You know what? Today I learned (or, I suppose, re-learned) what true bibliophilic joy is.
Excess.
You see, Harper has owned the paperback rights to Terry Pratchett's Discworld books since about, oh, Small Gods. And I kept looking at those cheerfully colored paperbacks and thinking I want to read those and then remembering, sadly, that I am a total completist dorkwoman who has to read series from the beginning, in the order in which the author wrote the books, not skipping a single one. Even if the books in question almost all stand totally alone, like the Discworld books. And actually finding those out-of-print books would require effort. I hate effort.
(I've owned Small Gods for years, actually, and it remains my favorite Discworld book ever. But I digress.)
So, anyway, several months ago, I was browsing through the local Borders. By 'browsing' I mean, of course, stomping through the store collecting books so fast that I appeared to be magnetized. Anyway.
And I spotted, there on the shelf, a cheerful new Harper edition of the first Discworld book. They'd acquired Mr. Pratchett's entire catalog, and were now back-releasing those paperbacks.
So I promptly grabbed the first three books and devoured them. (My record for Discworld maceration is three books devoured in approximately six hours. Yes, I am insane.) And every month or so another Discworld book would pop up in that cheery new edition, and I'd grab it and go home and eat it.
About two weeks ago, the back releases caught up to Small Gods. And all of the Discworld catalog was in current paperback release.
Tonight, I went to our local Barnes and Noble with Boyfriend. If you had been there, say, standing an aisle over in the Poetry section, you might have heard a strange noise, like a pair of vacuum cleaners set to 'parody'.
Because they had them all. And we made little 'vroom' noises and cleaned them out, calling back and forth to each other like Hoovers in rut. 'Feet of Clay?' 'Here!' Thud. 'Interesting Times?' 'Um... here!' Thud. 'Maskerade?' 'Um... dammit, I just saw it... here!' Thud.
Five minutes later, triumphant, Boyfriend and I piled twelve brand-new Discworld paperbacks (all the way up to the latest release) on the counter and dropped a VISA on top.
See, right about here is where I stop, and point, and laugh, and scream HA HA HA I'M OLD AND RICH NOW GIVE ME MY HUGE BAG OF BOOKSWAG WENCH AND NEVER MIND THE COST.
You don't need to have money to experience bibliophilic joy, but man, does it help.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I must go consume another giant hunk of 'Men At Arms'.
Replies: add your comment: currently 16 comments
Mooncalf; a real book carniseur(sp?).... =^_^=
I'd probably be a lot like you in thie area, but I don't read that fast....
Posted by Wolf @ 08/15/2002 11:21 AM EST
connoisseur, and I can't honestly say which Discworld book I like best... of the latest books Thief of Time was pretty cool, especially considering the fact that it gets harder and harder for Pratchett to write what he wants to (I mean, even the map is more or less filled).
Other than that I have a weakness for Hogfather, Small Gods, and Pyramids. But I was hooked from book 1 on, with the Leiber spoof :)
Posted by mandor @ 08/15/2002 12:04 PM EST
I know how you feel, love. Jim and I have a collection of Pratchett books that borders on insane (when we realised, many moons ago, that some of the books weren't released in the US yet, we started ordering them from Amazon.uk). Whee!
Posted by Bonnie @ 08/15/2002 12:05 PM EST
Any of the books that feature the Watch kicks ass! Sorry, that should be 'prods bottom'. :)
I can see Moon having days giggling as she _zooms_ through all of those books...
Posted by JohnnyBoy @ 08/15/2002 01:06 PM EST
I felt the same way when I first discovered them.
Excpet I didn't buy them all, I just massively misused the library's Hold System and had them trucked to me from all over the county, all the while tapping my feet at the 'maximum ten holds at once' requirement and giving thanks for days I had to take the bus home, because it meant I could drop by the library en route ...
Now I just want them to release 'Strata' and 'The Dark Side of the Sun' over here, although I alerady own both in import paperbck. ANd all the Johnny books, which I desperately want to read and would buy in a second, if I could find a place that stocked them that didn't involve giving my parents big shiny eyes and/or spending five hours on Public Transit.
Posted by Skimmer @ 08/15/2002 02:35 PM EST
Men at Arms is my favorite, I think. Of course, the Fifth Elephant is good too...eh, they're all good.
Posted by Zachere @ 08/15/2002 11:21 PM EST
Men at Arms has a special place in my heart. Actually, most of the Discworld books hold special places in my heart. Especially the Watch books. Why is November so far away? ::pines::
Posted by Priscellie @ 08/16/2002 01:42 AM EST
I just discovered Prachett after eyeing the ever-growing Pratchett selection of books at work for a month or 2. And now I'm hooked. The only reason I haven't gone out and bought as many as I can (mind ye, I can finish one in a coupla hours) but I've had to curtail my book-buying due to lack of space. That should be fixed by this weekend. Mmmmm. Books.
*starts reserving her copies of several LONG series at work*
Posted by Evil_Quistis @ 08/16/2002 02:33 AM EST
Mm... Discworld... I've only read a couple of the books, since my library doesn't carry too many of them, but so far Hogfather is my favorite.
I discovered Prachett's work after reading "Good Omens" by Prachett and Neil Gaiman.
Posted by Saikou @ 08/16/2002 05:58 PM EST
It might interest y'all that Good Omens is "in development" to be a movie, co-written by Terry Gilliam!!
It's have major problems though; mainly budgetory, and is being re-tooled, cancelling this summer's production schedule. So it's in the works....but it seems it's still going to be a long while until it's done and released. Stay tuned...
Posted by Wolf @ 08/16/2002 09:10 PM EST
Ooh... I do hope they do a good job with it, when it finally comes out. That's really one of my favorite books. The kind I can read over and over and over again and still laugh at all the right parts.
Posted by Saikou @ 08/17/2002 06:41 PM EST
Aren't they also making Neil Gaiman's Sandman into a movie as well?
And there have been two animated Discworld series' already. I wonder if Terry Pratchett could be convinced into making a totally original Discworld movie that isn't just based on one of the books.
I think it's safe to assume that it would rock.
Posted by Cereal Experiment @ 08/17/2002 09:59 PM EST
ooo Pratchett goodness mmmmmm.
I have *almost* all of them. I am missing Soul Music, and Sourcery. This is a good thing that they are being released again...
Love all of the books, and always find new stuff every time I reread them (yes, I am a nerd).
Posted by Sheerlyevil @ 08/18/2002 08:34 PM EST
"WHAT?!?!?"
They're making a Sandman movie? EXCELLENT news! Who are they casting as Dream? And more importantly, who are they casting as Death? Will she even be in it?
You know what the say "Life's a bitch, but Death's a cute brunette".
And will someone tell the Death of Rats to stop SQUEAKING at me, I'm not Susan Sto-Helit, so I can't hear him!
Posted by JohnnyBoy @ 08/19/2002 09:47 AM EST
wubbles! Pratchett! ^__^
I started reading them back in 8th grade with Small Gods... then I went to the bookstore and picked up everything past "Sourcery" (except Mort, which was inexplicably out of print). I stopped having any patience at all and buying them all in hardback around the time of Men at Arms.
My favorites are Guards! Guards!, Hogfather, Soul Music, Small Gods, and hmm... either Lords and Ladies, or Maskerade. I need to reread some of these. (But I've read Guards! Guards! about 500 times and it's always really, really good. Long live the Watch! I think Vimes and the Patrician are my fav Discworld characters.)
I've also read "Johnny and the Bomb" and it was bizarre. (I have it in a word file, oddly enough, so if you'd like me to send it over to you like a digitized library book, let me know.)
I also have the Soul Music illustrated animation script. And Last Hero, or whatever the most recent illustrated one is called. (me <-- too lazy to go look)
And make sure you don't miss out on Marcus and his Amazing Trained Rodents (or something like that?) which was another extremely recent Discworld book from last year that a lot of people missed because bookstores consistently kept putting it in the children's section.
--kris
Posted by benimaru @ 08/21/2002 06:37 PM EST
Woo! Pratchett! Discovered his books when I was 10, with Soul Music, and have been hooked ever since :D Ya jus' gotta love Death (CATS. I LIKE CATS.) and Binky ;P
Posted by WolfeFuzze @ 08/25/2002 06:12 PM EST
