“Jingo”
by Terry Pratchett
Note: This isn't going to be a
review on a novel so much as a review on an author and myself.
I don't often take, at least
immediately, someone's suggestion to read a particular book or
author. I usually file these in the back of my mind for when I'm
bored or am looking for something new to read. But this time I asked
my friend, Daniel Golightly, what he usually reads. He told me, and I
went to work finding it.
On my first trip to the library I
picked up “Jingo” by Terry Pratchett. It's a novel of Discworld.
I was thoroughly pleased with it. Not only was “Jingo” a fun read, but it had the potential to be very
influential on me as a writer.
I cannot claim, by any stretch of my
imagination (and how far it can stretch!), that I am well read. But
in my experience, though stories, plots, and characters can be vastly
different from one author to another, writing style is much
less flexible. I can spot Ayn Rand from Stephen King and Anne Rice
from Michael Crichton, but all of these authors have a very serious,
straight-forward tone and voice. You'll find nothing unusual here.
And to a degree, many other far less-known authors write similarly.
Then there are authors like Terry
Pratchett, who if I were to compare him with anyone it would be to the outright silliness of Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
But you know what? For as much as I
like Anthony, I like more, at least after one novel, Terry Pratchett.
He retains the silliness, the wit, the humor, as well as the
seriousness—which makes his story not only fun, but believable. In
Anthony's Xanth series I'm constantly reminded that it's just a
story. Not so with Pratchett. I was there.
Pratchett made me think more
than I have in years: on writing. I always read with both a reader's
and editor's hat on, and I can enjoy a story even as I'm dissecting
it (or perhaps because I'm dissecting it), but “Jingo,” a
simple story about an island floating up from the bottom of the
ocean, and the chaos it creates between two neighboring nations, has
me thinking a lot about the writing process itself, specifically my
style. I'm often thinking about how to write good characters, good
scenes, good settings, good plots and endings, but rarely do I ever
think about my style, my voice, my tone, probably because so much of what I read is already like how I write.
I'm obviously not going to start
writing like Sir Pratchett. That would be foolish on several levels.
But this novel is making me think things like “Hey, I could really
loosen up a bit when I write.” or “Why don't I start writing with
a little more wit?” “I should go ahead and take those risks that
I've always wanted to take.” “I don't have to write so close to
the vest.” “I can afford to be creative not just in my story, but
in my style.”
To put it simply, “Jingo” is
thawing the ice on the continent of my creativity. Pratchett has
shown me that there are more ways to write than with a serious tone
all the time—and yet still
write for adults.
But there's something else about
“Jingo” that's got me thinking. This time it's to do with where I
fit in genre-wise. I've never really been sure where to place my own
writing. I can be very serious, very deadly serious and dramatic,
even sinister (think Stephen King). But often times I find myself
writing with a softer touch, and my characters almost seem to take on
the characteristics of YA fiction (Young Adult). They want to play,
without the seriousness. They want to grow up, to face challenges,
but not take the world as if it's important.
I always assumed, to write that way,
adults wouldn't be interested (I was very self-conscious about
this!). But I am not a YA novelist, nor do I want to be because I
like the flexibility of having my characters cuss,
kill someone in a bloody scene, or even explore their sexuality. I
want to be myself, but who I am as a writer doesn't seem to fit into
a more specific label than “fantasy.” This may also be because
on one hand I see children as free-spirited, carefree, and on the
other adults being oh-so-serious and facing everything in life as if
it were life or death.
I also incorporate elements of many
different genres, from steampunk to gothic to YA to horror to science
fiction to romance. But don't go reading my stories because you're
looking for one of these, because any one “thing” is drowned out
by all the rest. It's like I write with the genre of no genre. Oh,
how very Bruce Lee!
But, hey, Pratchett does it, and this
Pratchett guy, he's famous! He's written dozens of stories.
He's a knight for God's sake! Yeah, that's Sir Terry Pratchett
to us peasants. And I have no idea where to place him. And it
works, at least for him. So what should I do as an author? My
impression after reading “Jingo” is to simply not care, and just
write.
What is my overall impression of
“Jingo”? Well, when I first started reading it, the story and
characters almost seemed to be fit for children. But I was enjoying
it, and as I dug deeper I found that “Jingo” obviously wasn't a
children's story. There was cussing, sexual innuendos, violence.
I was liking the story a lot by the
time I started figuring out where my mind was going on the topic of
writing. It's a pretty good book. I'm definitely going to seek out
more Terry Pratchett stories.
I think I'm hooked.
And I'm also going to loosen up a bit
with my own writing. Pratchett shows me that there is an audience of
people who can appreciate the serious mixed with the not so serious.
It just has to be a good story, with interesting and likeable
characters, that moves readers along.
And that's that, right? Nothin' to it!
Posts
I just read Jingo as well, and it's definitely a good one. There are lots of other Sam Vimes novels in the Discworld series. I'd recommend looking up the list and going through the whole lot; you'll appreciate the character(s) a whole lot more if you see the sequence of how they develop. In Jingo, characters like Vetinari, Carrot, Detritus, Angua, Nobby, and Colon all play modest roles, but each of them has a ton of backstory and character development in the previous novels. :)
ReplyDeleteGood! I'm glad to hear that Vimes is in more of them. I wasn't sure if this was a continuation or not.
Deletefor some hints on what works of pratchett to read and in what order i could suggest
ReplyDeletethis G+ community
https://plus.google.com/communities/118235079111058606830
and this site for reading order guides
http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/
enjoy
Thank you.
Delete