Title: The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld
Author: Terry Pratchett
Category: Non-Fiction
Page Count: 306
Rating: 3/5
This book is okay, I guess, but it’s also kind of lazy and a little weird. Basically, Stephen Briggs (one of Pratchett’s frequent collaborators) went through all of the Discworld books and compiled some of his favourite quotes together into this overall collection.
And so because of all that, this is basically just like reading spark notes on each of the Discworld books in order, and so I wouldn’t recommend picking this up until you’ve finished reading the series unless you don’t mind spoilers.
It also has the same problem that The Discworld Companion had in which it’s essentially just like a reference book. The problem is that I can’t consider a reference book as read until I’ve gone through it from cover to cover. That means that while Briggs says that the book is designed to be dipped into at random, I read it from cover to cover.
The content itself is great of course, but that’s because it’s Terry Pratchett and Pratchett is fantastic. This was always going to be a pretty good read, and I did still enjoy it despite only giving it a 3/5. It’s just that I’m not really sure why it exists, except perhaps either to make money or to satiate a demand from the hordes of rabid Pratchett fans who are gutted that there are no more Discworld books coming.
I feel as though the truth is probably a combination of the two, and that’s just fine I guess. And if the goal was to make me want to hurry up and get back to reading Discworld, well I guess that the mission was accomplished. Alas, I just don’t have the time anymore.
