Here is Terry Pratchett, who found himself in the genre of ironic fantasy. During his life, he has already written more than 50 novels that have received film adaptations. The embodiment of the writer’s work resulted in the creation of several encyclopedias, as well as a cookbook.
Today we are going to talk about the first book, Pestilence. Lust for Life by Terry Pratchett, as well as analyze the meaning, plot and characters. So get comfortable, let’s get started!
Brief plot of the book
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Before you is the space of the Discworld, where our negligent young man named Mor lives. He needs to be placed somewhere, because he can’t do anything on his father’s farm. As a result, he is hired as an apprentice, and falls into the service of Death itself. Now he becomes her student, and gets acquainted with the adopted daughter of Death Isabelle. She is extremely arrogant, which causes strange emotions in the soul of the young man. On his next journey, Death takes More with him. This time, the end of life must come for King Sto Lat. His daughter Princess Keli sunk into the soul of the young man.
Having mastered the craft a little, Death decides to take a day off for the first time in many centuries, and shifts some of the responsibilities onto the shoulders of the young man.
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Our hero will have to make a difficult choice between duties and feelings, embark on a dangerous path that can destroy not only him, but also other characters who are associated with him.
The characters of the novel
There are not too many characters in the novel, but they are all extremely interesting and colorful. Let’s consider them in a little more detail:
Mor is a young man with an awkward figure, many consider him a fool. Death is an entity wrapped in a black robe with blue sparks for eyes. Death is extremely punctual and always comes when needed. All her thoughts are occupied by Isabelle – the adopted daughter of Death. The girl is overweight and has silver hair. She sometimes likes to ride a pony, in her free time she likes to read books about other people’s lives. Princess Keli is the future Queen Kelyrehenna the First. This is a girl of sixteen years old, who is attractive in appearance and has a decisive character. Ognius Kuvyrks is a young, plump wizard who is slovenly in appearance, but has a decisive character, is extremely intelligent and inventive. Albert is once the world’s greatest magician and now also a servant of Death.
The meaning of the book
The meaning of the book cannot be described in a couple of lines, because the author managed to bring a lot of meanings into the work under the guise of fantasy with notes of irony. For example, the complexity and responsibility of the work of Death, which is forced to wander the world without days off. Balance depends on her, and this is a heavy burden for her. No wonder she just wants to do nothing for at least one day.
And here comes Pestilence, who has fallen to replace Death in her post. However, he is a simple person with his own problems, desires, fears and passions. The difficulty is that he is still young and inexperienced, so he cannot always be as responsible and punctual as his master.
Pratchett shows well the problem of life and death, as well as destiny, destiny. No matter how hard a person tries, sooner or later the Pestilence or Death itself will come for him to lead him to other planes of existence. And before Death, any doors are always opened, for everyone is not equal – from a commoner to a king.
This concludes our analysis. If you have questions or suggestions, be sure to squeak them in the comments. And we have prepared for you some equally interesting analyzes. Here they are:
The meaning of the novel “Return to Brideshead” by Evelyn Waugh or how to live the golden years between the two wars
Analysis of the meaning of the novel “Artemis Fowl” by Eoin Colfer or how a boy prodigy builds insidious plans to take over the world
The Meaning of Richard Adams’ Hill Dwellers: In Search of the Promised Land
Analysis of the plot and meaning of the novel “The Pillars of the Earth” by Follet or how a work can cause a tourist boom
The meaning of the novel “Reasoning Reason” by Jane Austen or how to build an equal relationship
So see you soon on the pages of new articles and a peaceful sky over your head.
