Hogfather by Terry Pratchett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Hogfather
Book Review: A Hogswatch carol
Summary: 4 Stars
The dark time of the year is filled with chaos, and so is this book, despite the efforts of the Auditors, nasty little bastards that they are. They want to eliminate the Hogfather and so prevent the sun from coming up, thus stopping the messy, disorganized process of life. (Hint: the whole mystery here centers around belief and the control of it).
A question provides a subtheme throughout the action: "What IS the real meaning of Christmas/Hogswatch?"
The easy answers, like the wishful, naive, simplistic, theme of "Wouldn't it be nice if everyone was nice?" (the Discworld is notoriously pantheistic) are juxtaposed harshly against reality. The commercialism of the merchant ("...but he's GIVING the stuff away!") while down the street The Little Match Girl freezes to death in the cold and snow, only to be rescued by Death as The Hogfather, pointing out that that's how it SHOULDN'T go, is pure Pratchett irony...seemingly gentle, but sharper than a diamond scalpel. Humans can't be bothered, but the Hogfather can give a gift...and a life is a pretty good one.
Another 'real meaning' is explored too, in Albert's voice, bone-real as in "Will there be enough food to get us through the winter after the pigs are slaughtered?"...
This moves even further back to the sacrificial blood on the snow bringing back the sun and renewing the earth after the winter solstice. Old gods do new jobs.
'Charity' also comes in for a scrutiny here ("..not what you want to give them, but what they need to get").
My personal favorite comparison here is Death as the Hogfather, pillow, fake beard, scythe and all, held up against the poor, fat, red-suited guy who has been demoted to going "ho ho ho" and passing out toys. Now Death is a Hogfather with 'NADS...in a manner of speaking.
Pterry has written a story that is impossible to explain without telling it, it has so many layers. The best thing to do is just read it, wait some time, and then read it again. Repeat this many times. You will get or learn something different each time you do so.
HO. HO. HO.
Book Review: A darkly, beautiful story with an important message!
Summary: 5 Stars
Who would've thought, after reading the first few books of Terry Pratchett that this writer would one day produce a book with such depth as this one? Okay, as always it's all wrapped up in a high speed, intricate story with several sub-plots, but that makes the ultimate message Pratchett delivers only more convincing. So, what's the story all about? As always, the Discworld is in perilous danger, or at least civilization on it is. The "Auditors" (of reality, not money) want to eliminate mankind. Since these beings like everything to be orderly, precise and regular, it's not hard to imagine mankind is a thorn in the eye to them. The way they plan to wipe mankind of the disc is by murdering the Hogfather (Discworlds equivalent of Santaclaus), a job assigned to the less than sane assassin Teatime. DEATH, the only one who understands the danger mankind is in, can't help himself and interferes by impersonating the Hogfather. Meanwhile his granddaughter Susan sets out to stop Teatime (with a little dubious help from the Oh-God of Hangovers). Of course, in the end all's well, but not before Pratchett makes a very keen observation of what defines humanity. Believing in certain 'lies' (like the existence of a Hogfather) is, according to Death (the only truly impartial observer) what makes us human.
I've read the book three times now and I'm still surprised how well Pratchett builds his story and every time I marvel at the insights he shows in what humans are like. It's a very special book, with something for everybody and I really recommend it not only to Pratchett fans.
Book Review: A great novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps one of my favorite Terry Pratchett novels, Susan Sto Helit and her grandfather, Death, are back and play well off each other. Pratchett gives Susan a great deal of rationality, which seems to be something a lot of his characters in this world lack and therefore leads to being a side splitting read.Book Review: Ah a little christmas cheer, Prachett style.
Summary: 5 Stars
Well well well. Look who has something for every season. Discworld holidays can be a little strange sometimes, but this seems almost normal. Except for the part about killing pigs and birds and such so the sun will rise. This is the kind of book you can pull put at christmas and offend some people. This book in a lot of ways makes a mockery of christmas, as death is running the scene. This is the book I use to get new people into discworld. I hope you like it too. Definitly good to read again and again...~Rincewind
Book Review: An Excellent Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pratchett, Terry. (1998). Hogfather.
New York: HarperPrism. 0-06-105905-6
Comedy / Satire. 354 pages.
Terry Pratchett's Hogfather is excellent. I have never read a more satisfyingly good comedy in my life.
Hogfather is about a young woman named Susan - Death's granddaughter. The story takes place in a world called Discworld; almost like an alternate universe of Earth. There are fairies, gnomes, wizards, and even the Hogfather (like Santa Clause) on Discworld. Since Susan is Death's granddaughter, she possesses some of his qualities, like being able to see magical creatures, doing the job of Death, and being able to walk through walls. At the beginning of the book, all she wants is to be normal, so she took a job being a governess. Then, on Hogswatch Eve, Death came down the chimney instead of the Hogfather. Susan then found out that the Hogfather was `dead' and Death was filling in for him.
She was forced to go back to her magical ways in order to save mankind.
In the Wizard's Guild fairies start popping up everywhere and the wizards soon realize that if enough people believe in a certain type of fairy, like the verruca fairy, there is one. Susan goes to them for help, along with the Hangover Ohgod whom she created on accident.
Also on Discworld is the Assassin's Guild, where a man named Mr. Teatime got instructed to kill the Hogfather by the Auditors, a group of things who keep track of everything on Earth. They think that life is too messy, so they plan to kill everyone. Mr. Teatime and his hired gang travel to Death's house and break the Hogfather's Immortality hourglass. Then they go to the Tooth Fairy's castle and, using the teeth they find there, make them not believe in the Hogfather.
Will Susan save all of Discworld? Read and find out!
Some other Terry Pratchett books in the Discworld series that I would recommend are Mort, Going Postal, The Last Continent, and Monstrous Regiment. Terry Pratchett's books are almost constantly funny. His plots are so intriguing and creative. While reading his books, you'll never get bored.
This book is for an older crowd, though. He uses large and hard words frequently. His jokes are also mature and might take some thinking to get. Don't let that stop you though, you won't regret it!
I give this book a 5 out of 5 because it has everything you're looking for in a book. I loved it and am planning to read more of Terry Pratchett's books.
Regards,
Kathryn Green