|
I am quite sympathetic to the view offered by JSWolf, I enjoy the Discworld books so much that I don't want to miss a word of it, even if some of the words are less perfectly chosen than others. And JSWolf is right to the extent that there is a richness in even the walk-on parts like CMOT Dibbler (the ubiquitous nature, the default fallback after trying and failing at bigger ventures are not progressive, but knowing the number of times he has tried and failed all add depth to a part that might otherwise seem entirely superficial).
But I'm not so hard-core that I can't see that there are potential problems with new readers starting at the first books. The early books are weaker books, and the fact is that most of the books can be read in isolation and still enjoyed. There maybe some small cost to the total experience, but it is a cost that can be regained by further reading - so where's the downside?
tompe, the Dresden books seem like they may be a good additional example of this problem. I too read the first, and while I found it okay, it was just okay, it didn't inspire me to rush out and buy more. I do intend to read a later book in the series that the thread here on MR recommended to me, and see how I go with that - eventually. Time will tell whether that experience will make me a big enough fan to go back and read the earlier ones.
|