“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” Sir Terry Pratchett
2015 a great loss to the Literary world.
Special Mention to the late Terry Pratchett, the author of the Disc World Series, and many other wonderful works. One of the most amazing Fantasy worlds ever imagined.
The first audio book I heard of Terry Pratchett’s work was ‘Thud’. Not the first one in the Disc World Series of course. I rarely ever seem to go in order. But I became so intrigued with his characters, and the subtle sarcasm that permeates every conversation. I’ve never heard a writing style that was so subtle, and so obvious at the same time. Maybe it’s because I tend to notice details in writing that I find the humor so prevalent and simply perfect, but I’ve never heard another like it. Of course the fact that he had the most amazing narrators to bring his written words to life, only made the experience that much more astounding to me. I believe that was the first book that I ever listened to where one narrator portrayed so many completely different characters in such a realistic and consistent way. It truly opened my eyes to what I had been missing for so many years.
After I listened to the audio book, I found the physical book for sale at the library, and I read it. What I found was now that I had heard the characters created in auditory form, when I read the physical book I could ‘hear’ the conversations in my imagination, just as they had been in the original audio book. What a happy revelation! It’s so much more than I could have imagined on my own.
For those out there who have never read or listened to a Terry Pratchett book, if you like Fantasy Fiction, you have to give these a try. If you noticed from my previous posts, 2 of my very favorite Narrators noted here, Stephen Briggs and Nigel Planer, have many Terry Pratchett books to their credit. And they are a credit to the books. This is a perfect example of combining a great writer with a great narrator to create truly exceptional works.
I was terribly saddened to hear of Terry’s passing in 2015. He was a one-of-a-kind special talent. However, he left a fantastic library of his creations for us and future generations to enjoy. When you think about it, that’s one heck of a legacy!