At 5:15 this morning, in a moment of idle sleeplessness, I rolled over and checked my phone. That’s when I found out that Terry Pratchett is dead.
I didn’t have many heroes, growing up—true heroes, that I could learn from. Well, I did, but Terry Pratchett wrote them all, so in essence they were all him. My tattoo of Vimes’ badge, Badge no. 177, is a testament to how highly I valued his moral character…and how badly I needed it. It is rare to find something that tempers your inner self, betters it, and centres you in a way that makes you feel more than whole.
It would be convenient to have a quote from one of his books at hand, something poignant and amusing about the passing of heroes. But there is nothing convenient about this. I am very heartened, however, that he led a rich and full life. He gave much to the world, and he was recognised for it. And now, in the wake of his passing, I recognise what he meant to me. And I’m just a reader…I can only imagine the sorrow his family must feel.
It’s time to do some re-reading, I think. Guards, Guards should be a good start.
I have every book he ever wrote. Every time a new came out, I got it. I will miss him. I think I’ll start at the beginning and read my way through them all.
An excellent idea 🙂 it’s so good to know he had so many dedicated fans. He will be missed dearly.
Yes, he will be missed. What an amazing legacy he left us.
We can count ourselves lucky that we existed at the same time as such a great author.
Agreed!
Reblogged this on the way to there.
Cheers for the reblog 🙂
Reblogged at kristjannapensato.wordpress.com
His books helped me get over depression. The fact that I will one day run out of new Discworld books makes me cry.
I’ve been living year-to-year on his new releases for a while. But this is a perfect reason to start from the beginning all over again 🙂
I haven’t read all of his books yet. And there is nothing like reading a book for the first time
Chapter 2 of The Shepherd’s Crown is quite possibly the most emotional thing I’ve read in years.