Chapter 13
Pierre is imprisoned with 30 other men, but they all become a faceless mass apart from Karataev, who is Pierre's new model for living. He's an old, round, soldier, who sounds rather like Jackrum (of Monstrous Regiment). Karataev, now he is a prisoner, mostly waxes lyrical about his former life on the farm as a peasant. Pierre attaches a 'moral beauty' to these stories and the folk sayings, which now seem full of wisdom to him. I feel like Pierre, being Russian raised in France, being a bastard son become the heir, doesn't have a strong sense of his identity, so he's looking for other people to tell him what he is or what he should be. Karataev, an ordinary soldier to everyone else, is the "personification of the spirit of simplicity and truth" to Pierre.
Showing posts with label Monstrous Regiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monstrous Regiment. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 January 2020
Wednesday, 25 April 2018
In Which We Discuss War and Peace: Part 2, Chapter 8
Chapter 8
We return to Carry On up the Danube. Everyone has squeezed across the bridge - presumably chanting "here we go, here we go, here we go" the entire time. Only Denisov and his squadron of Hussars are left to face the enemy. They're not actually facing the enemy right now, they're watching Cossack scouts fight them on a nearby hill, but they will be next in line. Now the Cossacks have been defeated, and there is a moment of tension as Denisov's Hussars face the French, waiting for battle to begin. I'm still getting a football match vibe. Rostov is in the group and is very proud to be showing how good he is at being in an army, under fire. Denison still doesn't believe they will actually have to fight and Rostov is having hero fantasies. Yet, despite this adolescent, war-games vibe, they are all gaining a specific been-to-war expression.
Apparently, the plan was to get everyone - including the Hussars - over the bridge and then set fire to it. People are now arguing over exactly whose job it was to start the fire and who should have told them to do it. Bureaucratic chaos. I feel like a lot of the humour in this book comes from the war-like nature of society and the manners of the war-zone (this may be a welcome-to-the-point moment).
Denisov's lot are running across the bridge now and Rostov is actually starting to feel properly scared. Someone gets shot and Nesvitski is shocked. Someone dying in a warzone? This is so uncivilised! If Nesvitski were Tsar, he "would never go to war". The bridge is finally set on fire, so now the French shots are just because the targets are there and not with the goal of preventing the bridge fire.
Rostov is struck by how unlike his war-hero fantasies this battle is. There are no easy targets to mow down, and he didn't even bring any burning straw for the bridge. This is reminding me a lot of Monstrous Regiment, especially the comments about training by stabbing straw men until you can believe all men are made of straw. Also, an old joke about a new soldier who is an absolute crack shot. They put him on the front lines and tell him to "fire at will". Two alternative punchlines; "But sir, which one's Will?" or "but sir, there are people in the way!".
Someone near Rostov gets shot, and since he can't help with that either he ends up gazing out onto the Danube. He has become very poetic in his fear of death. He realises he is a coward, but luckily no one else has noticed because they basically everyone has this reaction and also they were quite busy. The chapter ends with Rostov being sent to report a great victory; only two Hussars dead and one knocked out.
We return to Carry On up the Danube. Everyone has squeezed across the bridge - presumably chanting "here we go, here we go, here we go" the entire time. Only Denisov and his squadron of Hussars are left to face the enemy. They're not actually facing the enemy right now, they're watching Cossack scouts fight them on a nearby hill, but they will be next in line. Now the Cossacks have been defeated, and there is a moment of tension as Denisov's Hussars face the French, waiting for battle to begin. I'm still getting a football match vibe. Rostov is in the group and is very proud to be showing how good he is at being in an army, under fire. Denison still doesn't believe they will actually have to fight and Rostov is having hero fantasies. Yet, despite this adolescent, war-games vibe, they are all gaining a specific been-to-war expression.
Apparently, the plan was to get everyone - including the Hussars - over the bridge and then set fire to it. People are now arguing over exactly whose job it was to start the fire and who should have told them to do it. Bureaucratic chaos. I feel like a lot of the humour in this book comes from the war-like nature of society and the manners of the war-zone (this may be a welcome-to-the-point moment).
Denisov's lot are running across the bridge now and Rostov is actually starting to feel properly scared. Someone gets shot and Nesvitski is shocked. Someone dying in a warzone? This is so uncivilised! If Nesvitski were Tsar, he "would never go to war". The bridge is finally set on fire, so now the French shots are just because the targets are there and not with the goal of preventing the bridge fire.
Rostov is struck by how unlike his war-hero fantasies this battle is. There are no easy targets to mow down, and he didn't even bring any burning straw for the bridge. This is reminding me a lot of Monstrous Regiment, especially the comments about training by stabbing straw men until you can believe all men are made of straw. Also, an old joke about a new soldier who is an absolute crack shot. They put him on the front lines and tell him to "fire at will". Two alternative punchlines; "But sir, which one's Will?" or "but sir, there are people in the way!".
Someone near Rostov gets shot, and since he can't help with that either he ends up gazing out onto the Danube. He has become very poetic in his fear of death. He realises he is a coward, but luckily no one else has noticed because they basically everyone has this reaction and also they were quite busy. The chapter ends with Rostov being sent to report a great victory; only two Hussars dead and one knocked out.
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 26th Year, Week 16/52
The Second Sex I read for my feminist bookclub, a meeting that never actually happened. Everyone except me cancelled. I'd only read half the book by the day, so I just carried on with it. It's a brick. An interesting read, but a long one. It really surprised me how much of it was still current and still relevant, despite the book being written sixty-five years ago. That's kind of sad.
Piano & Keyboard was a decent guide. I picked up a lot of good tips and I'm glad I read it. It really helped my musicianship.
The Afterdark Princess was a children's book I used to really like. It was just over £7 on Audible, but I picked up three credits for £18 and decided to get it. It's less than three hours long, so I played it through in my locker a couple of times when I was at work to try to get a few Audible badges. Worked pretty well.
Monstrous Regiment is one of my favourite Discworld books. Stephen Briggs is a great reader, but I really wish this book had been read by a woman. A woman who could do great male voices. I'd love to hear Monstrous Regiment read by a woman who could do great male voices.
I've only seen a bit of The Mindy Show and none of The Office, but I like Mindy Kaling. And I like hearing autobiographies read by the authors, especially since they tend to be comedians or other performers. So far, the best performance has been Michael McIntyre. He did the best voices, especially his impression of his Hungarian grandmother. Mindy definitely sounded like she was reading not performing, but she was reading so she can be forgiven for that. And the book was pretty interesting. I mostly read it while running, or while walking to work or round the supermarket. I will not be adopting Mindy's revenge-fantasy method of exercise motivation.
Finally, The Flavours of Love. I love Dorothy Koomson. Her books are like chick-lit thrillers, two genres I love, and I love that all her heroines are black. It's something that appears so seldom, which makes me sad.
I read Flavours of Love over a day; a few hours before bed, on the way to work, at lunch, while donating blood, and finished it before falling asleep the next night. I really enjoyed it.
My unread pile is now at 102. I'm going to try to have it under 100 on New Year's Eve. Then, next year, my goal will be to get it to under 15, where I'll try to keep it. That seems pretty amazing to me right now - I haven't had that few unread books in my possession since I was six or seven years old. But I think I'll be happier when I don't have all those books cluttering up the place and making me feel guilty.
Monday, 21 June 2010
In Which We Discuss the Monstrous Regiment
There's a war on in Borogravia. This is not unusual.
For those who don't know the series, the Discworld is a flat disc of a world, which rests on the back of four giant elephants, who, in turn, rest on the back of a giant tortoise named Great A'tuin. The disc is made up of various cities, towns, and other areas. The main city is Ankh-Morpork, which a cross between Victorian London and modern day New York, with a dash of magic instead of electricity. Then there are the Ramtops, mountains that contain various small villages, as well as a few tribes of dwarfs and trolls. Although the Discworld books follow a rough chronological order, they do not follow the same characters. There are a few major story arcs, which several books in the series return to – for instance, Commander Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Rincewind the Wizzard [sic], Esme Weatherwax and the other Ramtop witches, and several others. Several books follow Death, a character who is the only one to claim the distinction of showing up in every single book, in however minor a role, which is suspected to signify that Death is always with us. Of course, he's far too endearing to be scary.
So far at least, Monstrous Regiment is one of the few stand-alone novels of the series, with characters who mostly have not, as yet, been heard from again. This is a pity.
Monstrous Regiment takes place in an area of the Disc that can best be compared to Western Europe or the Middle East. Borogravia, a country comparable in some ways to Russia, is always at war with the countries surrounding it. The Borogravian language, in fact, has a word that means, "The sun has risen! Let's make war!"
As Pratchett observes, it takes a very special kind of history to fit all that in one word.
As well as the constant war, Borogravia also suffers under the thumb of the god Nuggan. Nuggan can best be described as...strict. The Books of Nuggan are ring binders, so that extra pages can easily be added to accommodate all of Nuggan's abominations, which are updated with alarming regularity. Nuggan is strictly against the colour blue, babies, girls with long hair, the smell of beets, sneezing, chocolate, garlic and cats, among other things. He's also against land that was once used for growing grain or peas being used to grow root vegetables. In a farming economy like Borogravia that means no real crop rotation, which means the land is less fertile, which means, essentially, that Borogravia is starving.
And still the war goes on. But Borogravia is running out of young men.
Polly Perks' family owns an Inn named the Duchess, in Munz, one of the bigger towns of Borogravia. According to Nugganite law, Polly can't inherit the Inn, despite being the best candidate. Her brother, Paul, could have, but he's been missing in action for the past year or so. Despite his being the elder, Polly has always been responsible for taking care of Paul. So, to this end, she cuts off her hair, practices using the bathroom standing up, gets herself a pair of trousers, and, as Oliver, joins the Borogravian regiment, the Ins-and-Outs.
Polly isn't the only one to join. There's also Tonker and Lofty, the two who are never apart. Tonker's the brave, slightly violent one, while Lofty prefers to stay in the shadows. Then there's Shufti, who can cook, and Wazzer, who doesn't do much except stutter and pray. Carborundum is a troll, who doesn't really do much except act as a tank when needed.
There's also an Igor. Igor's in the Discworld belong to an odd tribe. All of them are called Igor, and they all have scars, which are the equivalent of tribal markings. They are brilliant surgeons, although their practice of using parts from dead bodies can make some people, particularly strict Nugganites, somewhat uncomfortable. As Igor points out, however, "Soldiers don't care who patches them up".
The final recruit is Maladict, a vampire, and a Black Ribboner. On the Discworld, vampires have begun to realize that if they want to get by in a modern society, they should probably stop drinking human blood, since it tends to make them unpopular. To this end, is the Black Ribbon society, a kind of vampire Alcoholics Anonymous. Vampires cannot stop craving blood; they can merely transfer the craving to something more socially acceptable. In Maladict's case, this is coffee, a supply of which is always carried with him.
These raw recruits come under the command of Corporal Strappi, who is not the sort of person whose orders you want to follow, and Sergeant Jackrum, who is almost legendary within the Borogravian army.
Strappi is somewhat prejudiced against certain of the recruits, particularly Igor and Maladict. Sergeant Jackrum addresses his concerns somewhat sardonically. When Maladict enlists, and Strappi asks "yeah, but s'posin' he wants to suck all my blood out in the middle of the night?" Jackrum replies "Well, he'll just have to wait until Private Igor's finished looking for your brain, won't he?"
right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=deislite-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0060872675&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;">Some of the City Watch characters also show up – Commander Vimes, Sergeant Angua, Reg Shoe, and Buggy Swires, to name a few. For those of you who are new to the Discworld series, there are several books focusing on the City Watch, beginning with Guards, Guards! and including Men At Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, the Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud! And Where's My Cow?, the latter two of which were published after Monstrous Regiment. Where's My Cow? focuses on Vimes and his son, and is aimed at young children, although there are various references that older readers will appreciate. William de Worde and Otto Chriek, from The Truth also make an appearance.
As the recruits march onwards they soon discover that, as opposed to what the various propaganda given to them says, they are not winning the war. Their country is dying. And yet, they can see no way out. They are too proud to surrender to Prince Heinrich of Zoblenia, who is something of a bully, and, as we see fairly early on, not a very nice man. So, the raw recruits of the Ins-And-Outs end up being dragged deeper and deeper into a war that they cannot see any way of winning. The only hope they have is sergeant Jackrum's promise; "You are my little lads…and I will look after you."
Terry Pratchett writes, as usual, in third-person, occasionally zooming in on one characters thoughts. Monstrous Regiment is somewhat reminiscent of Jingo, in subject matter. This book also contains more real world references than many others, especially when Maladict's coffee runs out, and he begins having flash-sideways (like flashbacks, only someone else's memories) to the Vietnam War. There are several other references to the Vietnam War, including Wazzer's statement that he's "N-n-nineteen," years old.
The novel is peppered with Pratchett's trademark footnotes, and hilarious dialogue. Sometimes the most mundane things are funny, simply due to the way he tells them. For instance, Maladict's saying "yo!" rather than "yes sir" as part of the effect of his lack of coffee cracks me up every time, although it doesn't sound like it should.
As usual, in Discworld novels, Pratchett satirizes the real world in some way. The obvious themes of Monstrous Regiment are feminism, folk songs, patriotism, crippling belief systems and the military. One scene, near the beginning of the book shows the recruits marching in one direction while a large number of civilians race in the opposite direction. Many of them appear to be carrying their entire homes on their backs. The following exchange takes place between Maladict and Corporal Strappi;
"What's this all about, Sarge? These look like refugees!"
"Talk like that spreads Alarm and Despondency!"
"Oh, you mean they're just people getting away early for the holidays to avoid the rush? Sorry, I got confused. It must be that woman carrying a whole haystack we just passed."
"D' you know what can happen to you for insulting a superior officer?"
"No! Tell me, is it worse than whatever it is these people are running away from?"
"You signed up, Mr. Bloodsucker! You obey orders!"
"Right! But I don't remember anyone ordering me not to think!"
Another interesting aspect of the Discworld is that the strangest things in the books are those taken almost entirely from real life, rather than the fictional elements. An example is Pratchett's description of a battlefield as a resembling a moving city. It sounds ridiculous that a battlefield could resemble a city, but during a long siege, well, men have needs. To be honest, that isn't the best example, but there are so many small ones within this novel, and all the Discworld books, that later research will often have you saying, "I thought he made that up!" Or it does me, rather. I'm exactly the kind of person to make a point of digging out tiny references, which just makes the series more enjoyable.
Throughout this review, I've quoted examples of dialogue from the book, and this is a common side effect of Discworld novels. To annoy everyone by reciting your favourite passages. I've exercised some restraint here, but honestly, you can open the book at random, and pretty much all of it is quotable.
In summary, this is a great addition to the Discworld series, introducing new characters, expanding on previously little or unvisited countries, and returning some older characters, too. This is the Discworld book I most often recommend as an introduction to the series. It's late enough in the series that Terry Pratchett has really settled in to writing the books, and as a stand-alone, there's no back-story that needs to be explained. In some of the earliest Discworld books, I got the distinct impression that Pratchett was merely showing off at times, and sometimes the references and satire were too heavy for the book to easily cope with. Happily, this isn't a criticism that can be levied at this book. Monstrous Regiment is my single favourite Discworld book, and in such a great series, that's saying something.
For those who don't know the series, the Discworld is a flat disc of a world, which rests on the back of four giant elephants, who, in turn, rest on the back of a giant tortoise named Great A'tuin. The disc is made up of various cities, towns, and other areas. The main city is Ankh-Morpork, which a cross between Victorian London and modern day New York, with a dash of magic instead of electricity. Then there are the Ramtops, mountains that contain various small villages, as well as a few tribes of dwarfs and trolls. Although the Discworld books follow a rough chronological order, they do not follow the same characters. There are a few major story arcs, which several books in the series return to – for instance, Commander Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Rincewind the Wizzard [sic], Esme Weatherwax and the other Ramtop witches, and several others. Several books follow Death, a character who is the only one to claim the distinction of showing up in every single book, in however minor a role, which is suspected to signify that Death is always with us. Of course, he's far too endearing to be scary.
So far at least, Monstrous Regiment is one of the few stand-alone novels of the series, with characters who mostly have not, as yet, been heard from again. This is a pity.
Monstrous Regiment takes place in an area of the Disc that can best be compared to Western Europe or the Middle East. Borogravia, a country comparable in some ways to Russia, is always at war with the countries surrounding it. The Borogravian language, in fact, has a word that means, "The sun has risen! Let's make war!"
As Pratchett observes, it takes a very special kind of history to fit all that in one word.
As well as the constant war, Borogravia also suffers under the thumb of the god Nuggan. Nuggan can best be described as...strict. The Books of Nuggan are ring binders, so that extra pages can easily be added to accommodate all of Nuggan's abominations, which are updated with alarming regularity. Nuggan is strictly against the colour blue, babies, girls with long hair, the smell of beets, sneezing, chocolate, garlic and cats, among other things. He's also against land that was once used for growing grain or peas being used to grow root vegetables. In a farming economy like Borogravia that means no real crop rotation, which means the land is less fertile, which means, essentially, that Borogravia is starving.
And still the war goes on. But Borogravia is running out of young men.
Polly Perks' family owns an Inn named the Duchess, in Munz, one of the bigger towns of Borogravia. According to Nugganite law, Polly can't inherit the Inn, despite being the best candidate. Her brother, Paul, could have, but he's been missing in action for the past year or so. Despite his being the elder, Polly has always been responsible for taking care of Paul. So, to this end, she cuts off her hair, practices using the bathroom standing up, gets herself a pair of trousers, and, as Oliver, joins the Borogravian regiment, the Ins-and-Outs.
Polly isn't the only one to join. There's also Tonker and Lofty, the two who are never apart. Tonker's the brave, slightly violent one, while Lofty prefers to stay in the shadows. Then there's Shufti, who can cook, and Wazzer, who doesn't do much except stutter and pray. Carborundum is a troll, who doesn't really do much except act as a tank when needed.
There's also an Igor. Igor's in the Discworld belong to an odd tribe. All of them are called Igor, and they all have scars, which are the equivalent of tribal markings. They are brilliant surgeons, although their practice of using parts from dead bodies can make some people, particularly strict Nugganites, somewhat uncomfortable. As Igor points out, however, "Soldiers don't care who patches them up".
The final recruit is Maladict, a vampire, and a Black Ribboner. On the Discworld, vampires have begun to realize that if they want to get by in a modern society, they should probably stop drinking human blood, since it tends to make them unpopular. To this end, is the Black Ribbon society, a kind of vampire Alcoholics Anonymous. Vampires cannot stop craving blood; they can merely transfer the craving to something more socially acceptable. In Maladict's case, this is coffee, a supply of which is always carried with him.
These raw recruits come under the command of Corporal Strappi, who is not the sort of person whose orders you want to follow, and Sergeant Jackrum, who is almost legendary within the Borogravian army.
Strappi is somewhat prejudiced against certain of the recruits, particularly Igor and Maladict. Sergeant Jackrum addresses his concerns somewhat sardonically. When Maladict enlists, and Strappi asks "yeah, but s'posin' he wants to suck all my blood out in the middle of the night?" Jackrum replies "Well, he'll just have to wait until Private Igor's finished looking for your brain, won't he?"
right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=deislite-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0060872675&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;">Some of the City Watch characters also show up – Commander Vimes, Sergeant Angua, Reg Shoe, and Buggy Swires, to name a few. For those of you who are new to the Discworld series, there are several books focusing on the City Watch, beginning with Guards, Guards! and including Men At Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, the Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud! And Where's My Cow?, the latter two of which were published after Monstrous Regiment. Where's My Cow? focuses on Vimes and his son, and is aimed at young children, although there are various references that older readers will appreciate. William de Worde and Otto Chriek, from The Truth also make an appearance.
As the recruits march onwards they soon discover that, as opposed to what the various propaganda given to them says, they are not winning the war. Their country is dying. And yet, they can see no way out. They are too proud to surrender to Prince Heinrich of Zoblenia, who is something of a bully, and, as we see fairly early on, not a very nice man. So, the raw recruits of the Ins-And-Outs end up being dragged deeper and deeper into a war that they cannot see any way of winning. The only hope they have is sergeant Jackrum's promise; "You are my little lads…and I will look after you."
Terry Pratchett writes, as usual, in third-person, occasionally zooming in on one characters thoughts. Monstrous Regiment is somewhat reminiscent of Jingo, in subject matter. This book also contains more real world references than many others, especially when Maladict's coffee runs out, and he begins having flash-sideways (like flashbacks, only someone else's memories) to the Vietnam War. There are several other references to the Vietnam War, including Wazzer's statement that he's "N-n-nineteen," years old.
The novel is peppered with Pratchett's trademark footnotes, and hilarious dialogue. Sometimes the most mundane things are funny, simply due to the way he tells them. For instance, Maladict's saying "yo!" rather than "yes sir" as part of the effect of his lack of coffee cracks me up every time, although it doesn't sound like it should.
As usual, in Discworld novels, Pratchett satirizes the real world in some way. The obvious themes of Monstrous Regiment are feminism, folk songs, patriotism, crippling belief systems and the military. One scene, near the beginning of the book shows the recruits marching in one direction while a large number of civilians race in the opposite direction. Many of them appear to be carrying their entire homes on their backs. The following exchange takes place between Maladict and Corporal Strappi;
"What's this all about, Sarge? These look like refugees!"
"Talk like that spreads Alarm and Despondency!"
"Oh, you mean they're just people getting away early for the holidays to avoid the rush? Sorry, I got confused. It must be that woman carrying a whole haystack we just passed."
"D' you know what can happen to you for insulting a superior officer?"
"No! Tell me, is it worse than whatever it is these people are running away from?"
"You signed up, Mr. Bloodsucker! You obey orders!"
"Right! But I don't remember anyone ordering me not to think!"
Another interesting aspect of the Discworld is that the strangest things in the books are those taken almost entirely from real life, rather than the fictional elements. An example is Pratchett's description of a battlefield as a resembling a moving city. It sounds ridiculous that a battlefield could resemble a city, but during a long siege, well, men have needs. To be honest, that isn't the best example, but there are so many small ones within this novel, and all the Discworld books, that later research will often have you saying, "I thought he made that up!" Or it does me, rather. I'm exactly the kind of person to make a point of digging out tiny references, which just makes the series more enjoyable.
Throughout this review, I've quoted examples of dialogue from the book, and this is a common side effect of Discworld novels. To annoy everyone by reciting your favourite passages. I've exercised some restraint here, but honestly, you can open the book at random, and pretty much all of it is quotable.
In summary, this is a great addition to the Discworld series, introducing new characters, expanding on previously little or unvisited countries, and returning some older characters, too. This is the Discworld book I most often recommend as an introduction to the series. It's late enough in the series that Terry Pratchett has really settled in to writing the books, and as a stand-alone, there's no back-story that needs to be explained. In some of the earliest Discworld books, I got the distinct impression that Pratchett was merely showing off at times, and sometimes the references and satire were too heavy for the book to easily cope with. Happily, this isn't a criticism that can be levied at this book. Monstrous Regiment is my single favourite Discworld book, and in such a great series, that's saying something.
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