I took the unprecedented step of borrowing a Discworld novel recently. I normally buy them because they are great for re-reads, but I was craving something new and funny and hadn’t had the time to go to the bookshop (the nearby library has a lot more books too).
In The Truth, Ankh Morpork has finally gotten its very own newspaper! William de Worde has discovered that, with the help of a printing press, he can make money by expending his monthly newsletter and sell it to everyone who can read. As the Ankh Morpork Times grows, William finds himself caught up in a most peculiar incident involving Lord Vetinari.
As usual, I really enjoyed this. I tend to enjoy the Ankh Morpork stories most and it’s always fun to see what other people think of Vimes and the Watch.
Willam was an interesting character. He makes his own living, but as the second son of a very prominent family, he was raised in a different environment. Apart from his devotion to The Truth, I thought it was interesting to see how he does his best to overcome the bias that he was brought up in. Pratchett is a genius when it comes to writing about relationships between different groups of people (especially in books like Snuff) and Williams struggles are one that will resonate with many people, even if they live in worlds that are not on the back of turtles.
When it came to the theme (what makes the news?), I also liked the rivalry between the Ankh Morpork Times and The Ankh-Morpork Inquirer. The Times focuses on verifiable news, while the Inquirer is all about fake news that people want to hear. It’s extremely relevant in this time and age and I do wonder what would happen if Ankh Morpork managed to be dragged kicking and screaming into the age of the 24/7 news cycle. I suspect that even Vetinari might have a hard time with that.
If you haven’t already, read the Discworld novels. They are consistently funny, filled with believable characters and manage to deal with real-world issues without becoming thinly-veiled opinion pieces.
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