It’s time for reading Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett!
It’s been a long time since we got a book about the wizards of Unseen University, so let’s see how much mayhem they’ve been holding back on. Seeing as this book seemingly introduces football to the city of Ankh-Morpork, I can only assume that we’ll have at least one explosion, three murders, and one or two angry and/or confused mobs by page 20.
I haven’t been that fond of the books that tried to introduce overly modern concepts (like movies and rock music) to the Discworld, but I have noticed Pratchett’s style maturing a lot over the last 10 books or so, so I’m willing to believe he’ll manage to make football seem less out of place. Hopefully it will also contain fewer pop references, because I know nothing about football.
I’m aware it’s about a lot of men with weird hairstyles chasing a ball around, but I never really bothered to figure out why…
Unseen Academicals
by Terry Pratchett
Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork. And now, the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they’re in the mood for trying everything else. This is not going to be a gentleman’s game.
The prospect of the Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt). As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed for ever.
Because the thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.
Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!
[…] Unseen Academicals (Terry Pratchett) I learned two things from this book: One, wizards and football don’t mix. Two, don’t read a 500+ pages hardback with a sprained wrist. Does it count as a sports injury if you hurt your hand while reading a book about football…? […]
I’m not overfond of football or sport in general, but this book touches other, more mature subjects too. I’ve read it ages ago, and actually my own copy (a recent gift) sits on my bookshelf and calls me with its quiet, persuasive voice… And sometimes with a bellowing voice of Mustrum Ridcully 😉 But I guess I need to finish “Making money” first.
I’m more than halfway through it now, and it does indeed seem that the football is just a way to present more serious subjects.
And if you’re copy is beginning to sound like Ridcully, you might need to do something about it before you suffer the same fate as the poor Bursar!
(Whatever happened to the Bursar, by the way? He’s been mentioned once in this book, but hasn’t made an appearance yet.)
I haven’t thought about it… I guess it’s better to read it soon, as Dried Frog Pills might be hard to obtain at my local pharmacy.
(I don’t really remember what was happening with Bursar in UA. Maybe sir Pratchett finally took pity on him and let him rest in some quiet corner?)
The Bursar was mentioned once more (again, it was something about his vendetta against decimal points…), but he didn’t appear in the book, so maybe they found somewhere he could just sit and stare happily at the walls…