IntenseDebate - mr

6 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Thief of T... · 1 reply · +8 points

"V unir ubcr gung gurer jvyy or nabgure Fhfna obbx orsber V pbzcyrgr ernqvat gur Qvfpjbeyq frevrf" fb qvq jr nyy, Znex, fb qvq jr nyy. ::fbof::

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Maskerade'... · 2 replies · +23 points

There’s the Librarian manning the organ
i think you mean aping the organ. he's very happy not to be a man any more. ::grin::

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Maskerade'... · 0 replies · +9 points

"Bu zl tbq, guvf vf gur ORFG GJVFG BS GUR JUBYR OBBX, V’Z NYERNQL QRPYNEVAT VG FB."

oh nuns.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Interestin... · 0 replies · +20 points

every time pratchett talks about teaching, i both want to cringe for my profession and laugh because he gets it so right.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Interestin... · 0 replies · +17 points

i was coming here to talk about just that. in the uk, since "asian" as a racial descriptor is used to mean south-asian, it has been pretty common for people of east-asian descent to self-identify as "oriental". this has been changing in recent years, but this book was written in the early 90s. also, "oriental studies" is what most prestigious uk universities call what in the us we would call near/east asian studies. the most reputable journal on east asian studies is called the "journal of oriental studies" (https://www.jstor.org/journal/joriestud), and it's a term used widely in academia.

meant for clarification, not to defend the horrific racism of this book, which has been there since the jump (hongs, tangs, fangs, and mcsweeneys).

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Battle Mag... · 1 reply · +17 points

See, what Mark finds great with world building, I find totally annoying and hand-wavey. As my father likes to say, difference of opinion is what makes horse racing!

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Soul Music... · 0 replies · +3 points

FB ZHPU. V guvax Ubtsngure znl or zl snibevgr Qvfpjbeyq, nygubhtu vg'f uneq gb pubbfr.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Soul Music... · 0 replies · +13 points

I feel like Soul Music is possibly one of the worst offenders in Pratchett's early career of the problem of not knowing how to end a book. It's like plot plot plot PLOT...oh shit, I have to make a resolution? ::frantic hand waving::

Is anyone else really not looking forward to Mark Reads Interesting Times? I think it's my least-favorite Discworld book, and it has, um, issues. ::koff koff:: Gur enpvfz/Bevragnyvfz va gur obbx vf oyngnag rabhtu gb or gbgnyyl havagrerfgvat gb nanylmr.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Battle Mag... · 0 replies · +2 points

I guess that my own theological rejection of the idea that some places are holier than other places might be getting in the way of my analysis, nygubhtu gur unaq-jnivat "lbh'yy whfg sbetrg guvf penml fuvg jura lbh yrnir urer" gung Cvrepr qbrf ng gur raq bs gur obbx vf ynml.
It just seems like the worldbuilding that was done so carefully over eight books comes apart at the seams in these last three, and not in any really interesting way.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Battle Mag... · 0 replies · +5 points

The "wrongness" of the Yajgingi magic has also bothered me as an authorial choice. There's even understanding that the very different way that Traders train their Mimanders is still right and effective (although wrong for Daja), but the way Yanjingi magic is portrayed is just as wrongheaded, much the way western medicine looks at eastern medicine (although it's just that they're completely different philosophical systems).

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