This one was fun, but also a bit cringe, depending on the joke. It feels very Eurocentric in its look at cultures it clearly has no internet in understanding, aside from a pun or other play. And sometimes that’s fine… but other times it strays into outright problematic territory, probably a product of when it was written and obviously not willful intent. But yeah… does feel like punching down sometimes.

Otherwise, it’s perfectly serviceable. I enjoyed the riddle of the Sphinx part and the weirdness of the pyramids. Does feel like it’s on shaky ground when it’s not outright British culture being the thing under the lens.

Much better than Pyramids, imo. Which was way too Eurocentric, and probably intrinsically what cultural appropriation arguably is. The acolyte who believes so purely sustaining a small god incarnated (?) into a tortoise. And their journey slash pilgrimage to bring him back into prominence.

This is fantastic, and I think quite respectful actually, of atheism and organized religion. It’s nuanced enough that it comes down on both positive and negatives aspects of both belief systems. Because everyone worships; it just depends what you believe _in_. And what this decides to believe in is what I would call “the right answer”, maybe the only answer, unless you’re incredibly nihilistic.

The jokes here aren’t incredible, lots of bad puns. More so the pleasure of this came from the themes being absolutely nailed and punching up, after the punching down onto a pastiche of cultures in Pyramids. Why do I keep comparing it to that? I’m reading the trilogy of Gods, so.

This was mostly just a fun romp, but must say the ending came together more so than I’d expected it to. It leans a little heavy into the amusing vs systemic things I like as well. But has an undeniable charm to it, I think.

Pyramids was fun, but also, imo, pretty problematic at points. There’s some historical stuff that, wether purposeful or otherwise, is outright disrespectful and punching down, and the Greek/Egyptian bits being conflated for laughs is more-or-less exactly what people cite in cultural appropriation these days. The themes regarding tradition and blind adherence to it is pretty well fleshed out though. And the riddle of the sphinx did make me laugh out loud (though, again, it’d not have spoken unless Greek, right, so kind of odd), and finally—the challenge for becoming an assassin was well handled and probably the funnest sequence.

Small Gods was a stand out for me. I think it’s my favourite, beating out Going Postal. The interrogation of atheism and organized religion feels insightful and respectful of both sides, while also being critical of both viewpoints. It’s honestly a masterful straddling of lines. While the plot isn’t as fun as Pyramids it made me think a lot about certain things and I doubt I’ll forget it. Also, the librarians zipping into your save books at a certain crucial moment and the way the conflict at the end is resolved is just great.

Hogsfather is relegated to a fun romp. The end did come together far more than expected, but the puns and tone and jokes and what not left me a bit cold, especially after Small Gods. The idea that believing in something makes us human and is the cog in our ability to continue on is a good one, but the actual plot, which involves an assassin taking out Father Christmas and what not, should have been a lot cooler than it was. I think it was just a bit too silly for me, whereas the other books walk a line with it.

I can see why these books are grouped together like this. All are about belief in gods, the relationship being far more complex than most tend to perceive it as. It’s like the silly, fun, wildly fantastical version of American Gods at times.

How terrible am I for wishing Lady S sort of got away with it??? Regardless, such a fun and funny novel. Something of a feat for me. I’m reading Quixote and finished JR last week, but think I might have smiled more and been entertained—on a lighthearted front—by this small epistolary effort more than either (certainly by Quixote, anyway, with people shitting their pants every 10 minutes. Not my style).

I have found myself thinking about this all the time since May, so am bumping it up to 5 stars. If Northanger is a 4, certainly this is a 5, in my mind.

Perhaps I went into this with high expectations, a casualty of marketing copy, possibly? but I thought this was exactly what it said it was on the tin. The craft is good, they’re still prescient. I must have read a new version, because the last story is one about, specifically, COVID 19, so… obviously not old at all. I found it a solid read but I don’t think any story will stay with me in particular.

Very clever and wildly funny at parts. I haven’t read many plus and wasn’t expecting the very explicit nature of some of the humour and it made it even more comedic to read. The chorus was excellent, particularly. With songs leaping off the page like any modern, good musical. The afterward also was really helpful situating it into context. My one gripe is that it does feel a bit long, despite being fairly short at 135 pages of text. But I’m also not super into comedy, let alone old comedy. So, I’m not sure if that’s just not a muscle that’s not been used often enough, or if it really is overlong.

When Ricky, a minor career wrestler, suffers an injury during a match his life begins to disintegrate. Central to that identity is his belief that he have indigenous ancestry via his father whom he has never met, yet structured his act and sense of masculinity around. Retreating into himself as his body heals from the injury, he promptly pushes his support structure out from under him and opts to seek out his progenitor.

This is the kind of satire I can get behind. This becomes masterfully intersectional and precise in its indictment of cultural appropriation, toxic masculinity, poverty, and the unintentional damage from socialization entwined in a fundamental lack of identity in the predominate culture.

While plenty depressing and dark at times, Ricky’s naivety and perseverance coupled with fantastic, natural comedic timing that is an extension of the character. There’s no easy answers, no concern for a specific character arc or plot. Time is fairly malleable and it feels impossibly tense with only the stakes of messy white hayseed drifting from crisis to crisis.

I could easily indict him for casual racism and creating his own problems, but I didn’t want to. His damage is too well rendered and his damage representative of things far larger, too often too peripheral and never held accountable.