RIP Terry Pratchett

Too many feels, man. Too many.

I shouted NOOOOOO! so loudly the entire hostel was like 'Are you okay?'

No. I am not okay.

From Reaper Man:


Windle leaned back. The stone of the bridge was still warm from the day's heat.
To his surprise, Death leaned back as well.
BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL YOU'VE GOT, said Death.
'What? Oh. Yes. That as well. It's a great big cold universe out there.'
YOU'D BE AMAZED
'One lifetime just isn't enough.'
OH, I DON'T KNOW.
'Hmm?'
WINDLE POONS?
'Yes?'
THAT WAS YOUR LIFE.
And, with great relief, and general optimism, and a feeling that on the whole everything could have been much worse, Windle Poons died.


RIP Sir Terry.

After my mild panic attack, followed by a quick succession of the grief stages, I've now settled on having way too many feels.

So sad. I'm just heartbroken.

Met him once at the Boston Worldcon. I was totally dumbstruck, couldn't say a word while he chatted with me and one other person.

Such a brilliant storyteller AND so generous with his fans.

What a great life he made for himself. I wish he'd had another 30 years.

His twitter page from today:


(in his books, Death spoke in caps)

https://twitter.com/terryandrob

2015 really seems set on kicking people in the teeth.

I was in my early twenties when I read "Small Gods" and found myself shouting at the book "Where were you when I was sixteen and needed you?!"

These days, "Pratchettesque" on a review too often gets used as shorthand for "funny + dragons." I feel like that's a disservice. Funny is easy, humane is hard, getting them both on the same page without giving the reader whiplash is a rare talent.

Nooooo.

I knew he had Alzheimer's, and it's tough wishing someone a long life when this is the case, but it's still sad seeing him go.

I was thinking about why I love his books so, and for me it's because yes, they're fantastic entertainment and the product of a huge intelligence, but what gave them their quality was that you could always tell that he cared about human beings. There's such a strong sense of social justice and anger at those who treat people like interchangeable spare parts, or where a society is set up to benefit the system, not the people who live in it.

You also got the sense of a huge amount of research and knowledge - not that you ever got beaten over the head with it, but I loved spotting references to folklore, literature, film... and I'm sure I never even noticed half of them.

Humane, a wonderful writer and extremely funny. I'm going to miss him.

Some headlines just hit you in the gut. I love his books so much. For me, "Night Watch" is one of the greatest novels ever written.

This is a sad day.

Now I'm crying at work. I think it was those tweets that did it.

Vale Terry.

Awww, shit. I loved his work.

None of us will read a new Terry Pratchett book ever again. Not a good day.

May his legacy of kind humor and brilliant world-building continue to inspire writers to new heights. RIP.

Shocked... I'm re-reading his quotes for eleventh time today
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/12/terry-pratchett-in-quotes-15-of-the-best

Professor Yaffle said:

I was thinking about why I love his books so, and for me it's because yes, they're fantastic entertainment and the product of a huge intelligence, but what gave them their quality was that you could always tell that he cared about human beings. There's such a strong sense of social justice and anger at those who treat people like interchangeable spare parts, or where a society is set up to benefit the system, not the people who live in it.

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Yeah, this. Pratchett was a very didactic writer. Discworld is a distorted mirror held up against our own world, and our own nature. He didn't set out to write a bunch of gags like a laugh track. He set out to make an argument through humour. He's very much like Dickens or Swift. Instruction and argument through storytelling.

Still, if that wasn't one's cup of tea, one could just read it for the laughs, even though one missed the nuance. Chances are, though, that the nuances worked their way under one's skin anyway.

Those writers who do that are the ones who tend to survive through the ages. That is the kind of writer I'd like to be.

Maxinquaye said:

Those writers who do that are the ones who tend to survive through the ages.

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And there's this: almost twenty years ago (god!) my then twelve-year-old son was very seriously - gravely - ill. On his 13th birthday, he was scheduled for some very harsh medical tests. He had just discovered a writer named Terry Pratchett, and the internet was a new thing so I emailed from south east Asia very late one night and explained what was happening. The next morning, when I woke up, there was an email from Pratchett for me to read out to the boy at the hospital. Not just a Get Well Soon - but a long and funny Nanny Ogg kind of thing about life being tricky, but worth going through anyway.

I don't know whether he was already famous then, but his email meant a hell of a lot to a very sick kid. I don't even know if we kept it - I hope we did, but they were very tough times and it might have been lost in the wash up. But I treasure it, or the memory of it, anyway.

Oh mccardey, that's lovely!

mccardey said:

I don't know whether he was already famous then, but his email meant a hell of a lot to a very sick kid.

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So touching! Such tenderness is something that lives in hearts for long years and is truly estimable.

I will bet US $10 that one year from now, people dressed in black robes and carrying scythes will congregate wherever Sir Terry's remains are interred.