The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld
Pratchett, Terry (Compiled by Stephen Briggs)
Sold by Book Barn Boutique, Deltona, FL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller since 13 May 2021
Used - Hardcover
Condition: Used - Fine
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketSold by Book Barn Boutique, Deltona, FL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller since 13 May 2021
Condition: Used - Fine
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketPlease reference photos for most accurate description. This is a hardcover book in fine (or like new) condition, which means it has almost no or very minor foxing of pages, no writing whatsoever in the book, but may have a remainder mark or stamp on top or bottom of pages. Spine is tight and all pages are intact. Dust jacket has no chipping or tears and minimal rubbing. Absolutely no stickers on my books. ABSOLUTELY NO SMOKE OR MOLD. This book would be a perfect gift. Book Barn Boutique since 2007, quality books at reasonable prices.
Seller Inventory # 000349
For more than two decades, Terry Pratchett has been regaling readers with tales of Discworld—a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants, which are standing on the back of a giant turtle, flying through space. It is a world populated by ineffectual wizards and sharp-as-tacks witches, by tired policemen and devious dictators, by reformed thieves and vampires who have sworn to drink no blood. It is a world that is vastly different from our own . . . except when it isn't.
Now, in The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld, various nuggets of Pratchett's witty commentary and sagacious observations have been compiled by Pratchett expert Stephen Briggs, a man who, they say, knows even more about Discworld than Terry Pratchett.
Within these pages, you'll find musings on:
. . . and more! Culled from all the Discworld novels, The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld confirms Pratchett's place in the pantheon of great satirists and proves why the Chicago Tribune has praised his Discworld as "entertaining and gloriously funny . . . an accomplishment nothing short of magical."
Chapter One
The Color of Magic
On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard [Rincewind], a naive tourist [Twoflower] whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course The Edge of the planet . . .
How it all began:
In a distant and second-hand set of dimensions, in an astral plane that was never meant to fly, the curling star-mists waver and part . . .
There was . . . the theory that A'Tuin had come from nowhere and would continue at a uniform crawl, or steady gait, into nowhere, for all time. This theory was popular among academics.
An alternative, favored by those of a religious persuasion, was that A'Tuin was crawling from the Birthplace to the Time of Mating, as were all the stars in the sky which were, obviously, also carried by giant turtles. When they arrived they would briefly and passionately mate, for the first and only time, and from that fiery union new turtles would be born to carry a new pattern of worlds. This was known as the Big Bang hypothesis.
The twin city of Ankh-Morpork, foremost of all the cities bounding the Circle Sea, was as a matter of course the home of a large number of gangs, thieves' guilds, syndicates, and similar organizations. This was one of the reasons for its wealth.
The stranger smiled widely and fumbled yet again in the pouch. This time his hand came out holding a large gold coin. It was in fact slightly larger than an 8,000-dollar Ankhian crown and the design on it was unfamiliar, but it spoke inside Hugh's mind in a language he understood perfectly. My current owner, it said, is in need of succour and assistance; why not give it to him, so you and me can go off somewhere and enjoy ourselves?
If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor and shouting "All gods are bastards!"
Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant "idiot."
At about this time a hitherto unsuccessful fortune-teller living on the other side of the block chanced to glance into her scrying bowl, gave a small scream, and, within the hour, had sold her jewelry, various magical accoutrements, most of her clothes, and almost all her other possessions that could not be conveniently carried on the fastest horse she could buy. The fact that later on, when her house collapsed in flames, she herself died in a freak landslide in the Morpork Mountains, proves that Death, too, has a sense of humor.
The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork smiled, but with his mouth only.
"I'm sure you won't dream of trying to escape from your obligations by fleeing the city . . ."
"I assure you the thought never even crossed my mind, lord."
"Indeed? Then if I were you I'd sue my face for slander."
"Ah, Gorphal," said the Patrician pleasantly. "Come in. Sit down. Can I press you to a candied starfish?"
"I am yours to command, master," said the old man calmly. "Save, perhaps, in the matter of preserved echinoderms."
There are said to be some mystic rivers—one drop of which can steal a man's life away. After its turbid passage through the twin cities the Ankh could have been one of them.
That's what's so stupid about the whole magic thing . . . You spend twenty years learning the spell that makes nude virgins appear in your bedroom, and then you're so poisoned by quicksilver fumes and half-blind from reading old grimoires that you can't remember what happens next.
Excerpted from The Wit and Wisdom of Discworldby Terry Pratchett Copyright © 2007 by Terry Pratchett. Excerpted by permission.
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