Terry Pratchett was not only a weaver of great stories, but also a creator of them. Flat world It would be difficult for him to come up with a story as amazingly incredible as the one that formed the basis of his new book.
A stroke of the pen: lost stories is a collection of short stories written by Pratchett as a local newspaper journalist in the 1970s and 1980s, most of which were published under the pseudonym Patrick Kearns. Their existence was a secret to everyone except Pratchett himself, who died in 2015 after years of Alzheimer’s disease. They were eventually discovered by husband and wife amateur Pratchettologists, Ian and Pat Harkin, who combed through hundreds of old newspaper issues in an epic literary detective story.
“At first we couldn’t bring ourselves to believe it. Nobody knew about the Patrick Kearns case. We found it completely by accident,” says Jan, who along with her husband discovered most of the stories in the Bristol company’s archives. Western Daily Presswhere Pratchett worked as a reporter before publishing his first Flat world Novel, Color of magicSet in a fantasy world, he balances on the backs of four giant elephants standing on a giant turtle floating in space.
These stories are an enjoyable literary treat, written in a timely manner by Pratchett, especially for young readers. A typical example of the collection is Wanted: The Fat Funny Man with the Red Wool Hat, in which Santa Claus takes a job at a bank (a plot that appears in a different form in Pratchett’s 1987 novel). Mortwhere death takes a sabbatical).
It’s a fun waste of time: a whimsical idea turned into a quick distraction. However, because the material was attributed to the fictional “Patrick Kearns”, the existence of the stories went undetected for decades. The catalyst for their discovery was another Pratchett enthusiast, Chris Lawrence, who had one of the stories, published in the new book Quest for the Keys (this time with Pratchett’s signature), hanging on his wall in a frame for 40 years.
He contacted the Pratchett estate, who were keen to find out the original publication date of Quest for the Keys. Western Daily Press.
Pratchett’s agent Colin Smythe contacted Ian and Pat Harkin, who had become close to Pratchett in his later years after meeting him at a fan convention. They eagerly dug through old issues of the newspaper. The search for the Key Finder has begun.
They estimate that the story was published between the early 1970s and 1980s. It even appeared in a newspaper in 1984. However, the Harkins decided to start and continue the work in the 1970s and discovered the stories of Cairns.
The clue was a story by Kearns called “The Blackbury Affair.” This was interesting: Blackbury was a fictional town where Pratchett often told stories. Smythe then told the Harkins that “Cairns” was Pratchett’s mother’s maiden name. They unraveled a mystery they didn’t even know existed.
Pat and Ian spent months digging through the archives. Western Daily Press and this Bucks Free Press (where Pratchett also worked) in the National Newspaper Collection in Boston Spa, Yorkshire. The couple are retired doctors – Pratchett often called them for anatomical advice while they were working on the book – and their experience searching through medical records served them well.
Tracking these stories seemed like “the perfect retirement hobby,” Yang says. “Boston Spa is about 20 minutes from where we live in Leeds. We are used to archiving documents on paper, not online. When we were medical students, we didn’t have the Internet. Getting back into the rhythm wasn’t that hard. Then we discovered something spectacular.”
“Spectacular” is correct. Every now and then they would see a new name: “Patrick Kearns” and squeal with joy (not too loudly: they were in a library, after all). These discoveries made the hard work worth it. And it was hard work turning through the yellowed pages every day.
“We selected a certain number of volumes to work with. We didn’t dare skip a single page,” says Yang.
Pratchett published Color of magic in 1983 (initial edition was only 506 copies). Over the next 40 years, writing more than 100 novels, he became one of the most popular writers in Britain and then the world, thanks to his wry writing style that has been compared to P.G. Wodehouse, and a penchant for fantastic spectacles in the fantasy genre. field Game of ThronesThis is George R.R. Martin. However, knowledgeable people never recognized him. “He’s a complete amateur,” poet Tom Paulin said ruefully of Pratchett on BBC Two. Late Review in 1994. “He doesn’t even write chapter by chapter.”
This elitism amused rather than offended Pratchett. He always joked that the last thing he needed was a Man Booker Prize nomination. “Thank God,” he said of his continued failure to be recognized by the award. “Because I think my income would drop considerably if I suddenly gained literary prestige.”
But whatever the snobs thought, it was his Flat world The books were far ahead of their time. Their complex, morally ambiguous fantasy universe stood out from the more black-and-white worlds that had come before, such as Tolkien’s stories. Moreover, Flat world Books can be incredibly accurate in their predictions.
Earn Moneysince 2007, for example, predicted a banking crisis a full year before the world economy burned to the ground. Feet made of clay, published in 1996, was a harbinger of our current concerns about artificial intelligence. The plot revolves around a clay golem who appears to gain self-confidence. What a magical achievement this is: a meditation on techno-angst, written decades before ChatGTP.
Above all, Pratchett’s books celebrated compassion for strangers and kindness towards others. “Terry told me about his writing that there are two stories in each book,” says Pat Harkin. “There is a story that will catch your attention and it says: Read me, read me, turn the page. And then there’s the story he really wants to tell you about what’s important to him: sexism or discrimination.”
“Sometimes he would get very angry about the things in those books,” Yang adds. “There was a passion for discrimination and exploitation. It was done with a satirical smile: it made you laugh and then think.”
Same rituals from 1997 about a young girl who tries… Flat world the glass ceiling due to entering the world of magic, accessible only to men; in 2009 Invisible scientists Pratchett got rid of the evil “orcs” – famous Lord of the Rings but appear in the imagination and portray them as oppressed and misunderstood, rather than inherently evil.
It is known that Pratchett prohibited his estate from publishing unfinished books after his death. His assistant and managing director (and later biographer) Rob Wilkins complied with these wishes in typically absurdist Pratchett fashion by spinning the author’s hard drive. Stories in it Stroke of the pen If a writer’s work is still finding its voice, what will Pratchett think about sharing it with the world?
“He would be amazed at the joy I bring to them,” Wilkins says. “All Terry got out of his job was distraction. Yes, he would be glad if they were found. He also gave us a wink about how it took us so long to find her.”
Some authors are quickly forgotten after their death. But in the eight and a half years since Pratchett’s death, he has remained alive thanks to a long-awaited TV adaptation.” Good omens starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen will air on the BBC in 2020, as well as a new series of audio versions of the film. Flat world Novels based on stories by Billy Nighy, Andy Serkis and Flea bagThis is Sian Clifford.
In our post-Game of Thrones Fantasy is becoming increasingly popular around the world, but that’s not why Pratchett is still so widely read (he still sells 2.5 million books a year in the UK alone). This is because his novels examine the human condition with humor and insight. Pratchett was on the side of the outsiders – the people who didn’t fit in with society. And if you think about it, that’s all of us.
“It’s still so popular today because it’s a mirror for you when you’re reading Pratchett’s book, a mirror for the man or woman on the train who saw you doing something strange that morning.” says Wilkins. “Every detail fits together. That’s what I like about his work.”
Source: I News
I am Mario Pickle and I work in the news website industry as an author. I have been with 24 News Reporters for over 3 years, where I specialize in entertainment-related topics such as books, films, and other media. My background is in film studies and journalism, giving me the knowledge to write engaging pieces that appeal to a wide variety of readers.