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simpmor 's review for:
Night Watch
by Terry Pratchett
I read most of the discworld books as a teenager and was a devoted fan, but haven't read any for a while - then I recently heard an old interview with Terry saying he thought this was his best and I realised I hadn't actually read it, so I thought I'd better! little did I know the timing was perfect, having read and loved Les Miserables last year, the story to which this one pays homage; and given much of the writing is about aging, experience, maturity I'm glad I let a couple more decades elapse before tackling it.
Vimes is flawed, of course, in some respects precisely because of his age and experience, he's cynical, violent and impatient - but equally he's admirable: fiercely principled, loyal, just. He's a great character to read but not enough on his own, I'm not typically into police/crime stories for several reasons but while this initially shapes to be a similar and familiar tale of a stoic, grizzled copper pursuing an irretrievably bad bad man... then we travel back in time (I actually usually dislike time-travel as a plot device as well, Pratchett fighting an uphill battle with me here) and Vimes, instead of monomaniacally hunting his man, Carcer, as expected, finds himself behind the barricades peacefully defending The People against the government, the army and a shady group reminiscent of the gestapo.
And this is where Pratchett comes into his own, writing about The People in all their shapes and sizes, ages and temperaments (and in this fantasy world the shapes and sizes are even more wildly varied than in reality). His analyses are always witty, frequently hilarious, but also deeply insightful; seen through a compassionate lens he is rarely judgemental but instead sees people as they are, a combination of their innate personality and their unique circumstance. An absolute master at work in this respect.
Vimes is flawed, of course, in some respects precisely because of his age and experience, he's cynical, violent and impatient - but equally he's admirable: fiercely principled, loyal, just. He's a great character to read but not enough on his own, I'm not typically into police/crime stories for several reasons but while this initially shapes to be a similar and familiar tale of a stoic, grizzled copper pursuing an irretrievably bad bad man... then we travel back in time (I actually usually dislike time-travel as a plot device as well, Pratchett fighting an uphill battle with me here) and Vimes, instead of monomaniacally hunting his man, Carcer, as expected, finds himself behind the barricades peacefully defending The People against the government, the army and a shady group reminiscent of the gestapo.
And this is where Pratchett comes into his own, writing about The People in all their shapes and sizes, ages and temperaments (and in this fantasy world the shapes and sizes are even more wildly varied than in reality). His analyses are always witty, frequently hilarious, but also deeply insightful; seen through a compassionate lens he is rarely judgemental but instead sees people as they are, a combination of their innate personality and their unique circumstance. An absolute master at work in this respect.