Going Postal - Terry Pratchett

Watch Out Yahoo!

Although only my second foray into Mr. Pratchett's Disc World series, GOING POSTAL has enough wit, interest, and modern day parables to make it a read worth anyone's while.

My first introduction was with Thud! A tremendous achievement, THUD! had enough quirks in terms of setting and characters to make it a thoroughly enjoyable read (I gave it 5 stars). And although Going Postal can claim its own level of quirkiness, it doesn't quite measure up to my first experience.

Equal parts comedy, fantasy, and crime-drama, Going Postal takes its lead from our current day use of email over the post office. But in the city of Ankh-Morpork, this is taken to an entirely new level. When Moist von Lipwig (don't ask) is given the option of death versus government service as the new postmaster, he has to think about it; that's how bad it might be. But enjoying a heartbeat and being able to breath, Moist accepts the new job only to find out that he has to compete with the Yahoo/Google masters of electronic communications known as the "clacks" which is a series of digital/semaphore towers run by the corrupt Grand Trunk Company.

But trying to get the post office sorted out is a job in itself. The use of old mailmen, stolen equipment, wizards, and a seemingly magical golden suit all hold sway within the postal walls. Oh, and so do tons and tons ...and tons of undelivered mail. So much mail, in fact, that it can talk. Words have power and unless they are delivered to the appropriate address, they may very well drive you mad.

Moist, having been a criminal himself, uses his skills to further the post office. And finding that he actually likes helping people comes as a shock! His first delivered letter helps bring two old lovers together and launches him on a path of destroying the man he once was.

Fires, Golems, vampires, and geeks all aid or damage Moist's hopes for a future postal service that city-dwellers can depend on. And love between Moist and a tough reporter might also blossom, given enough time.

This isn't your standard fiction fodder for those not-in-the-Pratchett-know. But it is fun reading. Light enough to lift spirits, but dense enough to keep your interest and make you think, Going Postal might have you licking stamps instead of clicking send the next time you communicate with friends or family.

Going Postal

A friend suggested after I reviewed Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books that I should give "Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett a try. So since I was at the bookstore with nothing else on my reading list, I decided to give it a try. And I was not disappointed. Pratchett's humorous take on fantasy was just what I was looking for after devouring Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series with its hilarious take on sci-fi.

"Going Postal" is actually the thirty-third entry in Pratchett's Discworld series according to Wikipedia. You might think starting with the thirty-third book in a series is a bad idea, but it's not really a sequel to its thirty-two predecessors, just another book set in the same world. In this case a flat world carried around by elephants on the back of an enormous turtle.

Right, so the book begins with Moist von Lipwig (his real name) being hung for various misdeeds committed throughout his long career as a con artist. But Moist does not die. Instead, he's offered by the local tyrant Lord Veniteri the job of running the decrepit post office system in the metropolis of Ankh-Morpork. Since the alternative is death, Moist takes the job as postmaster.

He soon discovers that death might have been preferable because the post office is a complete mess. Mail has been piled up to the point that most of the building in inaccessible. All the post office workers have fled except for "junior" postman Groat (who is an old man) and his dim-witted, pin-collecting sidekick Stanley--and Mr. Tiddles the cat. Much of the post office's decline is due to the new communicatins system known as "the clacks" which are towers using a sort of Morse code to send messages all over the Discworld in hours. With such instant communication possible, who needs to send a letter?

After Moist's attempt to escape from this job is thwarted by his golem bodyguard Mr. Pump, Moist decides to face up to the challenge of making the post office competitive. Falling back on his years as a con artist, Moist begins to generate public excitement by introducing a new invention called stamps. And wouldn't you know it, soon people are collecting these stamps, including Stanley. Moist's efforts are aided by saboteurs who want to shut down the clacks to put the greedy bankers who bought the clacks system from its naive inventors out of business.

As the post office begins to succeed, Moist expands his operations by hiring more golem workers from the very inappropriately-named Miss Adora Belle Dearheart. In typical fashion for this kind of story, Moist falls in love with Miss Dearheart and begins to take his post office job seriously. But the greedy owners of the clacks don't like competition and will do anything to put Moist out of commission for good.

This really is a very fun read and its messages about technology and corporate greed are pretty much pulled from today's headlines. What makes the book so great to read is that there is a serious message, but the story itself is never told in such a serious way to make it a drag. So you can have a good time and a few laughs and also learn a few things. What else could you ask for from a book? Well, there are one or two things, but let's not be too picky.

Given this is the first one of nearly forty in the series I've read I won't make too many generalizations about the series or any of that. If you want more background on that, go read the Wikipedia page on Discworld or I'm sure there are various groups, message boards, and websites around the Internet to help you. In the meantime I'm going to read a few more of these because this one really hit the spot.

That is all.

Pratchett = Wonderful as usual

The part I like best in this edition: Stephen Briggs doing Reacher Gilt, that pirate of industry, sounds EXACTLY like Johnny Depp playing Jack Sparrow.

Good story, though not great in Discworld terms

I've read all the Discworld books up to this one. This isn't one of the best, but the story is still worth a read and Pratchett's word mastery is always present.

Taking some more recent themes of hacking/cracking and telecommunications makes it a little more enticing to someone who likes technology. However, these particular topics are somewhat obvious, no great insights here.

Good read if you like Discworld, but don't expect a great one.

great book

This book is written well enough that at times you forget its a comedy. The characters are real and the situation is interesting. However, it is definitely a comedy and a good one as well. Its a short book and an easy read.