And I’m REALLY Injured
Posted in Classic Literature on November 28th, 2012 by Admin 
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Autocowrecks: What If It’s a Really Important Phone Call?
Posted in Classic Literature on June 1st, 2012 by Admin Tags: Autocowrecks, Call, Important, It’s, Phone, really
Poorly Dressed: At This Point Pants Really Aren’t Worth The Effort
Posted in Classic Literature on November 23rd, 2011 by Admin Tags: Aren’t, Dressed, Effort, Pants, Point, Poorly, really, This, Worth
Probably Bad News: It Was Really Quite Soulless of Them
Posted in Classic Literature on June 14th, 2011 by Admin Tags: News, Probably, Quite, really, Soulless, Them
Oh DiscWorld…I mean really??
Posted in Fantasy Literature on May 9th, 2009 by AdminWelcome one and all to the wonderful land of Discworld! This is the only secondary world that can be found balancing on the backs of two elephants, AND the back of a gigantic turtle. Totally awesome right? Key elements of secondary worlds are defined by how the reader can be transported into an alternate reality, a means of escaping life. Secondary worlds should only be established to add depth and illusion to a fantasy. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings serious provides the classic, if not perfect, example of a secondary world. Middle earth provides complex historical narratives that add fuel, and juicy goodness, to the story and narrative of Frodo Baggins. Secondary worlds should be a tool authors use to establish an image in a reader’s heads. With that being said, lets take at look at Discworld again.
For all the talk and comedy Pratchett incorporates into his novel, his secondary world is subpar. The world is highly underdeveloped and leaves the reader confused as to where the witches are located and where they intend to go. Pratchett claims, “Discworld exists right on the edge of reality” (2), a part of the universal alternate reality. Another dimension. I guess that explains why everything is so unbelievable. Discworld seems to be a mock image of regular earth. It’s a world that embodies similar ideas and fundamental locations and geography but has zero background history or clear identification of inhabitants and culture. Instead, the secondary offers interesting rules on witches and their magical ability. While, this world does have many different types of fantasy creatures, it fails to explain why. This is the main problem with the secondary world. If the author wants to introduce various members of society, proper introductions and a solid history are needed. Otherwise, it still leaves the reader in confusion over what exactly is going on.
All in all, I feel that the author should focus more on the structure and organization of his secondary world before using comedy to comment on other author’s that do a better job at story telling and creating secondary worlds. Pratchett does use great devices such as mirrors to create Discworld, but he should use them to expand upon and create a better secondary world.