00:00 Existential Crisis 00:55 Introduction 01:45 Death 02:46 Mort (And a Rant about Character Motivation) 05:59 The Ending (Spoilers) 07:43 Conclusion #booktube #fantasy #discworld #terrypratchett
I don't know if the "put up the chairs, turn out the lights" quote is in the Sandman comics, but I wouldn't be surprised if Gaiman added the line to the show specifically as a tribute to Pratchett.
It was in the comics. In fact, the reason it gave me such a shock was because it was one of my favorite Death quotes from the comics, and I remember being distinctly glad when it made it into the show.
@@genericallyentertaining Alright, that is kind of strange then. I seem to remember Gaiman and Pratchett's friendship starting in the late '80s while Neil was doing journalism, so maybe Gaiman asked to use it. Either way, such an evocative way to look at Death.
The first minute was legendary … never thought I’d see the day. He did co-write with Terry Pratchett and probably has some for of legal right over whatever he’s using. I wouldn’t be surprised if Neil Gaiman sucked his magic from Terry Pratchett. But I wouldnt be surprised if Terry Pratchett let him. I have a story that gives kind of the vibe I get from Neil Gaiman having been such a huge fan for so long theres many things that I guess I would say, humanize him.. so in neverwhere there’s a quote “If being disorganized was an Olympic sport, Richard could be disorganized for Britain.” Which when I was enchanted by everything Gaiman I thought was so pleasantly funny, and I still do of course. Then one day I was watching a documentary of some sort and he said the same quote about himself, as they filmed him doing his thing. I was like aw how many other things has he rehearsed. So ya the first minute of this humored me greatly. I have wondered on separate occasions about his and Terry Pratchett’s creative relationship.
Yeah, I definitely get the impression that Pratchett and Gaiman gave each other license to "steal" from each other, especially since they were writing around the same time. In general, despite their different writing styles, I think their minds tend to trend in the same directions with regards to themes and characters. Man, it really is a shame that Good Omens was the only novel they collaborated on. :(
Thanks for review! I read Mort quite a while ago, and as I remember, I really enjoyed the style and Death character. But was a little bit annoyed by Mort itself. Maybe my favorite part was the communication with people after their time was over, which was funny and bittersweet at the same time.
Yeah, those were great scenes. I loved seeing people's different reactions to their death, especially the old woman who knew when Mort would be coming down to the minute.
Mort is athletic, he is just clumsy because he grew to fast, as kids do. He also didn't choose to become an apprentice, it's just what he was supposed to do as a young person. It's like getting into the university before you really know what you wanna do in your life, or getting a first job because you need to feed yourself. It's also really familiar to some people like me, where everybody is like you are such great worker, but we are not looking for new employees right now
Hey, I read Small Gods a long time ago. I will re read as I also found it great fun. Just finished Mort yesterday and I did really enjoy it too. As characters, I enjoyed Death more than Mort but he is just a prop for fleshing out the Death arc. I’m reading a lot this year and sandwiched Mort between reading ‘The count of Monte Cristo’ and David Mitchell’s ‘Cloud Atlas’. They are just light reading for me, the sentences themselves are what’s fun but the story itself isn’t so smart. It is a small and short read.
Please don't read Going Postal before Guards Guards, you'll get more from Discworld reading them in order. You got lucky with Small Gods as it's one of the very few stand-alone Discworld novels. Mort may be the fourth book but it's the first that particularly deals with Death so it doesn't really hurt to read it before the first three books. Guards Guards would work as your third Discworld book despite being the 8th book in the series because it's the first specifically dealing with the Ankh Morpork City Watch. But after Guards Guards I'd recommend going back to Colour of Magic and working forward from there.
Dude insane, I read small Gods first and Mort second too. My third Discworld book was Eric, just because it was on the shorter side and illustrated. Haven't read another one yet but I think I'm going to read Pyramids next.
LOOOL you do realize they worked together a lot right ? When pratchett published one of the first discworld books, neil gaiman was still a journalist and randomly got an interview with this wierd fantasy author and that started a lifelong friendship. So who knows who really came up with that, and I doubt either would mind the other stealing a good line.
What's with the silly over the top pronunciation of Ysabell? It's just Isobel spelt in ye olde English! Why don't we learn much about his family life.......Because he didn't really have one. What are his goals in life before he meets Death.....He didn't have any other than living day to day! Why does he decide to save Keli.....He's a 14 year old boy and she's a very pretty princess! It's outright stated that's his reason! What's his stake in this job......Getting away from his humdrum life on the farm! Why does he marry Ysabell at the end.....Because he realises that he and Ysabell have far more in common than he and Keli and Pratchett clearly believed in marriage being about compromise not about lust! - Small Gods short? It's a 400 page novel, it's not short! Mort's 320 pages which isn't particularly short either - That's longer than any of the first three Discworld novels or the 9th Discworld novel "Eric". Obviously if you're used to 800 page fantasy novels this may seem short but it's really not - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is only 208 pages Roald Dahl's The Witches was 284 pages and that's one of his longer books! Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin {the first Myth Inc book} was 208 pages. Tom Holt's Paint Your Dragon {another great comic fantasy} 312 pages. - You're reading this as a mature adult, you need to put yourself back in the mindset of a 13-15 year old boy because that's who the main character is and that's who Pratchett was writing for with at least the first five Discworld books {well maybe Equal Rites was written more with 13 year old girls in mind but let's face it that too was mainly read by 13 year old boys when it came out}.
