Death Rides a Pale Horse. Called Binky (Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
Date:	04/07/05 (1035 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: DEATH . Who's afraid of a seven - foot skeleton with a scythe?

Disadvantages: The 'other' plot strand, though funny, isn't quite as strong (to me, anyway)

Imagine
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Imagine a world. The world is a flat disc. It's supported on the backs of four elephants, which are, in turn, carried through space standing on the shell of a Turtle.

The tooth fairy is real, dragons breath fire, oceans tumble off the rim of the world, and DEATH is a seven-foot-tall skeleton, wrapped in a cloak of absolute darkness, wielding a scythe and riding a pale horse. Called Binky. Truly.

This world is Terry Pratchett's Discworld. On this world, magic works, and the world really is flat (and those on the world that disbelieve that are wrong, for that is really how the world is).

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The Plot(s)
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There are two connected plots to Reaper Man, one involving DEATH and the other the wizards of the Unseen University, as well as various other assorted dead, undead and vaguely alive characters. And shopping trolleys.

In the first, Reaper Man could alternatively be called Death Takes an Enforced Holiday. Cloaked figures, The Auditors, who disappear should they develop individual awareness are unhappy with DEATH. As an incarnation, he should also be devoid of a 'personality.' However, due to his regular interaction with humans, he has himself developed awareness (though not necessarily understanding - he has all sorts of problems with simple things like doorknobs) of himself and those around him. As One Auditor says: "There is a personality. Personalities come to an end. Only forces endure."

DEATH certainly has a personality. He keeps goldfish (OK, they're actually black, but the thought is there). He has a grandfather clock (no hands on it, but again, he means well).

The Auditors, with the permission of Azrael (the ultimate God figure) relieve DEATH of his duties. He is retired, and so he will, like other personalities, eventually die. Styling himself 'Bill Door' (after some discussion), he becomes a farm hand to an elderly lady, Miss Flitworth, and finds himself part of (in a manner of speaking) a small community. Yet always he fears death - he can hear the sands of his lifetimer trickling down. In the course of his residence with Miss Flitworth, he attempts to teach a forgetful rooster to read (sadly, Cyril the rooster is dyslexic - his subsequent attempts at crowing are amusing), gets drunk, learns how to play darts badly (he's very good at playing badly), saves a little girl from a fire, and, of course, brings in the harvest. One blade at a time. You see, he's very good with a scythe.

The second plot concerns the consequences of DEATH's absence. Windle Poons, an elderly wizard at the Unseen University, dies. Except, he doesn't. In fact, there seems to be a problem in the death department. There is now too much life. As a result of being dead, Windle meets all sorts of people...ish. There's Reg. He's a Zombie. We also have a reluctant vampire, a terrified bogeyman, a shy banshee (he writes notes - OoooooOOOOeeEEee) amongst many others.

Because of all the life sloshing around, a new life begins. It starts with snow-domes appearing. This is the larval stage. They eventually turn into shopping trolleys with a hive mind. The hive is what is clearly an incipient shopping mall. Complete with a queen. This mall tries to suck the spare life out of everything, and it's up to Windle, his bizarre collection of friends and the wizards to stop this.

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The Review
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Like most of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Reaper Man is funny and satiric. The idea that shopping malls suck life out of towns and cities is not a new one. Pratchett voices our collective discomfort with the cost of conspicuous consumption that shopping malls and the other little conveniences of life (like shopping trolleys) provide. He even satirises mall music!

However, the book has a serious side as well. I certainly chuckle at DEATH's attempts to understand and emulate humanity (and I still love the scenes with him and Cyril, the daft chicken - 'Dock-a-loodle-fod!'). Yet DEATH is a melancholy character. His yearning for life, for time is poignant and, at times, truly sad and touching: "After a while he was aware of an insistent hissing. He took out the golden timer and put it right at the other end of the loft, under a piece of hay. It made no difference at all." DEATH has become aware of mortality and the fear of...well...himself. He doesn't want to die. He begins to understand the fear of death everything conscious possesses. And he is afraid.

He learns why people do some of the things they do - why prisoners keep birds. Why we cling so tenaciously to life. For the harvest, and the flights of birds. He begs Azrael for time, to give Miss Flitworth back the time she lent to him. Forgive the quoting, but these lines are, for me, the best in the book: "And even oblivion must end some day. Lord, will you grant me just a little time? For the proper balance of things. To return what was given. For the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds...Lord, what can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?"

Given that this book is meant to be funny, DEATH does triumph in the end, after some 'drama' (DEATH always speaks in small capitals - you'll just have to imagine that): "No crown, said Bill Door, looking directly into the smoke. No crown. Only the Harvest.". Yet the victory is tinged with regret - regret for DEATH's brief humanity, and for the inevitability of death, with a little d. Still, this IS Pratchett. The book really ends with the DEATH of Rats.

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Recommendation
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I do like the Discworld novels. I guess that's clear now. And I am especially fond of DEATH (the character, rather than the state of non-being). Pratchett has several recurring characters and sets of characters in his books, each of with form mini-series-within-the-series. There is the City Watch (Guards, Guards! being one of those), Rincewind, the incompetent magician (the series started with him in The Colour of Magic) and the witches (Lords and Ladies is one of those). But DEATH is my favourite character. He's a comic/tragic figure. And he has a nifty scythe. And a horse called Binky.

Reaper Man is probably my favourite instalment of the Discworld series. It doesn't require extensive knowledge of the previous ten Discworld novels; it has some of the best lines (both funny and serious), and contains DEATH. And life. Have fun!

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The usual NOTE
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I have posted this elsewhere(s) as mattygroves.
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The End
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"And at the end of all stories, Azrael, who knew the secret, thought: I REMEMBER WHEN ALL THIS WILL BE AGAIN."

Summary: Do you know why the prisoner in the tower watches the flight of birds? DEATH knows. And now, I under