Little People for Little People (The Carpet People - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: Pingu

Product:	The Carpet People - Terry Pratchett
Date:	29/06/00 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant

Disadvantages: Not Discworld

Thank goodness Terry Pratchett saw fit to dig this one out, dust it off, and let us have a look. It is a book he wrote as a seventeen year old, and decided to rewrite now that he is a multi-kajillion best-selling genius. And while this sound like someone trying to make money with minimum effort, because he knows we will read anything with his name on it, this book is, in fact a brilliant story in its own right. Even the Author's note, in which he explains how he came to be revisiting the book, had me laughing, and I didn't stop until the end.

The story deals with a people called the Munrungs, who, as the rather clever title suggests, live in a carpet; their contentions, their enemies and an adventure, which I don't want to give away. What I found funniest was the mythology that the Munrung have developed to explain what they observe in the world about them. Such as Fray, kind of an evil god, who supposedly hates life in the carpet, and stamps it out. Just as you are laughing at the Munrung, and saying, "O come on, it's just the human owner of the carpet," you realise that maybe Pratchett is gently poking fun at humans, and the stupid explanations we come up with to explain our environment. Maybe he isn't, but it's in there anyway. His observations are invariably spot on.

If you haven't read the Discworld series, go and read them first. But if you are twiddling your thumbs and wondering what to do while you wait for the next one, then read this. It is surprisingly good.

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