Early Release

Remember last week I was counting the weeks until I was allowing myself to read again? Well.... I decided that life is to short to deny myself the pleasures of reading and picked up a book. I have now finished aforementioned book... only took a few days to finish... I loved the feel of getting into a book again. Wondering which way it was going to end and what was going to happen along the way.
So, with out further ado... for the first time since... ages...


SPOILER ALERT


Mort - Terry Pratchett
This is the first Terry Pratchett book I have read. I do not think it will be the last. It has a very catching rhythm in reading, it ducks and dives, rushes along and makes you chuckle every page. It has a very nice pace actually, and reads really easily. In a way you can tell that it is part of a series as Mr Pratchett does his best to make sure you understand what the world we are dealing with is about and how it works. Having said that, the world we are presented with seems just about the same as the one we inhabit so you start of thinking that everything must thus behave in the same way as in our universe and it is the little quirks and surprising traits of Discworld that make you chuckle and make it a very enjoyable read.
In essence Mort is about Death taking an apprentice (Mort, short for Mortimer also French for Dead!) who messes up one tiny, little assignment and thus unleashes all kinds of strange goings on... or should that be stranger goings on.
When we first meet Mort he is an uncoordinated, unfocussed young lad that his father does not know what to do with. In the hope of securing some kind of future for him he decides that Mort must become an apprentice and learn a trade. This is how he meets Death. As soon as he finds out that the bleached bones look is optional and no dying needs to take place Mort agrees to take the job and his training starts. Mort is a thoroughly enjoyable character and not as stupid as he may look. He is able to look at things in a way that not many people can, simply and straightforwardly. I guess you could call him the hero of the book as he tries to right the wrongs, defies his master in order to do this. You want him to do well and achieve his goal even if it might mean tat Discworld as we know it ceases to exist. In the beginning Mort is a bit apprehensive about his new Master and what he has signed up to do. But he seems to settle into a routine quickly I guess you could even say that he enjoys what he does. He tends not to think about what he actually does and that I think helps him to get by. Mort accepts his lot for what it is, but then he meets Keli. She seems to be one of the few people that can actually see him. His wish to keep her safe leads him into a conflict with his boss and in the process causes a rift in reality that will have to be resolved somehow or other. In the process o trying to save himself and his reality Mort becomes more and more like Death. He is being taken over by Death slowly. Ysabell is the one that draggs him back to himself, makes him realise who he really is. One thing that you can say about Mort is that he is willing to die for what he believes in. He is even willing to take on Death itself to preserve what he thinks is right. It works! Death seems to take pity on Mort and decides to let him live. The only thing Death asks is that Mort and Ysabell make amends by making sure that what was meant to be is actually going to be.
Deaths is another great character in the book. He is written as a majestic, larger than life personality. With a sense of humour. He also seems to have a desire to learn about human behaviour and at times almost tries to behave like one. Death is there to do a job. He is not the one making the decision on who dies and lives but he merely does what needs to be done. He is also not a menacing character. He seems kind of reasonable, not scary, likes cats and seems to have compassion for those he comes to take. At the start of the book Death is very keen to do his job well and to make sure that Mort learns what he needs to so he can take over. And yet, when Mort does go out on his own and does a good job Death is almost disappointed. This seems to lead him to re-evaluate his "life" and leads to something like a crisis where he goes out and discovers what makes people tick, what do they do and experience, what makes their lives enjoyable? I loved Death as a cook! It is just the thought of this almost regal and impressive character that has been presented so far donning a apron and frying eggs. Death has created his own little space to live in outside of time and he has made it as homely as possible. Even though everything is a shade of grey or black it still has all the essentials.. animals, plants. He has even tried to make himself more human by adopting a daughter. At the end of the story Death seems to be the more human of the characters we have met. He seems to take pity on Mort and Ysabell and allows them to live to rectify their mistakes. This is unexpected as generally Death does not give you a second chance... unless you are a cute kitten perhaps.
When we first meet Death's daughter Ysabell she seems like a really arrogant, selfish and unkind person. She is almost like a Estella in Great Expectations. Haughty and ready to destroy any young man that dares to come near her. As we go through the book as she gets to know Mort she changes and you realise that she is kind of caught where she is, with no way out. She is there for eternity and time has stopped for her as it does for everyone living with Death. She knows she is only tolerated and there almost as a kind of experiment for Death. I think she is there because Death is intrigued by Mankind and wants to find out what make them tick. He has tried to create a place where Ysabell would feel happy but she knows only too well it is not real. I think that having Mort there reminds Ysabell about what it is to feel and to long for life to be different. She loves o read the life books of all the people that have passed on. She thinks that all love is dramatic, over the top and over romantic. Perhaps that is why she initially does not recognise her love for Mort. She and Mort make a really good team and she is one feisty character, not afraid to tell it like it is.

The story in the book is simple enough in itself. Mort becomes Death's apprentice. Gets to go out on missions to gather the dead. He gets obsessed by a girl that can see him when others cannot and decides to change her fate when he knows he should not. This leads to all sorts of contradictions in reality and Mort, Ysabell, a wizard called Cutwell, a servant called Albert (who is actually a wizard as well) and Binky the horse have to do everything they can to save their reality and themselves wih Death hot on their heels. Un-naturally... they succeed.

And yet under the surface the book is so much more than a story about Death taking an apprentice. Pratchett makes a point of telling us several times that people only see what they want to believe and that they tend not to accept what is right in front of them even if they can see it clearly. It also seems that Pratchett is representing Death not as a scary character but as a character who almost wants to be human and understand mankind. Death, it seems is nothing to be afraid of.