What did you think, really, of Going Postal?

[zorcarepublic]

Just asking, because on my daily stroll through the Internet, I find that quite a few people don't really like it.

So, did you like or dislike it, and why?

I personally found it below TP's stellar level of writing--it felt too forced for me...

[The Ace]

Loved it, especially Killer, the banshee and the baddies getting it in the end. Nice development of golems too.

[The Ace]

Also, it was better than "Monstrous Regiment," which really was DIRE!!!

[dwndrgn]

I enjoyed it a great deal - not sure why anyone didn't like it.

[YOSSARIAN]

Going Postal and Monstrous Regiment are my favorite Pratchett books. Postal in particular-Moist von Lipwig is an excellent anti-hero.

[Thadlerian]

I wrote my ideas on Going Postal in the other GP thread. Here's what I said:

Pratchett's books just seem to get better and better, but this one was sort of a small letdown for me.

Let me say at first: The plot, the characters (especially them), the jokes, all this is great, perhaps even the best this far.

However, it's inevitably a very preachy book. When the message is so obvious and unsubtle, it can mar the best plots.

The big bad guy here is the Grand Trunk Company; legal theft, sabotage, obese and ridiculously helpless capitalists; it's not hard to spot. On page 72-73 Lord Vetinari delivers a political monologue at almost a whole page lenght. After his clonclusion, the book goes:
"Lord Vetinari opened his eyes. The men around the table were staring at him."
Through the preceding books, I've got to know Vetinari as the quiet, confident ruler who pulls the strings to make Ankh-Morpork run, but here it seems to me he's simply showing off. Why does he do that? He doesn't need to show off, he doesn't need to impress other people.

Then, near the end, there is this "message from the dead people", which we know was written by Moist. There's context of the message; the idea of "Sending Home" and other eerie clacks mythologies. But the actual text of the message sounds like a statement from a French student union in 1968, or something like that, with all its polemic agitatiton.

Some people say Going Postal might be a satire on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. That would certainly explain why all the opponents (except Reacher Gilt) appear to be political strawmen. It'll also explain why the good guys feel the need to deliver long politcal speeches.
But I feel that Discworld by now has abandoned the specific parodies to instead work on its own characters. Is he then using a dear character like Vetinari for this purpose? Oh well, I don't know.

To sum it up, Pratchett has in this book a rather obvious agenda against big, centralized capitalism/market liberalism. On which I agree with him: These big corporations hurt both individuals and society. But when his criticisms of corporations surface this openly and indiscreetly, it's hard not to be conscious of them. Any reader who agrees with market liberalism can easily root out the political message and ignore it.

Here's the problem: When it comes to capitalism, Pratchett simply isn't very good at satirising, as we have seen already in Johnny and the Dead; it tends to deteriorate to stereotypes and clichés about evil, fat men in suits who instantly panic whenever people speak up against them. He makes market liberalism seem silly and harmless, which it most certainly isn't.

And this is really sad, as Pratchett seems to make such good observations on all sorts of other stuff; heroism, war, nationalism, revolutions, religion, social issues, and so on.

But capitalism? Leave it to Jasper Fforde!

As a conlcusion: Yes, it felt a little forced.

[dwndrgn]

Ah, see, there's the reason I hadn't figured out why anyone wouldn't like it. I don't look for obvious satires. I take the stories as they come. I never considered that Pratchett was preaching against or for anything, only that he was telling a story. Because Joe Bloe writes a story about a skinny woman who is evil, doesn't say to me that all skinny women are evil - just that the one character is. Sure, you could look deep and find stuff like that, but as often as not, what you find is what you are looking for and not necessarily what the author was going for. I take them at face value because that is what they are to me. An entertainment. If I want enlightenment, I'd probably read some ancient latin tome full of avuncules and whatnot. Bah, I say, Bah! I'm reading for a giggle and a smile and an hour of exercise for my imagination.

[zorcarepublic]

Huh?

The opinion I got from this board was that it was one of the worst books TP has written...

[jof]

Ive never been able to read any Pratchet, but i got this free with some other books i ordered and i loved it!!! The only Pratchet book i can enjoy.

I really liked it :P

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

i loved it but felt it was very similar to a previous book

[Thadlerian]

Originally Posted by CarlottaVonUberwald

i loved it but felt it was very similar to a previous book

Would that be The Truth?

[YOSSARIAN]

Going Postal is more about the story of a likable rogue's redemption than it is a satire of free-market capitalism. Reducing the "villians" to stereotypes shifts the story from a satire to something more character driven. If the intent of the story was to satirize all-encompassing greed, then I agree he botched the job. If the greed-demons from the IMF/World Bank resembled the caricatures in Going Postal, maybe they wouldn't be doing such a good job of stealing the world's infastructure.

[bookaholic]

it was awesome but not as good as the other t.p books! still it was worth reading...

[Thadlerian]

Originally Posted by YOSSARIAN

Going Postal is more about the story of a likable rogue's redemption than it is a satire of free-market capitalism.

It can easily be both. I think it is. Most of Pratchett's stories (all?) have strong satirical elements beside the main plot.

Reducing the "villians" to stereotypes shifts the story from a satire to something more character driven.

I don't understand what you mean. Surely, making several of the antagonists stereotypical would make the plot less character-driven? I mean, if the Grand Trunk bigwigs had more, and more ambiguous, motivations behind their actions, the plot could have gone off in even more unexpected directions?

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

Originally Posted by Thadlerian

Would that be The Truth?

yes..how did you guess