Jingo and The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

[lightreads]

Back to the Discworld, rollicking satire but also heartfelt and marvelous just for its own sake. These are two more Watch novels, detailing the exploits of the Ankh-Morpork city watch as they trip and stumble their way into solving crimes. Jingo details the attempted assassination of a foreign leader during the opening moves of war over a newly discovered island, and The Fifth Elephant takes Vimes and other members of the Watch out of the city altogether to attend the coronation of the new dwarf king in Uberwald, where things are a whole different kind of nasty.

The Fifth Elephant is a slice of the usual Pratchett fare – hilarious but heartfelt, exquisitely plotted and accomplishing more character work per square inch of pagespace than many of us manage in a few thousand words. And all while sniggering behind its hand and insisting that no really, you oughtn’t take any of this seriously, all just stuff and nonsense. But what I really want to talk about is Jingo It’s a sociopolitical parody, and a quietly vicious one, of western/Arab relations, racial prejudice, and the things we believe about war. Through Vimes’s copper’s eyes (and Vetinari’s tidy, clockwork understanding of the ways of politics) the book puts its head to the side and has a long hard squint down its nose at accepted historical authorities on war like, “war, Vimes, is just a continuation of diplomacy by other means,” and “if you want peace you must prepare for war.” And then it calls them bullshit.

War isn’t just a thing that happens to us, according to the book. That’s just a comfortable story that makes it easier to live with all that dying. Because as Vimes puts it to himself, ““History was full of the bones of good men who’d followed bad orders in the hope that they could soften the blow.” And if there’s anything we know about Sam Vimes, it’s that he’s not always the best at following orders. Particularly bad ones. And if there’s another thing we know about Vimes, it’s that he’s a copper first and foremost, and it’s his job to stop people disturbing the peace. This book is dry, a little embarrassed to find itself so deeply passionate, devastatingly eloquent in the way of the best parody which isn’t just interested in kicking holes in things, but also in showing a different way of shoring things up. That, and it’s just damn good writing:

Vimes glanced down and pulled the baton out of his pocket. It glinted in the moonlight. What damn good was something like this? All it really meant was that he was able to chase the little criminals, who did the little crimes. There was nothing he could do about the crimes that were so big you couldn’t even see them. You lived in them.

And you know the best thing? There are like thirty more books I haven’t even read yet.

Comments

[grievous-angel.livejournal.com]

Pratchett misses more often than he hits now (IMO) but he still has the gift of saying more with a sentence than most of us can manage in a chapter. And he makes you laugh and think all in the same sentence.

Sam Vimes is one of the great inventions of modern literature. And I honestly and sincerely mean that. He is a wonderful, complex man.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

Sam Vimes is one of the great inventions of modern literature. And I honestly and sincerely mean that. He is a wonderful, complex man.


Definitely no arguments from me.

[readerjane]

Thanks for this review. I tried The Colour of Magic awhile ago and couldn't get into it. Just could not. Which confuddled me, because so many people whose opinions I value seem to love Pratchett. Maybe what I need to do is try the first Sam Vimes book.

[eruthros]

Yeah, most people agree that the first four aren't very strong work, and some folks say he doesn't really get going until after the first eight or so.

If you check out the reading order guide at the l-space web, there's a track for "Watch novels." I usually tell people to start there, because those are my favorites. If, otoh, witches are more your speed, you can skip the early book (Equal Rites) and go straight to Witches Abroad; the little dotted line indicates a minor connection.

[readerjane]

(reading order guide at the l-space web)

Wow. Just took a look at the power point version.

I'm impressed, not only with the number of stories and threads and how they're interconnected, but with the fans' devotion. That speaks very well of Pratchett. Think I'll try the Watch series next.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

I started with the Watch books on purpose, because I was told they were really the heart and backbone of the series. And I also suspect after reading them, some of the other sequences will have more to offer themselves. At least hopefully, because oh, the Watch . . .

[fuzzyboo03.livejournal.com]

Naked philosophers! I love Pratchett.

[minyan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have to find Jingo now.

I read Night Watch this fall, and... I love Pratchett anyway, but this one socked me over the head. He takes a hard look at Les Miserables. Sam Vimes, Granny Weatherwax and Tifffany Aching are all brilliant people.

Also, anyone with the guts to name a book Thud! gets huge points. And that one's a look at fundamenatalism...

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

Thud! is not on my usual accessible books source yet, alas. *pokes them repeatedly*.

But yes, entirely agreed. Best. Title. Ever.

[fairestcat]

I so love Pratchett and the Watch books are absolutely my favorites. Vimes is just such a fantastic character, but what I love about Pratchett is that even the characters who seem one-note at first always turn out to be much more complex then expected.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

Yes! Sgt. Colon, for a prime example. Or even Carrot (whose cunning is either massive, or entirely nonexistant, and like Vimes I keep changing my mind on that point). And he juggles so many character streams in one book without dropping any *sighs enviously*.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

I'm rather interested what will happen when you move out from the Watch novels, and hit HOGFATHER and MASKERADE.

[insptr-penguin.livejournal.com]

And you know the best thing? There are like thirty more books I haven’t even read yet.

And the man keeps writing them. *hearts the Watch and Pratchett to pieces*