Terry Pratchett's unpublished works destroyed

[E.M.DuBois]

Originally Posted by vrf

Nah, just speculation, based on nothing more than my understanding of human nature and the need for publishers to keep milking the sales from dead/nearly dead authors.

This is why I'm glad I self-publish and have everything set up to come directly to me. Though that does raise a question of what will happen to whatever profits my work may continue to make after I pass on.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I say ask yourself WWTD*?

*What Would Terry** Do

**Or One of His Characters

Rincewind? Run.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I suspect some people's respect for Sir Pratchett (and those who he entrusted to protect his legacy) has clouded their sense of anything-can-be-poked-fun-of and/or nothing-is-truly-sacred.

Which, given his career consisted of pretty much exactly that, is a fairly strange stance to take

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I say ask yourself WWTD*?
*What Would Terry** Do
**Or One of His Characters

Kind of depends on the character
Run, fight, nick everything not nailed down, ignore everyone in the sure and certain knowledge you are the only one who is right.

Rincewind, Cohen, Nobby, Ridcully for anyone keeping score.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by gmw

I know this is really between you and Harry, but isn't it obvious that the Golden Rule applies here? How would you feel if your personal or professional ethics were called into question by some stranger for no apparent reason?

Surely Rule 1 Should apply instead.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Which, given his career consisted of pretty much exactly that, is a fairly strange stance to take

I agree entirely.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Which, given his career consisted of pretty much exactly that, is a fairly strange stance to take

Many of Pratchett's books some include quite serious themes. It was the fact that he could do this with humour that made his books great rather than just funny. The fact that not everyone is blessed with his skill does not mean that the serious side should be taboo.

[gmw]

More to my previous post.

Neil Gaiman writes:

There is a fury to Terry Pratchett’s writing: it’s the fury that was the engine that powered Discworld. It’s also the anger at the headmaster who would decide that six-year-old Terry Pratchett would never be smart enough for the 11-plus; anger at pompous critics, and at those who think serious is the opposite of funny; anger at his early American publishers who could not bring his books out successfully.

The anger is always there, an engine that drives. By the time Terry learned he had a rare, early onset form of Alzheimer’s, the targets of his fury changed: he was angry with his brain and his genetics and, more than these, furious at a country that would not permit him (or others in a similarly intolerable situation) to choose the manner and the time of their passing.

And that anger, it seems to me, is about Terry’s underlying sense of what is fair and what is not. It is that sense of fairness that underlies Terry’s work and his writing, and it’s what drove him from school to journalism to the press office of the SouthWestern Electricity Board to the position of being one of the best-loved and bestselling writers in the world.

I draw your attention particularly to: "anger at [...] those who think serious is the opposite of funny" and to "It is that sense of fairness that underlies Terry’s work and his writing".

To think of Terry Pratchett as an author that merely poked fun at anything and everything is to miss the point by quite a wide mark.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by gmw

I draw your attention particularly to: "anger at [...] those who think serious is the opposite of funny" and to "It is that sense of fairness that underlies Terry’s work and his writing".

To think of Terry Pratchett as an author that merely poked fun at anything and everything is to miss the point by quite a wide mark.

Quite so. I think I would quickly have grown tired of Pratchett if there wasn't more to his books than just the jokes.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by gmw

To think of Terry Pratchett as an author that merely poked fun at anything and everything is to miss the point by quite a wide mark.

Nobody said "merely." The fact still stands that he WAS willing to poke fun at anything and everything--regardless if that wasn't the ONLY thing he did.