Life

[tegan]

Jesus. This is a bad couple of weeks for nerd icons. I've been a big fan of Pratchett ever since high school. It's sad to see him go.

 

 

Not to change subject, but I also just wanted to mention that I may have found a job in Halifax. Yay.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Congrats Tegan!

[dibs]

Well done:)

[Brodie]

Terry Pratchett has passed away.

 

I am extremely sad right now. He is one of my favorite authors. In a world where I did more writing, he would probably be at the top of my list of influences. I mean, even in this world, where I don't, he still is. Ahh. ):

 

Same. 

I wish I had something to say about it but, mostly, i'm just terribly sad. Good on him for going out with as much dignity as he did. 

[SecretAsianMan]

I've never read any of Practchett's works, but seeing what people have been saying about them all day I feel like I should.

[Brodie]

I've never read any of Practchett's works, but now I feel like I should.

 

If you are into audiobooks, pretty much anything of his that is narrated by Stephen Briggs is an excellent place to start. If you were to just pick something up I would recommend Thief of Time as a good place to start.

[Codicier]

Terry Pratchett has passed away.

 

I am extremely sad right now. He is one of my favorite authors. In a world where I did more writing, he would probably be at the top of my list of influences. I mean, even in this world, where I don't, he still is. Ahh. ):

 

I really can't put into words how sad this makes me.

 

His writing had a kindness mixed with sharpness which I never found elsewhere

[Dewar]

I've never read any of Practchett's works, but seeing what people have been saying about them all day I feel like I should.

 

Most of his books are short and awesome, well worth reading. I think I'm one behind myself, but I own them all.

[Codicier]

with this & Iain Bank's death in 2013 that's basically the two most significant authors of my youth passing away before their time. They both seemed to have so much fire left in them, so many more ideas, and things to say than life allowed them.

RIP Sir Terry Pratchett

Creator of books which took me elsewhere whenever I opened them, made me laugh when I needed it, and made me think when I least expected it.

I was lucky to meet him at book signings twice and he genuinely seemed as happy to be there as everyone who came to see him.

He genuinely seemed to believe in the best possible way what he wrote for me inside one of those books

[SuperBiasedMan]

Aw, I've gotta go back through the catalogue now. He wrote great books. I'm not a fan of fantasy at all but he seemed to write stories that just didn't feel like traditional fantasy even though he drew on every trope there was. He just made it feel genuine.

[jennegatron]

The kitten I got in middle school in 2004 turns 11 this year, and I had to spend 5 1/2 years away from him between going away to college and moving away from my parent's house after graduating. In December I visited my parents in Illinois and brought him back with me to California. He's over 20lbs, so it wasn't exactly easy carrying him through airports. This week he's decided that 4:30AM is an amazing time to be awake, and that I should also be awake with him, and that he's going to do everything in his power to wake me up, including but not limited to, knocking the metal pull string on my lamp against the metal base, walking on top of me, nipping at my leg if he finds that it's not under the blanket, pawing at my arm if he sees that it's exposed, shredding any paper/cardboard he can find on my side of the bed, chewing on my glasses on my nightstand, & knocking over my metal Return of the Jedi trash can. So what I'm saying is if I were a weaker person I would be asking, who wants a free 20lb nearly 11 year old tom cat. He's been fixed & is strictly indoors. I hope you don't own cords or paper/cardboard because he will destroy everything you love. He also only wants his head and ears scratched, and he will bite your hands when he's hungry.

 

[Dewar]

Aw, I've gotta go back through the catalogue now. He wrote great books. I'm not a fan of fantasy at all but he seemed to write stories that just didn't feel like traditional fantasy even though he drew on every trope there was. He just made it feel genuine.

 

I would say that he took very genuine, realistic characters placed in a bizarre trope-filled fantasy world and watched what happened.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I would say that he took very genuine, realistic characters placed in a bizarre trope-filled fantasy world and watched what happened.

You're absolutely right, that was exactly it.

[Brodie]

I think, of all his characters, Sam Vimes has had the most profound affect on me. Of all the heroes in all of the myriad books I've read over my life, he's the one character that a part of me really does look up to. 

 

....don't mind me, i'm going to be curled up under a pile of blankets with a bourbon, reading Snuff and totally not crying. 

[Mawd]

: (

I didn't read much of him but I loved Mort. I'll have to go on a binge some time.

[elmuerte]

I first came into contact with Pratchett's work through the Discworld graphical adventure game. As I'm not much of a reader of fiction I've only read a few of his books. His humor is really well worked out.

He died naturally, but I hoped he would have gotten to the point where he would have taken his own life.

[Brodie]

I first came into contact with Pratchett's work through the Discworld graphical adventure game. As I'm not much of a reader of fiction I've only read a few of his books. His humor is really well worked out.

He died naturally, but I hoped he would have gotten to the point where he would have taken his own life.

I think i understand what you're driving at here but, man, phrasing.

context for those that need it: http://www.dignityindying.org.uk/patron/sir-terry-pratchett/

[elmuerte]

Oh yeah, forgot to bring in some context about that. You should see "Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die".

[Gwardinen]

I remember watching that. I recommend it because it's well made and about something that's becoming more and more important... but it's definitely kind of rough.

[syntheticgerbil]

I read about one Discworld book a year, I have only finished 11 so far though. Good Omens is one of my favorite books as well. I think when I complete all the novels, how much I will miss him will truly kick in.

Also I hope things work themselves out for your work situation JonCole.

 

And Tegan I am glad you can now embark on the next phase of your life in Halifax. Congratulations.

[dium]

I've already said a bit about Pratchett in the Discworld thread, but I didn't notice that there was a conversation happening here about it. I'll just say it again, he was very important to who I am now. I've been thinking about it all day.

 

I never heard of Choosing To Die and think I must look it up, for some catharsis.

[Badfinger]

If you are into audiobooks, pretty much anything of his that is narrated by Stephen Briggs is an excellent place to start. If you were to just pick something up I would recommend Thief of Time as a good place to start.

 

Thief of Time was my first Pratchett novel, so thank you for conjuring that memory. I am sad to hear of his passing, but at the same time knowing how he was dealing with Alzheimer's I also feel happy he's gotten relief. Discworld was, and is, important.

[Bjorn]

The kitten I got in middle school in 2004 turns 11 this year, and I had to spend 5 1/2 years away from him between going away to college and moving away from my parent's house after graduating. In December I visited my parents in Illinois and brought him back with me to California. He's over 20lbs, so it wasn't exactly easy carrying him through airports. This week he's decided that 4:30AM is an amazing time to be awake, and that I should also be awake with him, and that he's going to do everything in his power to wake me up, including but not limited to, knocking the metal pull string on my lamp against the metal base, walking on top of me, nipping at my leg if he finds that it's not under the blanket, pawing at my arm if he sees that it's exposed, shredding any paper/cardboard he can find on my side of the bed, chewing on my glasses on my nightstand, & knocking over my metal Return of the Jedi trash can. So what I'm saying is if I were a weaker person I would be asking, who wants a free 20lb nearly 11 year old tom cat. He's been fixed & is strictly indoors. I hope you don't own cords or paper/cardboard because he will destroy everything you love. He also only wants his head and ears scratched, and he will bite your hands when he's hungry.

WP_20150220_001.jpg 

 

He's a handsome big old kitty (big ass tom cats are my favs)!  Speaking of which, our big ass tom is seriously behaviorally challenged at night.  He actually gets locked into a room when we go to bed because 9 times out of 10 he will wake one of us up.  His schtick is to just wander around the bed howling at the top of his lungs, and then running and hiding when you get up to deal with him.  His howl kinda sounds like the alien death laser from Mass Effect, with an eow at the end of it.

[Merus]

Ow, losing Terry Pratchett hurts.

 

Congratulations, tegan, I'm just going to be over here a little upset about death.

[Nachimir]

Oh no... I was just thinking the other day that when he passes, a little light in the world would go out. And now it has, I guess. A quote from The Truth has always stuck with me - "Sometimes glass glitters more than diamonds because it has more to prove." I thought about that and his battle with Alzheimer's and how I devoured his books in high school at least once a week. I really admired him. Such good memories reading those books - they helped me through some rough times. Man, this is terrible. Just terrible.

 

We were lucky to have him, and the last tweets he had someone else send were beautiful. I'm happy he managed to stay so coherent for so long with a condition like his, because I'd been absolutely dreading reading something like Mervyn Peake's last work. I'm sad that he's gone, but he'd studied death, talked about it in public, maybe accepted it, and he mustered an impressive amount of humanity and dignity these past years.

 

 

Not to change subject, but I also just wanted to mention that I may have found a job in Halifax. Yay.

 

Good to hear.