Pratchett's Phantom Of The Opera (Maskerade - Terry Pratchett)

Name: campb3ll

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Product:	Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
Date:	05.09.01 (425 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classic Discworld with the well-beloved witches, Introduction to The Joye Of Snacks

Disadvantages: Parody of a famous novel so may offend

Readers either love or hate Pratchett, as he romps through the World of Literature creating fantastical parodies whenever he writes. Maskerade is an obvious send up of the famous Phantom Of The Opera so if this sort of thing makes your blood boil, then now's the time to make a soothing cup of tea and work off your rage by beating a pillow to death.

The main characters are Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Agnes Nitt a.k.a. Perdita X. From Granny and Nanny's point of view, the entire novel is about their need for a replacement third witch to take over the tea making, order taking and general dogsbody duties that were abandoned by Magrat Garlick in the 14th Discworld novel, Lords And Ladies, in favour of marrying a lowly king - clearly a major step down in status ... From everyone else's point of view, the novel is about Agnes' experiences in Ankh-Morpork's Opera House and the mysterious ghost that haunts the building and seems to be picking off the staff.

Agnes can sing - really sing - perhaps because of her natural occult abilities seeking a vent. This naturally marks her out as an ideal replacement third witch. That plus her wonderful personality and nice hair. (It's not polite to mention her size, especially when it's so visable.) Finding a job as a singer in Ankh-Morpork, where everyone eventually ends up at some point in their lives (a bit like London), is her only alternative (or escape route) from being "selected" by Granny and Nanny for a lifetime of servitude.

By the time Nanny's decided she can't possibly make anymore tea for Granny, Agnes has already scarpered off to the Big City where the streets are paved with something golden. However, some mystic tea leaves convince Granny and Nanny that Agnes could do with some protection in Ankh-Morpork - that and Nanny's confession to publishing The Joye of Snackes there, under the name of the Lancre Witch i.e. Granny - so off they go to kee
p their eyes out for Agnes, lend a helping hand, and incidentally maybe browbeat her into returning to Lancre for a spot of tea making duties.

Number one on the witching agenda is clearly The Joye Of Snacks on two counts. Firstly, Nanny is clearly having major money making problems so it's definitely Granny's duty to see that Nanny gets her fair share of royalties and that Granny spends it. Secondly, the Lancre Witch is obviously Granny (as she's clearly The Witch in Lancre unlike the other witches) and some (actually all) of Nanny's snack recipes are of a rather dubious nature e.g. Carrot and Oyster Pie (carrots so you can see in the dark and oysters so you have something to look at). If the magic number of three witches is to be heeded, then they must fall into the magic three categories: the "maiden", the "mother" and the "crone". Granny's attitude to the Lancre Witch's Joye Of Snacks can therefore be summed up by this: Nanny is definitely a "mother" by a lot of practicing and the obvious results, whereas Granny can fill both of the other two categories at the same time.

Number two on the witching agenda is Agnes. However, if you've read the Phantom Of The Opera then you'll have a bemused idea of how this should pan out, though Agnes somehow usurps the main female lead to become an unlikely heroine. Good ol' practical Agnes sings the leading roles in a number of operas (as taught by a mystery ghost) while rich but talentless Christine (whom the ghost thinks he's teaching) "acts" the leading roles because her daddy's paying for the Opera House. While Agnes bravely sings on against the backdrop of An Opera House Gone Mad, Granny and Nanny do a bit of detective work and find out what's really going on i.e. just who is the Opera Ghost, Answers on a Postcard Please. If you want to know who the Opera Ghost is, then see if you can work out the answer to Gr
anny's question: "what's the first thing you'd take out of a burning house"?

Although Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg (and Agnes) take over the novel, renewing a welcome acquaintance, there are various secondary characters in sub-plots. One of these characters is Enrico Basilica the Famous Opera Singer a.k.a. Henry Slugg. Enrico/Henry hugs the secret of his mundane Ankh-Morporkian family roots to himself, which leaves him wide open to some humourous blackmailing by Granny. Another one is obviously the ghost but I can't reveal who that is without spoiling the novel, so I'll just have to leave your natural suspicions at work accusing any character I haven't named.

Maskerade is classic Pratchett - despite being the 18th novel in the Discworld series, the humour is still fresh and the stories are still addictive. The novel is a veritable hodge-podge of activity and you'll end up racing through the chapters to keep up with the characters. As the Discworld series has been going for so long, a number of the characters have, by now, been established as firm favourites with fans. Some of these favourites make an appearance in this novel: Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Greebo the Cat, Death, Mrs Palm, Nobby Nobbs and Detrius of the City Watch, and the Librarian. If you haven't grown to love the Discworld series yet, then dive in to this introduction; if you have, then don't miss this delightful installment; if you won't, then read the first paragraph again!

[Tip: If The Joye Of Snacks has caught hold of your troubled imagination, then you can buy a faithful representation - Pratchett's Nanny Ogg's Cookbook is available in all good bookstores. Just remember Nanny Ogg is an "earthy" character and you've already been warned about the likely style of her recipes. Enjoy.]

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