Talk:Terry Pratchett/Archive 1

message: How about a name change to: Terry Pratchett's Discworld for that / page? --maveric149
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I think this is a good idea, although there are other entries about Discworld.Would these conflict? Kabads
"parodies everything under the sun" - is this appropriate, given the fantasy discworld? How should we approach this? - atorpen
I think there's too much on Discworld and not enough on the writer - more of a chronological approach through his career would be more appropriate. Discworld is another entry in itself. Kabads
1% of all the non-fiction books sold in Britain are written by Pratchett.
Surely this should be all the fiction books, right? -- Evercat 13:46 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)
:Oops! :) Arwel 18:47 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)
:On an ounce-of-truth per pound-of-paper basis, Pratchett is non-fiction. :)  Tannin
Do we really need a section about Discworld with a list of novels? The same information appears under the Discworld article...--IYY 20:14, 20 May 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually it says "It was during his time as a journalist..." i.e. anytime between 1965 and 1980. Checking through the COPAC library catalogue shows that The Carpet People was actually first published in 1971. -- Arwel 19:04, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Ah, that makes a bit more sense now.  Thanks.  Acegikmo1 19:07, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

text: Pratchett identifies his own books as comic fantasy himself. Ausir 10:41, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Unsorted

message: It does not actually rotate though, does it - a rather small and cold star rotates around it, just as Ptolemaeus envisioned...
:According to Equal Rites the Disc rotates. For each rotation of the Disc there are two summers (where the sun rises and where it sets), two winters, etc. Two of the directions on the disk (can't remember their names at the moment) are named relative to the spin of the Disc (i.e. spinwards and counter-spinwards)--Misfit138 17:42, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: The directions are turnwise and widdershins I believe, but yes, the disc does indeed rotate.--RustedGod 13:20, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)

text: The elephants have specifically-designed  back muscles (this is just speculation, but it does say somewhere that the point of the rotation is to balance the load on the elephants). Why would the directions be named turnwise and widdershins (or, in other words, "the direction it turns" and "the direction opposite to the one it turns") if there was no rotation? In any case, remember you're talking about a fantasy world set on the very edge of reality, created by an all-powerful being so forgetful he left his instruction manual behind, where magic works and gods bicker. Arguments from common sense don't hold as much ground on the Disc. (Oh, and please sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes: ~~~~). Confusing Manifestation 02:14, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Minor point but North would be hubwards & south would be rimwards, turnwise & widdershins are equivelant of east and west. If you want to know more read the books, particularly The Discworld Mapp Nate1481 02:22, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

text: And here's a reference:  "But this is the Discworld, which has not only the turtle but also the four giant elephants on which the wide, slowly turning wheel of the world revoles.* (* People wonder how this works, since a terrestrial elephant would be unlikely to bear a revolving load for any length of time without some serious friction burns. But you may as well ask why the axle of a planet doesn't squeak, or where love goes, or what sound yellow makes.)" (Interesting Times, Corgi edition, p14) Confusing Manifestation 14:02, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Call me crazy, but I always imagined that the elephants just walked in a circle.--Sub Zenyth 02:47, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  disc-shaped world rotates on the backs of four giant elephants 

message: I don't think Pratchett's comments are a criticism of JK Rowling and her work, but merely a criticism at how the media (namely the Times article) treats other fantasy writers. See for example Neil Gaiman's comments on his blog regarding this: 210.50.112.175 04:40, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Harry Potter Criticism" 

message: The footnote numbering is thrown off by the presence of an external link, it appears, quite spoiling the joke. Anyone more skilled than I know how to fix that? --Darksasami 21:51, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: fixed. --None-of-the-Above 20:28, 9 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Footnotes 

message: Have I missed something? I dont see his three books: Truckers, Diggers, and, Wings, here. (Books about gnomes, my favorite terry prattchetts.) Again, why arent they here or have I missed them out somewhere? Banes 18:20, 9 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  books 

message: I found the 'Pterry' reference in the first sentence a little odd, and distracting, so I've removed it for now..... Petesmiles 04:34, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: This nickname is often used on alt.fan.pratchett. Would it be a good idea to explain it here?  I believe it refers to Pyramids, where Teppic is also called Pteppic. (mcv)
What's with the 'Now containing over forty books' line referring to number of books in the Discworld series?  There's only 35 published listed on the discworld page, and 37 total.  I don't think its proper to include books not yet even completed or published, and even then, it is still off by 4+ 199.181.134.212 00:23, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

text: 37 novels, but not books, if you include (for instance) the diaries, the Mapps, the cookbooks and so on. Stephenb (Talk) 07:29, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Intro 

message: "I started work one morning and saw my first body three hours later, 'on-the-job training' meaning something in those days" - this is given as an unattributed quote, from context directly from Pterry. Unless anyone can provide a reference, it is actually a hacked version of a line from "about the author". From TCoM: "He started work as a journalist one day in 1965 and saw his first corpse three hours later, work experience meaning something in those days." If it can't be sourced, it can't stay. Anyone? ::Didactylos 00:51, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Dust jacket bios like this are, most often, written by the author themselves...so it's a safe bet, but sadly, still unsourced.  I think if it was refactored as not being a direct quote, we'd be alright.  InkSplotch(talk) 14:24, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Misquote 

message: The two pictures are fairly similar, and thus redundant. Please leave a note on my talk page if you decide to revert.  Cdcon  16:22, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  rm second picture 

message: I reverted a change by Bbsrock which had removed Terry Pratchett's birthdate and birthplace information. Verifying through Google was pretty easy, not to mention I think I've some books around which would confirm it, so I've reverted and put the information back in.
Anyone who feels otherwise, I'm happy to discuss it here.
InkSplotch(talk) 01:28, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reverted changes 

message: I think it would be both humourous and educational to include Pratchett's version of the Big Bang theory in this article. 
If you don't know what that is, it was explained in some extra features on a cartoon production of either Wyrd Sisters or Soul Music... Can't remember which one at moment.
The story goes that there are many other world turtles like Great A'Tuin all swimming through space. Every once in a while, they'll all come together somewhere and mate (hence, the Big Bang), making new 'planets'. 
Now wouldn't that just be fun?
:Not really. It's basically a joke that came from Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic, and as such it doesn't really belong in an article that's about PTerry himself. If, on the other hand, he had gone on record as officially saying he was a believer in the Turtle Procreation Theory of Universe Creation (and not in a joking way), that would definitely be good article fodder. Confusing Manifestation 03:51, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Big Bang Theory 

message: The book Good omens apears twice, once under 'non-diskword' books, and once under books 'contributed to'.
I would place it in the non-diskworld group myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.234.147.166 (talk • contribs) 
:Good point - it's more than just a book with "Contributions" by Pratchett, so I have removed the double reference. Stephenb (Talk) 14:10, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Good omens 

message: This page looks more than a bit cluttered. I understand the necessities of length for such and important author but a numbe rof the topics hardly fit the scope of an article on Terry Pratchet and give the article a fansite feel. In my opinion these include: Fans, Internet, Orangutans, and Trademarks. Similarly the influences, and possibly the small section Internet can and should be rolled into another general section. Finally the links list seems to be creeping towards relatively absurd proportions, that might be tamed by removing some of the links that cover similar material but in varying degrees (particularly the number of links that mainly just contain a bibliography)--68.231.174.183 11:14, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Clutter 

message: Can someone please help add citations to the article - requests are peppered throughout.  I've added a few (someone ought to check them, as I'm no expert myself!) but I can't do them all.  Stephenb (Talk) 12:15, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Some of these requests are redundant: the fact that "2005 Booksellers' Pocket Yearbook" isn't online doesn't make it any less a citation. -- Arwel (talk) 14:58, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Best thing to do is list the ISBN of the book as part of the referance Nate1481 15:04, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Citations

message: I have been through the article and removed anything that was requesting a citation. Due to the nature of the article, we cannot accept this sort of request on articles about living people. If you wish to re-add any of it, please provide a reference for it. Thanks, Localzuk(talk) 13:46, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  removed all unsourced parts per [[WP:BLP]] and also [[WP:CITE]] for non-person related ones. 

message: I think that the Terry Pratchet article should have a list of all the books he's written not just the discworld books.82.12.132.195 21:08, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: What seems to be missing? Notinasnaid 21:14, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terry Pratchett 

message: The following was in Pratchett's biography:
:In 1997 Pratchett appeared on the science-fiction game show Space Cadets, hosted by Greg Proops:
:When Proops asked the question: "Who is Britain's most shoplifted author?"
:Pratchett immediately answered: "I am!"
:"Correct!" confirmed Proops.
While amusing, this is hardly biographical information, and is definitly not a life-changing event on par with "He became an author" and "He became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire", the two entries between which it was located. This is amusing trivia at best. Not to mention that it is unsourced. I've removed it. -- Ritchy 05:23, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Space Cadets

message: Could someone explain the origin and meaning of the nickname "Pterry" for Terry Pratchett? "Pterry" redirects to the Terry Pratchett page but isn't found in the article. joye 17:42, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: In the book Pyramids, a number of the characters (Pteppic, Ptracy etc), and other words (ptortoise) had names that began Pt (pronounced just as T).  On the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett, Terry was therefore referred to as Pterry.  See also the alt.fan.pratchett FAQ. sjwk 00:17, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The names were actually spelled with the T (Teppic, Traci, tortoise), but due to the Djelybabian's accent, they pronounced it with a silent P. (Pteppic, Ptraci, ptortoise.)  This was explained by both Pteppic's training as an assassin and Ptraci's training as a handmaiden, as one should always seem a little bit exotic. --StarChaser Tyger 09:51, 30 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Pterry