American Gods

here are a couple of things i wanted to point out about the novel in my intro in class (sorry i didn't make it last week)
- america as a melting pot of Gods as well as people
- the fact that the gods are 'made' by their followers belief in them and that they 'die' when they are completely forgotten (which is kind of a paradox b/c someone has to believe in them for them to come into existence but they have to exist to be believed in)

any thoughts?

The Igors

I don't fully understand the concept of the Igors. Once you get one extra body part added, is that when you become an Igor? Or do you have to be brought back to life? And how do you obtain an understanding of anatomy? I wonder if they just instantly know or if they have to go back to school. Are they technically zombies?

Monstrous Regiment

The thing I liked the most about this book is how it tackled so many of the sterotypes, misconceptions and charachteristics of both genders. On page 267, the quote "Trousers. That's the secret. Trousers and a pair of socks and the world changes. We walk different we act different. I see girls and I think:idiots! Get yourself some trousers" reminds me of an old skit on Saturday Night Live. Eddie Murphy, wanted to experience the world for a day as a white man. Much like the girls in Monstrous Regiment he disgusied himself to be something hes not and the whole world changed for him much as it did for the girls in the book.

I am going to write my paper on Terry Pratchett's commentary on gender, which is rampand throughout the book. There are plenty of valuable jokes and anecdotes I can use at my disposal, I just need to refine it a bit.

Comparing the War in Discworld to Real Life

I'm not too optimistic that we'll have a lot of time in class tonight, so I figured rather than saving this topic for the class, I'd let us discuss this here on the blog over the next week as we prepare for our paper presentations. I haven't been able to get more than halfway through the book yet, so I'm not complete with my thinking on this, but since this was published in 2003, during a time of war hawks in America, there must be some commentary through the book about what's going on today. What have you guys found? Both comparisons and contrasts are welcome. And anyone who has read other Discworld books can add a depth to this, I'm sure. Have at it!

More humor...

I was looking at Terry Pratchett's website and I thought this was cute...