March Discussion: Small Gods

[dwndrgn]

Ok, I'll start.

This is one of the Discworld books that may not be the funniest to me, but I really like his take on gods. It seems that Pratchett is basically saying that our gods are what we make them.

Some favorite scenes:
mad men in the desert living on imaginary feasts, completely content.
a furious penguin who should have been an owl.
torturers with cups around the coffee pot that have sayings like "World's Greatest Dad"
conversations between conspirators that mean nothing and get nothing accross, after all, you can't be sure who you're talking to.

Anyways, what did you guys think of this book?

[LadyFel]

I didn't like it as much as some of the others, it's definitely not a favourite (much less worn through use than the rest), but it raises some good qustions on belief in general...

I liked the 'villain', vorbis...someone you can hate with a vengeance...

[Winters_Sorrow]

This was my favourite Terry Prachett book because it parodies organised religion so well.

My favourite character - the fishermen who gets swept along with the invasion fleet and spends the entire book trying to sell fish to everyone

My favourite moment - the philosophers & the tortise and the arrow!

[NSMike]

Want a comment? Onna stick?

Small gods was the first Pratchett book I ever bought, so it holds a special place in my... bookcase. I'll grant that I don't laugh out loud as much with this book as some of his others, but I enjoy this book in different ways than comedic. I draw a more regular type of reading pleasure from it. The book tends to get a little preachy at points, but I think that's because he has to be somewhat serious if he expects his readers not to dismiss him out of hand because he's a comedy writer.

Although, I do enjoy Om's curses that never work.

[Princess Ivy]

i love pratchet, and love the book. The way that so many people follow the religion, and yet, ther is only one true believer. how true of our way of life and faith.

[dwndrgn]

I think that is why this is such a favorite of mine. A parody of organised religion hits a special mark with me because I see so much carp that I want to just smite people sometimes

Onna stick? He almost parodies himself here, so it is an amusing little aside.

The philosophers running out of the bath (with or without towel) always makes me chuckle and I suppose is a little dig (with a smile) at Tycho Brahe.