Terry Pratchett News

[Easy Bakes 253]

 

Terry Pratchett is suffering from a rare form of early Alzheimer's .

what a bad diease for a writer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7141458.stm

[Godzillaman 21]

That sucks...but hey, that's life.

[OffTopic 3]

That's to bad, but at least he's not dead yet. Alzheimer's is sometimes treatable.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The treatment scenarios for Alzheimer's are getting better and better.  Who knows, maybe it will be in time for him.

[bbfan02 23]

Well, only the future will tell. I bet they will have a cure for everything in the future. But, that will take a very long time from now.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[saltandsauce 0]

my friends aunt got lost in NYC because of Alzhiemers and she' been presumed dead (not been found yet)

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa

I have never read a Pratchett book, but he has my complete sympathy. I feel very sorry for him. My great-grandmother died due to the effects of Alzheimer's and no one should have to suffer like that. You begin to forget, you begin to not recognize people you have known all of your life, you become obstinate, contradictory, and violent. You have to be tied down to be medicated, to be fed, to have a simple conversation. You don't know where you are, or who these people are that are talking to you, controlling you, etc. This is one disease that needs a cure. No one deserves to be tortured in such a way.

Barbarossaquote>

Alzheimer's is indeed horrible.   Slowly losing all mental functioning -- your memories, your ability to recognize people, your ability to think -- is an awful way to go.   It's like dying one piece at a time.  

It isn't always violent, though.  My grandmother wound up living in her own little world.   In reality, she was in her 80s in a nursing home but, in her mind, she was a young adult living in the neighborhood she lived in back then.   She thought the chapel in the nursing home was the church down the street and the courtyard was her backyard garden and so forth.  It was her own little world but it was a happy little world.

Originally posted by: saltandsauce

my friends aunt got lost in NYC because of Alzhiemers and she' been presumed dead (not been found yet)quote>

That would be very stressful.  Who knows who found her and what they are doing to her.

All in all, I'd rather get it over with quickly.

[coolotter88 2]

well, the disease, even in the early stages, will cause him to not be able to write anymore.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa I have never read a Pratchett bookquote>

 

Take my word for it, you would love his twisted fairy tales and bizarre retellings of Shakespeare. You share his worldview, and no one does comic writing quite the same.

MORT!

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

That's just it, it's written with the abandon of someone who knows you're in on the joke. If we are all in agreement that there are no witches who ride brooms or Death in the classic style of the grim reaper, that frees them from a lot of restraints of believability. Kind of like how the Simpsons or Family Guy are less restrained as a cartoon than they would be as a live action show. Cartoons can do anything! 

His retelling of Death Takes An Apprentice is titled Mort. 

The apprentice turns out to be dim-witted, hilarity ensues, etc. I have read several of the Discworld novels and recommend them only to people I believe could enjoy them. 

Terry Pratchett is a well known atheist and strong, almost militant humanist. That is what I meant by 'sharing your worldview'.

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

A point about his writing I forgot...He is the only writer I have ever read that effectively uses typeface to convey a scene, i.e. Mort. 

Death speaks in all caps, but the size of the typeface is matched to the rest of the script. The result is a character who speaks softly yet with great authority.

 I'm sure other writers have used this device, but Pratchett used it in a way that was striking.

To wit:

- "My granny says that dying is like going to sleep," Mort added, a shade

hopefully.

- I WOULDN'T KNOW. I HAVE DONE NEITHER.

- I USHERED SOULS INTO THE NEXT WORLD. I WAS THE GRAVE OF ALL HOPE. I

WAS THE ULTIMATE REALITY. I WAS THE ASSASSIN AGAINST WHOM NO LOCK

WOULD HOLD.

- "Yes, point taken, but do you have any particular skills?"

                           -- Death consults a job broker 

More quotes at [link]

[panthersimcity4 162]

My grandmother in Poland had alzheimers, my mom had to hire someone to look after her since she lived alone. She was pretty fun though. Whenever she got angry she was like "I'm going home!" and she'd walk to the kitchen lol

It's a really bad disease, I hope someday it can be treated/cured/prevented...