Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
377 pages
Published 2004
Read from March 23 to April 2
Rating: ★★★ out of 5
I suspect I don't have the proper sense of humor to appreciate Pratchett. In this volume, he expands his idiom from tickling laffs out of fantasy cliches to tackling overt social commentary on contemporary foibles, but the gags (aside from some mild wordplay that wrung a few smiles from my stony exterior) felt stale and warmed-over, almost but not quite as banal as "What is the deal with airplane food?" Surprisingly, at some point I found myself actually invested in our absurd conman antihero and his postal dilemma, my sympathies no doubt stimulated by my own anti-privatization, pro-social worldview, as well as the sort of prophetic-in-hindsight storyline recalling all too painfully the 2008 crash and its inescapable aftermath -- yet another illustration at how freaking obvious (and, shock of shocks, perhaps even avoidable) the implications of late stage capitalism were, even before the collapse. However it happened, I was more interested in Moist's plans and escapades than in the humor of the situation.
I can see why Pratchett is regarded so fondly by so many -- several of my friends adore him -- but I think I should have gotten into him at a younger age in order to appreciate him fully.
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