot of people? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a real<\/i> anxiety. But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Pratchett intends, or if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just being detailed in his depiction of this particular trope. Basically: I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read that scene without thinking of trans readers, without thinking of how that would affect them. Would they find it empowering and exciting to see the protagonist of a book talking about something they dealt with every day? Or would they feel detached and hurt by it, given that Polly is cis and this probably wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intended as trans rep? My guess is the latter, but this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really my lane to speak of with any authority. But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t not<\/i> think about it, you know?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to read opinions on this from people who are far more experienced on this stuff, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about WAR. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m real good at segues, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.) HI, HELLO, WOW, THIS IS DARK AS HELL. It is! Amidst the silliness of the recruiting scenes, Pratchett drops some intense sequences about how the Borogravian wars with nearby nations have left its people shattered and torn apart, sometimes literally<\/i> so. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I think Paul is missing, not dead. This country has a toxic culture surrounding its patriotism, and Paul believes everything he hears, according to Polly. Given that only men are allowed in the army, and given that Borogravia celebrates military service, and<\/i> given that dying for one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s country is the noblest act there is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty damning combination of influences.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise, then, that there aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> people rushing to join the military anymore. This kind of culture only leads to more death and more violence. Why wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> someone want to rescue their loved one from this sort of life? Granted, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that Polly wants to necessarily rescue<\/i> Paul, but it seems obvious that she wants to find him.<\/p>\n

Whew, this book is gonna be messed up, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/USTiUwSnNe4<\/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":"