arianej's Full Review: Terry Pratchett - The Truth
I've been a fan of Pratchett's earlier novels, so I picked this one up without hesitation. He is one of the few authors that inspires such confidence in me. Pratchett's writing is consistently rewarding not only for his crazed silliness, but for his sharp wit, which he uses to skewer everything from religion to British culture, to fantasy archetypes. Although it is a bit of departure in style from earlier novels set in the Discworld, The Truth easily ranks as one of his best works.
The Story
Ankh-Morpork has been turned upside down by the arrival of a most alarming Dwarvish invention: the removeable-type press. Eh? Not exactly the wild and wacky beginning expected in most Pratchett novels, but wait. William de Worde is the rebel son of a lord (Family motto: Le Mot Juste!) who makes a decent living at creating small newsletters for the nobility and writing up letters for illiterate dwarves. The arrival of the press gives him an idea... Why not type up longer newsletters? And sell them to...well...everyone? It sounds crazy, but it just might work.
At first, things go well. William hires more reporters and a vampire iconographer named Otto, and more money than he expected comes pouring in. But the word is a funny thing, and William soon finds himself caught up in more than he bargained for... A rival paper springs up with stories like "Lancre Woman Gives Birth to Snake!" and even worse, the leader of the city, Lord Vetinari is framed for murder and the only witness is an ancient, diseased dog on the lam.
The Good Stuff
Hard to say, because it's ALL GOOD. As you can imagine, the topic of media and journalism provides endless fodder for Pratchett's wit, and every page is a delight. This is one of his novels I'd say is just as plot-driven as it is character-driven (more on the characters later) and the plot is a good one. The printing press has a lot of Ankh-Morpork citizens in an uproar, but one man who takes special interest is Lord Vetinari, Ankh-Morpork's Patrician. The Patrician cautions William that people don't really want news, they want olds, things they've already heard or know to be true. New news will only upset people, and, Vetinari implies, it might get William in serious trouble.
Initially, William takes this advice and finds it to be true, for the most part. People are very content seeing their names in the paper, hearing about cold winters, obscene-shaped vegetables, and other non-threatening bits information. But when the Patrician is framed, William finds out that the truth is a far more powerful weapon than he realized. It can be used for good purposes, like proving Vetinari innocent. And it can be used for not-so-good purposes, like the rival tabloid who sells sensationalism to eager hordes of citizens.
Probably the most cynical and powerful message is about how willingly people place the trust in the written word. ("They wouldn't put it in the paper if it wasn't true!") This becomes painfully clear as William's outrage at the local tabloid prompts him to do research and disprove one of their leading stories with the facts. To his dismay, people aren't interested in The Truth. They don't question the tabloid's stories and they don't make an effort to find out the facts for themselves. William's poor paper suffers, and so does his idealism. This is most certainly a relevant message whether you live in the UK or the US, and for those of us who sadly note the lack of critical thinking skills around us, it strikes all too close to home.
Characters
As usual, Pratchett's work has a wealth of great characters. We see the men and women of the Watch again in this novel, although they play a slightly lesser part than in previous works. William's vampire iconographer is another good one, as he is a vampire heavily involved in the Temperance movement and has given up drinking blood for hymns and cocoa, and wears a little black ribbon to remind him of his promise. With a strangely familiar Uberwald accent and a penchant for turning into dust whenever he snaps a picture, Otto the vampire is a hilarious figure and adds comic relief (and a bit of social commentary of his own regarding the role of minorities) to the plot. There is also the enigmatic Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip, two thugs hired by a mysterious Firm to frame Vetinari and get rid of the evidence.
William himself is probably the least weird of all the characters, and doesn't really provide as much slapstick humor as some of Pratchett's other main characters do, but that's all right. He plays a much greater part in the satire, as a somewhat naive young man who slowly discovers how powerful the pen truly is.
Not-so-good Stuff
I have very little to say in this area. Overall, the novel is so good, even I'm willing to overlook small shortcomings. The beginning is slightly shaky, but it's not really much different from the beginning of any Pratchett novel, since it always seems to take a little time for readers to get clued in. There are some times when I wish the characters were a little stronger, like William and that of Sacharissa, his female reporter. I suspect this is because I'm used to a lot more playfulness and comedy, and The Truth is a little different.
That's not to say the book isn't funny, because it is. The humor is just different. There's more satire, and the satire is more political than earlier works. Ordinarily, including significant social messages could easily backfire on a novelist, but Pratchett handles it remarkably well. He isn't heavy-handed with it, and there's still plenty of humor to serve as the "spoonful of sugar". The story is an excellent one even if one doesn't get all the references, although I think it is more enjoyable if one has a cynical (some might say "realistic") view of the media.
Recommendations
Pratchett's style is very light-hearted, even in this, one of his more serious works. If you're familiar with the works of Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), think of Pratchett as his fantasy equivalent, fond of parodying British culture and the genre of fantasy in general. The Truth reminds me a bit of Small Gods, where Pratchett turns his sights upon organized religion. I'd say this book is a better read, with the style more streamlined and the message a little incorporated into the plot.
I loved this book and would recommend it to Pratchett fans. For those who aren't familiar with his work, I'd recommend starting off with one of his earlier Discworld novels first. The Truth is brilliant satire, but it's not really representative of the Discworld series as a whole, and you'll get a better feel for Pratchett's style if you read just about any other book in the series. You'll also familiarize yourself with characters like Lord Vetinari and the Watch, who aren't as fully developed in this book--mainly because the author assumes that the readers are already knowledgable about the Ankh-Morpork cast of characters.
Overall, it's a great book. Sharp and biting commentary, and Pratchett is a master when it comes to the absurd. Nobody does it better!
While looking at my account page, I realized this was my 100th review for Epinions! While I didn't plan it, I'm glad this was the review that landed in that spot. Hope I'll be around for another hundred more.
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