Unseen Academicals (Discworld, #37)

Oct 16, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pratchett

Football (soccer to Americans like myself) is all the rage in Ankh-Morpork and Vetinari, the Patrician, has given Unseen University the duty of refining it from a street game to an organized event. Only some people don't want it organized. Can the Unseen Academicals, with Trevor Likely and the mysterious Mister Nutt, overcome football's rowdiest hooligans?

The thing about Terry Pratchett is that while his stories take place in a fantasy world, they are about real world events and concepts. This o...more

32 likes · like · see review

Jan 11, 2010 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-sf-and-fantasy, fiction-humour

When I was a teenager, a friend and I wrote a behemoth of a three-page letter on A4 paper to Terry Pratchett. We were amazed and grateful when a reply arrived from him a few months later, apologising for the delay and attempting to answer some of our many questions. One of the questions we asked was, "What football team do you support?" He replied something to the effect of not watching football because he thought it was weird.

Warm, fuzzy memories aside, I wanted to love this latest Discworld no...more

22 likes · like · see review

Dec 07, 2009 Moira Russell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-50-new-books-challenge

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I liked this book a lot better than Making Money, which baffled and even saddened me because it seemed to fall apart about 300 pages in. But that's not really saying much. I think this entry in the series is a good solid Discworld novel -- not a classic favourite like Lords & Ladies or Night Watch, but better than misfires like Monstrous Regiment or Pyramids. And I'm not a big fan of the wizards books in the series, either, so that may be deflating my judgement a bit -- I picked this one up...more I liked this book a lot better than Making Money, which baffled and even saddened me because it seemed to fall apart about 300 pages in. But that's not really saying much. I think this entry in the series is a good solid Discworld novel -- not a classic favourite like Lords & Ladies or Night Watch, but better than misfires like Monstrous Regiment or Pyramids. And I'm not a big fan of the wizards books in the series, either, so that may be deflating my judgement a bit -- I picked this one up specifically first because I heard it was about football, and second, the protagonist was a....well, that's a spoiler, somewhat, but I knew it going in, and indeed most critics spotlit it in their reviews.

Nutt, the hapless candle-dribbler who rises to become the book's hero, is not a human, but a goblin; not a goblin, it is revealed as the story goes on, but an orc: a legendary monster, a walking weapon left over from the Evil Empire's dark wars. The real surprise, revealed late in the story by (of course) the tyrant Vetinari, is that orcs were made (also of course) from humans -- no other race could be as necessarily vicious. And the real question of the book is: who is the greater monster, the monster himself, or the monsters who make him into -- or keep him as -- one?

Pratchett's 'speciesism' (focusing mostly on trolls, dwarfs, and golems) has always been related, more and less successfully on his part, to 'roundworld' racism. In this book, as a Tor reviewer points out, the 'whip-thoughts' in Nutt's head which make him constantly doubt and second-guess himself were put there by the same woman who rescued him and taught him to read (shades of Frederick Douglass and Sophia Auld?), and he battles personally against what 'everybody knows' about orcs (they'll rip off your head, they eat the dead -- including their own, &c &c).

But what connects this plot to the rather MacGuffin story that 'the university is losing its funding and to keep it the wizards have to learn how to play football' is not just that Nutt winds up coaching the football team, but the knee-jerk prejudices that even the most sympathetic and mild-mannered characters have against orcs are part of what Pratchett calls 'the Shove,' or mob psychology. And, as the book itself states on the back flap of at least one edition, not only is "the important thing about football is that it isn't about football," but the important thing about Unseen Academicals is it really isn't about football, either, but what 'everybody knows' about life, security, romance, women, and other races, to name just a few of the book's themes. And if Nutt's main quest is to find that he does indeed have 'worth,' it's equally as important that the woman he loves, Glenda, has just as much of a struggle to overcome the unthinking prejudices she's absorbed all her life. As Glenda's perceptions change, her life changes, too, and she is moved to help change the lives around her. -- Of course, while considering these very serious topics, the book is also very, very funny, particularly in some of the exchanges between Ridcully and Ponder Stibbons.

I'm not sure how well it works as a story -- Nutt's quest of whether or not he will find worth is about as foregone a conclusion as whether or not the Academicals will win the big game at the end, or if lovers Trevor and Juliet will find happiness. And the apparent actual deus ex machina at the very end made me about as uneasy as the divine intervention in Monstrous Regiment -- I suppose in a flat world supported by elephants and turtles it shouldn't seem bizarre to see a bunch of gods, small and otherwise, bobbing around, but it gave a certain preordained quality to the entire story, just about as bad as Vetinari knowing everything that various characters are rushing to tell him (which happens so often -- two or three times -- in this book, it seems on the verge of self-parody). There is, other than the hectic inevitable game which closes the book, in fact not a lot of action in this book, and a lot of talking -- which is somewhat appropriate, since it is largely about how daily people think and talk, and how they change their thinking and talking. (Glenda runs around a lot, from her Night Kitchen to her house and the library and Vetinari's palace and various places in the University, but I didn't feel other people got to do much of anything.)

I did adore Nutt, who has a lot in common with Frankenstein's monster, and liked Glenda very much, and it's interesting to see Pratchett focus more on the lower classes of Ankh-Morpork. There really is the sense the city is generally changing -- not just with the newspapers, the clacks, the Watch, and so on all being established, but in the general acceptance of Vetinari's benevolent tyranny, which is responsible for all these advancements, including now the gradual domestication of not just football (which he had originally outlawed) and the accompanying street violence, but the darker Shove and the Faces behind it.

Vetinari seems very clearly a Machiavellian ideal, and I confess I tend to think something like 'shhyeah right' whenever he appears on the page, but it has been hard as an American citizen not to feel disillusioned in democracy over the past ten years or so, or at least to feel that what we have delights in masquerading as democracy but was just as much rooted in tyranny as any royal court. But if it's Vetinari or the Shove, Vetinari is clearly the 'better' choice.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 01, 2011 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, fantasy

3.5

The wizards have never been my favorite, and we keep getting a dose of new characters, and football is hardly my favorite topic, but, for all of that, it was still an enjoyable story. It'll most likely never be one of my faves, but it was good.

I liked Nutt and Glenda, and wouldn't mind seeing them again, but I particularly liked the addition of Mr. Hix to the UU staff - the man with the skull ring who has license to be just a little bit evil, and to say the things everyone else is thinking. H...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though seemingly unrelated, two events have occurred in the city of Ankh-Morpork – an ancient football trophy is discovered in the Royal Art Museum and Mr Nutt who seemingly has no past, nor any memory of it, has started to work in the Unseen University as a candle dribbler. Both though are destined to come into each other’s orbit as football, modernism, class, racism and celebrity are parodied through the lens of Terry Pratchett’s satirical eye. Trying to summarise a Pratchett book is never eas...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Sam Quixote rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first Discworld novel in 4 years, the last one I read being the largely mediocre "Thud!" and a below average outing for the City Watch. I tried "Making Money" a couple of years ago but it was the first Discworld I couldn't finish it was so poor. That was really it for me, I thought I'd not be returning to Pratchett again. I felt sorry for Terry hearing of his illness but his continued forays into the dubious realm of "Young Adult" fiction often yielded poor books for a bloke in his 20...more This is my first Discworld novel in 4 years, the last one I read being the largely mediocre "Thud!" and a below average outing for the City Watch. I tried "Making Money" a couple of years ago but it was the first Discworld I couldn't finish it was so poor. That was really it for me, I thought I'd not be returning to Pratchett again. I felt sorry for Terry hearing of his illness but his continued forays into the dubious realm of "Young Adult" fiction often yielded poor books for a bloke in his 20s. The bafflingly crap "Amazing Maurice" and the increasingly tedious Tiffany Aching series "Ach it's sh*t!" seemed to be where Terry was happy to stay especially as his last book was (according to a friend who is similarly disenfranchised) a poor attempt at Castaway crossed with RL Stevenson, "Nation". I think it was seeing the Librarian on the front wearing a bandana kamikaze style that brought me back. Has Terry gone back and done justice to the series that made him? Thankfully the answer is a deafening cheer from the crowd. He has.

The wizards' food budget is threatened if they don't observe a centuries old tradition and take part in a foot-the-ball game, and off they go. It's as simple as that, plot wise. The familiar faces are all there, Rincewind and Luggage, Death, Ridcully and Ponder Stibbons, the Librarian, CMOT Dibbler, Commander Vimes, the Patrician and Wuffles, and the glorious setting that has become a character unto itself, the city of Ankh-Morpork.

Though there isn't much in the way of plot, the interactions between the characters more than makes up for it. The conversations between Vetinari and Ridcully were the highlights of the book for me - two superbly realised characters verbally sparring is a rare thing in fiction today and Terry writes their scenes masterfully. If I hadn't been told that Terry had Alzeimher's or that this was the first Pratchett novel he had to dictate I wouldn't have known the difference.

It should be said though that the bulk of the story follows several new characters: Glenda the head of the Night Kitchen at UU, her ditzy friend Juliet, the head of the Candle Vats and talented foot-the-ball-er Trev Likely, and the mysterious goblin Nutt with a past. Glenda is your typical strong headed, independent woman character that Terry is so adept at creating while Nutt, basically the hero, is your "perceived as bad because of his appearance but salt of the earth" character that Terry's also done many times previous. Trev and Juliet are a sort of Posh'n'Becks parody.

Despite the book not being a revolutionary new change to Discworld, it is the type of Discworld book that I loved reading back when i was 12. Discworld has never been about plot anyway, its about the characters and the places and Terry provides a masterclass in writing both in this book. It's also a tribute to his writing ability that you don't care that Death and Vimes appear for less than a page each, or that Rincewind and Luggage are bit part players while Vetinari seems worlds apart from the character he was when we first met him, you like getting to know the new characters just as much.

If, like me, you just enjoy spending time in Ankh-Morpork with its eccentric citizens and brilliantly named streets, as familiar and enjoyable as seeing an old friend, you'll love this book. (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 19, 2009 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The challenge with trying to review a book by the inimitable Terry Pratchett is finding something to say that hasn’t already been said. The man’s unquestionable skill as a writer and the extensive body of his work makes it all but impossible to say anything about a new addition that hasn’t already been said—often.

I had the pleasure of receiving an advance copy of the newest Pratchett, Unseen Academicals, from the publisher, Harper. And trust me, it was very much a pleasure because once again Mr....more

6 likes · like · see review

Nov 30, 2011 Emma Thompson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like most of Pratchett's books, I enjoyed this a lot. It's fun, it's pretty easy to read, it has emotional punch. It's got wizards, Death gets a cameo and it's actually got very little football, which I have to admit is a selling point as far as I go. In unseen academicals the wizards find that to keep a bequest which pays for most of their lunch they must play a game of football. Of course this doesn't go easily.

i have to admit that a big chunk of what made this book so much fun for me was Glen...more Like most of Pratchett's books, I enjoyed this a lot. It's fun, it's pretty easy to read, it has emotional punch. It's got wizards, Death gets a cameo and it's actually got very little football, which I have to admit is a selling point as far as I go. In unseen academicals the wizards find that to keep a bequest which pays for most of their lunch they must play a game of football. Of course this doesn't go easily.

i have to admit that a big chunk of what made this book so much fun for me was Glenda. Glenda is one of our main characters, a cook in the night kitchen at the university who gets pulled into the football thing. Glenda is one of those people who ends up being a big sister to everyone around her, and I'm like that so I loved her just a tiny bit more than normal. This book is longer that most of the discworld books but it contains a lot more. We get a lot of great characters who all go through a lot of changes over the book along with the usual Discworld fare like the Librarian being awsome.

I did enjoy this book greatly and spent a lot of time trying to decide if I should rate a 4 or 4.5 (becasue that's what I do at work). In the end, it did come down very much to how much I love Glenda and Nutt. They're the selling story of the book for me. Of course, the entire thing is witty and fun and well plotted, but their particular story was the part that made me devour this book. Nutt is one of the main characters, a Goblin (or is he?) who works at the unseen university's candle vats. He's funny looking and scared and just trying his best to do a good job and have value. Of course, Glenda takes to him because she feels sorry for him, and I couldn't help but hope for them as a romantic couple. Stuff happens and, as you may guess, they did! It was cute, it was fluffy, it was like eating sugar pie. Glenda isn't good looking but she's generous and determined and has a head full of romantic idea but it also an idealist and she's utterly wonderful. A few points annoyed me, like how Glenda and Nutt (the two unatractive characters) and up together and Juliet and Trev (the attractive ones) also end up together, and the continual reminders that Glenda isn't attractive. But then, on the other side, Glenda never lets not being attractive hold her back, Nutt is intelligent and charming so by all accounts a good catch and they all go of to excitement and adventure in the end so none of the things that bother me bother me enough to stop me enjoying the book.

So, yeah, read it! (less)

like · see review

Aug 10, 2011 Smita Jha added it

I'm never going to give a Pterry book less than a five. This one was a little confuzzled, but always in a good way.

I don't mind being taken via the scenic route on a tour of the Unseen University, Ankh Morpork and little glimpses of Uberwald and Sto Lat. Pterry always gets to the heart of the matter by going straight for the jugular while also attending to several minor veins and arteries. And inspite of my previous sentence this book is actually not really about vampires except in a very minor...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Hana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favourites

Having only read "Witches Abroad" and "Thud!" of Terry Pratchett's books I was worried that I wouldn't get a lot of the references or tied in histories of Unseen Academicals.

My worries were put to rest of course by Pratchett's clever way of treating the book as -almost- a novel on its own. He adds useful anecdotes where needed and adds just the right amount of character building for you to get the feel of his characters without having to read any of the numerous prequels to this one.

I myself ins...more

like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The wizards at Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University are renowned for many things—wisdom, magic, their love of teatime—but athletics is most assuredly not on the list. So when Lord Vetinari, the city's benevolent tyrant, strongly suggests to Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully that the university put forth a football team composed of faculty, students, and staff—or lose the funding that pays for their nine daily meals—the more-than-usually-at-sea UU wizards find themselves in a quandary. To begin with,

...more

The wizards at Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University are renowned for many things—wisdom, magic, their love of teatime—but athletics is most assuredly not on the list. So when Lord Vetinari, the city's benevolent tyrant, strongly suggests to Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully that the university put forth a football team composed of faculty, students, and staff—or lose the funding that pays for their nine daily meals—the more-than-usually-at-sea UU wizards find themselves in a quandary. To begin with, they have to figure out just what it is that makes this sport of foot-the-ball so popular with Ankh-Morporkians of all ages and social strata. Then they have to learn how to play it. Oh, and on top of that, they must somehow win a football match without using magic.

And the thing about football—the most important thing about football—is that it is never just about football.

From Publishers Weekly

Football, food, fashion and wizards collide in Pratchett's 37th Discworld novel (after 2007's Making Money), an affectionate satire on the foibles of sports and sports fans. The always out-of-touch wizards at Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University stand to lose a very big bequest unless they enter a team in a violent but popular street sport competition. As the wizards struggle to learn the game, aided by the university's hired help, Ankh-Morpork's ruler schemes to use the competition for his own purposes. Though the book suffers from a few awkward moments (Pratchett's attempts to discuss racism through the strained relationships of dwarves, humans and goblins fall particularly flat), the prose crackles with wit and charm, and the sendups of league football, academic posturing, Romeo and Juliet and cheesy sports dramas are razor sharp and hilarious but never cruel. At its heart, this is an intelligent, cheeky love letter to football, its fans and the unifying power of sports. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“In short, this is as busy and as daft as any other Discworld yarn, which means it is the quintessence of daft. Nobody writes fantasy funnier than Pratchett.” (Booklist )

“At its heart, this is an intelligent, cheeky love letter to football, its fans and the unifying power of sports. (Publishers Weekly )

“This account of Unseen University’s entry into the world of soccer (or, as they occasionally call it, “foot-the-ball”) pushes past the usual conventions of satire to offer equal parts absurdist philosophy and heartwarming romance....A witty addition to the long-running fantasy series” (Kirkus Reviews )

“Thirty-seven books in and ... Discworld is still going strong...and doing so with undimmed, triumphant exuberance. ” (The Guardian )

“It’s a triumphant effort” (The Independent on Sunday )

(less)

like · see review

Feb 02, 2013 Inga rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Mit der Scheibenwelt, also Pratchetts literarischer Welt, verhält es sich so, dass man sie entweder liebt oder grundsätzlich nicht versteht, warum man so einen Blödsinn lesen soll. Ich gehöre zur ersten Kategorie: Hexen, Trolle, die Wache, die Magier,... - das alles ist großartig und fantastisch in jeder Hinsicht. Pratchett schafft eine Welt, in der alles möglich ist, die aber der unseren ähnlich genug ist, um sie ironisch zu kommentieren und den Finger genau auf unsere eigenen bizarren Wirklich...more

like · see review

Nov 03, 2012 Trutze rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved the book and I can't understand how Pratchett fans could be disappointed with it.

And maybe important before going on: I am more interested in the life of a seagull than in football/soccer.

But to me, football wasn't the main topic here. It was about how people view and act towards each other just because of such stupid things as different sports clubs, it's also about racism and over coming prejudices and about love :)

The questions that the character Mister Nutt raise are very well though...more

like · see review

Jul 01, 2012 Petr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aby bylo jasno, Zeměplochu mám rád - obzvlášť ty dvě epizody, v nichž se vyskytuje Vlahoš von Rosret, ale výborná je i Noční hlídka, Pátý elefant, Pravda, z těch starších třeba Sekáč nebo Otec Prasátek. Četl jsem je všechny, k některým se rád vracím.

To ale neznamená, že se Pratchettovi povedlo vždycky všechno - a ano, jsem si vědom, že pro nezanedbatelnou část českého geectva je Terry bůh a Jan Kantůrek jeho prorok.

Po těchto varováních přistupme k věci. Nevídaní Akademikové vyšli česky už předl...more Aby bylo jasno, Zeměplochu mám rád - obzvlášť ty dvě epizody, v nichž se vyskytuje Vlahoš von Rosret, ale výborná je i Noční hlídka, Pátý elefant, Pravda, z těch starších třeba Sekáč nebo Otec Prasátek. Četl jsem je všechny, k některým se rád vracím.

To ale neznamená, že se Pratchettovi povedlo vždycky všechno - a ano, jsem si vědom, že pro nezanedbatelnou část českého geectva je Terry bůh a Jan Kantůrek jeho prorok.

Po těchto varováních přistupme k věci. Nevídaní Akademikové vyšli česky už předloni, anglicky ještě o rok dříve, takže nehrozí, že bych nevhodně vyzradil něco ze zápletky, jež je ostatně jednoduchá: v Ankh-Morporku se hraje fotbal. Do města dále přibyl nový druh myslícího tvora - ork (ti nám ještě scházeli!), trpaslíci začali podnikat v módě (jsou v tom peníze), samozřejmě po svém, děkan opustil NU a stal se arcikancléřem konkurenční univerzity... máte už asi obrázek, ne? Silný příběh, jaký je páteří těch výše zmíněných dílů, tomu chybí, detaily a hlášky jsou dobré jako vždy.

Pravda je rodu ženského, protože pravda je spíš krásná než praktická (...) To by také vysvětlovalo rčení, že lež oběhne svět dřív, než si Pravda obuje boty, protože Pravda by se rozhodovala, který pár si má obout. Představa, že by nějaká žena v postavení, kdy se může rozhodovat, měla jen jeden pár bot, jde za hranice logických úvah.

Četl jsem to napřed anglicky, pak česky a pak pro jistotu znova anglicky, čímž jsem ztratil trochu iluzí o dokonalosti Kantůrkových překladů (ostatně dost opožděně; někde na Okounu je tuším chybám v překladu Zeměplochy věnováno celé fórum). Tak například tento kus dialogu Vetinariho s arcikancléřem Výsměškem

„One has to move with the times, of course,“ said the Patrician, shaking his head.

„We tend not to, over the road,“ said Ridcully. „It only encourages them.“

(„Člověk musí jít s dobou, samozřejmě,“ potřásl hlavou Patricij. — „U nás se to snažíme nedělat,“ řekl Výsměšek. „Ono ji to jen povzbudí.“)

přeložil Kantůrek takto:

„Je samozřejmě potřeba jít s dobou, podporovat novinky,“ pokračoval Patricij a potřásl při tom smutně hlavou.

„No, my se to snažíme na druhé straně nedělat,“ zabručel Výsměšek. „To těm pisálkům jenom dodává odvahy.“

Vidíte? Přidává si významotvorná slova, ignoruje (nebo nerozpozná) vtip a nahradí ho pokusem o svůj vlastní... (Ankh-Morporská Kometa se u Pratchetta jmenuje The Times, takže možná vyšel z toho.)

Apropó, Kometa - hodně jsem přemýšlel nad Kantůrkovou odvážnou strategií práce s vlastními jmény. Je jasné, že nějak se k nim od začátku postavit musel a zvládl to většinou dobře až výborně - u těch mluvících. Mustrum Ridcully = Vzoromil Výsměšek, prima! Nutt/Nuts = Sráž/Sráč, budiž. Uncommon Room = Mágorlík, chápu, ale možná se nad tím dalo přemýšlet déle. Spolwhittle = Pulpižlowski? A proč musí být z Glendy Gustýna a z neutrálního Trevora komický Haštal? Celkem vzato, originál je co do vlastních jmen civilnější a neutrálnější než překlad. Ideální situace nastává tam, kde překládat netřeba: hostující profesor z Genovy a geniální fotbalista Bengo (česky Bingo) Macarona, to je srozumitelné po celém světě.

Všechno nelze svalovat na překladatele: originál je plný slangu, fotbalových a historických narážek, u nichž sice poznáte, že to jsou narážky, ale nepoznáte, na co... je to hodně britská knížka a těžko převoditelná.

Mimochodem, je tam jedno z nejlepších vysvětlení psychoanalýzy, jaké jsem kdy četl:

„Je to takový druh léčení slovy,“ řekl opatrně Sráž. „Občas se lidé z hlouposti dostanou do stavu, kdy uvěří věcem, které nejsou pravda. Občas to může být pro člověka dost nebezpečné. Vidí totiž svět ze špatného úhlu. Nedokážou si pak sami uvědomit, že to, v co věří, je špatné. Ale často je ti jistá část jejich podvědomí, která tohle všechno ví, a ta správná slova jim otevřou oči a pomohou prohlédnout.“

A tady si Kantůrek naběhl, když (kdysi) začal jméno městečka v Überwaldu překládat jako Bjonk, protože..

„(...) he's discovered the Bonk School.“

„What's that?“

„Not that, them. Philosophers. Well, I say philosophers, but, well...“

„Oh, the mucky ones,“ said Fassel cheerfully.

„I wouldn't say mucky,“ said Miss Healstether (...). „Let's say indelicate, shall we?“

There is not a lot of call for delicacy on an anvil, so the smith continued unabashed: „They are the ones who go on about what happens if ladies don't get enough mutton, and they say cigars are —“

“That's a fallacy!“

„That's right, that's what I read.“

Česky:

„(...) objevil Školu Bjonku.“

„Co to má být?“

„Ne co, ale kdo. Jsou to filozofové. No dobrá, já říkám filozofové, ale víte...“

„Takoví ti oplzlíci,“ prohlásil Pajšl s úsměvem.

„Tedy já bych slovo oplzlíci nepoužila,“ ohradila se slečna Železdravá (...). „Řekneme, dejme tomu, nepříliš delikátní, ano?“

Když stojíte u kovadliny, je delikátnost něco, co potřebujete opravdu jen výjimečně, takže kovář vesele pokračoval: „To jsou ti, co rozebírají, co se děje, když si toho ženský dost neužijou, a doutníky, že jsou vlastně —“

„Je to takové blafání!“

„No vždyť, přesně to jsem četl!“

Zde tedy překladatel naopak dělal, co mohl.

Terry Pratchett se bohužel bude muset, jak víme, se Zeměplochou dříve či později rozloučit. Bylo by krásné, kdyby to nebylo ani touto, ani v pořadí následující knihou, ale něčím mnohem lepším. Tento nenápadně geniální cyklus si to zaslouží.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this book when it came out in 2009, and to be completely honest with you, I was kinda disappointed.

The book wasn't bad, mind you. But it was merely good. Pratchett's work is usually somewhere between brilliant and excellent.

Still, I wasn't particularly surprised. I've known about Pratchett's struggle with Alzheimer's for a while. I've known it was just a matter of time before it started to impact his work.

That said, even a somewhat lackluster Pratchett book is pretty good, and I...more

12 likes · like · see review

Mar 11, 2012 Tex Thompson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-humor

Okay, it's been literally months, and I finally have to admit that I'm not going to finish the last 60 pages of this book. I never thought I'd say that about a Pratchett novel.

Maybe the mistake was mine: I thought this was going to be a Discworld book about football. And I guess part of it is, but there is so much other stuff going on (about dwarf fashion and goblin Mary Sues and Romeo and Juliet and I forget what-all else) that the football is more like the B plot than anything else.

And you kn...more Okay, it's been literally months, and I finally have to admit that I'm not going to finish the last 60 pages of this book. I never thought I'd say that about a Pratchett novel.

Maybe the mistake was mine: I thought this was going to be a Discworld book about football. And I guess part of it is, but there is so much other stuff going on (about dwarf fashion and goblin Mary Sues and Romeo and Juliet and I forget what-all else) that the football is more like the B plot than anything else.

And you know what really sucks? I liked most of that other-stuff, too. Trev and Juliet were fun and nifty, especially when you think of the Capulets and Montagues as rival football families. Glenda and her crab-pot epiphanies were great all the way through, and the dwarvish fashion was good for far more than just a one-off joke - the message about egotism, and how hard it is to let yours go when the friend who makes you feel better about yourself by comparison finally outshines you in an area in which you just can't compete, was fantastic.

In fact, the only part of this book that I really couldn't stand was Nutt. I am sick to death of characters who are sad and lonely because their super-special backstory makes them indisputably better and more capable than everyone around them - I read Pratchett to get AWAY from that stuff, and finding one here of all places was the last thing I expected. Maybe what killed it for me was that there just wasn't much *fun* to be had with Nutt. Sure, there's a few moments where he says something unintentionally funny or is made to look ridiculous somehow, but basically he's just played as a straight-up Standard Fantasy Protagonist - and this, coming from the guy who spectacularly twisted the tropes to give us Captain Carrot, was a hell of a disappointment.

Anyway, I know it's bad to review a book without finishing it, but at this point, I'm 85% through, and the characters have just arrived in Uberwald for some reason I can't even remember, and my overwhelming impression is of having been served a plate of toast, peas, and ice cream: no matter how well-prepared they are, it just doesn't add up to satisfying fare. The fact that the peas weren't to my taste is incidental, really.(less)

like · see review

Feb 21, 2012 Canticle Van Darq rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wotcher!

"Unseen Academicals" arrives new into a series that is already well over 30 books deep. The series is referred to as the "Discworld" series. For those of you unfamiliar with Discworld, it is a mythical flat world being carried through space on the backs of four cosmically huge elephants that are, themselves, standing on the back of an even larger tortoise. This tortoise is slowly making her way through the universe carrying millions of eclectic entities with her. If you loved "The Hitchh...more
Wotcher!

"Unseen Academicals" arrives new into a series that is already well over 30 books deep. The series is referred to as the "Discworld" series. For those of you unfamiliar with Discworld, it is a mythical flat world being carried through space on the backs of four cosmically huge elephants that are, themselves, standing on the back of an even larger tortoise. This tortoise is slowly making her way through the universe carrying millions of eclectic entities with her. If you loved "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, you will also love the Discworld series. The biting humor is identical -- the main difference being that Hitchhiker's is more science fiction and Discworld is more fantasy. Pratchett uses the Discworld and its inhabitants to poke good-natured fun at science, religion, cultures, prejudices, sports, politics, and well... EVERYTHING.

"Unseen Academicals" appears (from the cover) to be about the Wizard's Unseen University in the great metropolis of Ankh-Morpork being forced to engage in league "foot-the-ball" (football to the Europeans and soccer to the Americans). But it is actually about the life and 'coming of age' of a brand new character, Nutt. Nutt appears to be a goblin -- a new character type in Pratchett's mythical world of characters (I won't spoil it by saying further on who and what Nutt is). Nutt has a problem trying to decide who he is, the Unseen University has a problem trying to figure out how to participate in foot-the-ball without getting too far from the cheese carts, and quite a few non-couples are unexpectedly working their way to losing the 'non-'. Most of the action is supportive to Nutt's development. "Unseen Academicals" gives us a good dose of Lord Ventinari (the city's wonderful tyrant) and a giant dose of the scholars of Unseen University.

As I dived into this book and started devouring it page by page, I was once again impressed -- actually astounded -- by Pratchett's ability to take mediocre events or situations and describe them in such a clever and hilarious way that you laugh out loud uncontrollably. Who would have come up with the concept of someone who is not personable and homely to boot being described as someone with "charisn'tma"? I don't think there was even one page in the whole book that didn't have some witty turn of a phrase or new and bizarre use of a regular word that made me grin like the Joker. Sadly, it's Pratchett's narrative wit that makes the Discworld series very hard to convert into movie format. Most of the wit is in the "invisible narrator's words" and less in dialogue and actions. Be that as it may, two novels ("The Color of Magic" and "Hogfather") were made into fairly long movies and were very entertaining and well-done. They would obviously be enjoyed more by diehard fans of the Discworld.

The odd thing about Pratchett and his Discworld series is that he seems to be getting better and better. Usually, a series starts out with a bang and then peters out. So often with your run-of-the-mill fiction series you get past the fifth novel or so and you start to get more underwhelmed than anything else. Each subsequent novel seems to be even more boring than the previous one and a let-down. Not so with Pratchett. He almost seems to be gaining steam. His two recent offerings "Going Postal" and "Making Money" were some of his best works in the series and "Unseen Academicals" continues the trend.

If you are a Discworld fan, then you probably already have read "Unseen Academicals". If you are new to the Discworld series, check out Terry Pratchett's website (http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/) for a comprehensive list of his books. While reading the series in order is best, this is one series that you can jump around a bit without losing much. Check it out.

And for Pratchett fans who are wondering... my favorite Discworld characters are Granny Weatherwax, Carrot, DEATH, Vimes, and now Nutt!
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 16, 2011 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My review for Library Journal:

The 37th novel (after Making Money) in Pratchett’s wildly popular "Discworld" series is set in the bustling metropolis of Ankh-Morpork and boasts the return of the wizards of Unseen University. Lord Vetinari, Ankh-Morpork’s patrician, is responsible, as usual, for setting into motion the novel’s two main story lines: the assimilation of a member of an ancient, and heretofore shunned race, into the city, and the regulation of "foot-the-ball," a game that leaves the s

...more

like · see review

Nov 16, 2011 Larry Wentzel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. An extremely ambitious book that has all of Terry Pratchett's wit and satire, and then creates a full, multi-person perspective of life in the city as several new ideas hit the streets.

In past novels, Pratchett introduced a single new idea into his Discworld and watching the ripples as they affect various people in particular, and the world in general. One of the best was Feet of Clay, where Pratchett takes the idea of golems as a workforce and uses them to examine the idea of equality: seeing t...more An extremely ambitious book that has all of Terry Pratchett's wit and satire, and then creates a full, multi-person perspective of life in the city as several new ideas hit the streets.

In past novels, Pratchett introduced a single new idea into his Discworld and watching the ripples as they affect various people in particular, and the world in general. One of the best was Feet of Clay, where Pratchett takes the idea of golems as a workforce and uses them to examine the idea of equality: seeing them not as tools that simply produce output but as entities with rights, ideas and needs of their own.

In Going Postal, Pratchett had a main idea with attendant themes taking place: a charlatan tasked with making the postal system useful in a society where long-distance messaging had become commonplace, then unreliable and commonplace, stumbles across murder, a woman defending the rights of golems who would make excellent delivery men, and how men of wealth solve business collapses discretely.

With Unseen Academicals, it's gone a bit further. Pratchett explores how modern football/soccer might have arisen out of neighborhood ball-brawls that people were fiercely divided and passionate about, but the side stories are more concurrent than attendant to the main theme. A cook becomes a fashion model; an orc discovers who he really is and falls in love; the idea that the success of a new venture depends on how well the idea is received and supported by those who care; a Romeo and Juliet in the gutter scenario. It's all very well done.

The only thing I found odd (hence the 4/5 star ratings) was that scenes that Pratchett would previously have lingered over, exploring the changing thoughts and reactions of those involved, are assumed or breezed over. Granted it would have made for an extremely long novel if Pratchett had done the usual thing; the book is, as it stands, one of the longer Discworld novels that he's written. Still, I missed some of the former detail and examination. Not so much that I thought the novel suffered or I didn't enjoy it thoroughly. I just wanted a bit more.(less)

like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Robyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

There was a lot to like, and some to not like so much in this installment of the Discworld series.

First, the 'not so much' bits. The pace of this novel was a bit wonky, I felt like it moved in fits and starts, with many little sort of mini climaxes within the course of the story. This was likely a function of the second objection I have, and that there was simply too much going on: We have a love story, a story of a new sport being introduced to Ankh-Morpork, the origins of a new race on the di...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 20, 2011 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, humour

Each Discworld novel tends to feature a particular group of characters, this one being the wizards at Unseen University. I have always felt that Pratchett has never really developed the characters of the wizards, and this book is no exception. They are really a joke looking for a plot, albeit a funny joke. Pratchett seems to have realised this and in this book they rapidly become background scenery for the main characters, who are involved in separate unlinked plots that are about Discworld’s fo...more

like · see review

Oct 04, 2011 John Kirk rated it 2 of 5 stars

When this book was first published, I decided to wait for the paperback, mainly because I have zero interest in football. The paperback came out ahead of schedule, presumably to tie in with the World Cup, so I bought it half-price at the supermarket.

Some people said that it's not really about football, which is true. Unfortunately, it's still not very good. There's a mishmash of different ideas, none of which are really developed properly. In some ways, this is the reverse of Lords and Ladies, b...more When this book was first published, I decided to wait for the paperback, mainly because I have zero interest in football. The paperback came out ahead of schedule, presumably to tie in with the World Cup, so I bought it half-price at the supermarket.

Some people said that it's not really about football, which is true. Unfortunately, it's still not very good. There's a mishmash of different ideas, none of which are really developed properly. In some ways, this is the reverse of Lords and Ladies, but that novel was far more effective.

Pratchett's novels have often relied on references to other media, which is fine. However, making a reference isn't intrinsically funny: you have to do something with it. (This is where Epic Movie etc. go wrong.) For instance, it was funny when Pyramids had a character called Ibid because of the way that authors are cited in bibliographies. By contrast, Unseen Academicals has a young male character called Dave Likely. As far as I can tell, the sole purpose is to make the reader think "Ah yes, that makes him The Likely Lad, which is a bit like the old TV program called The Likely Lads." That's not enough.

There are also continuity problems with previous novels. In fairness, this isn't the first time it's happened, e.g. at the start of Guards! Guards! Carrot was quite keen on Mindy (a female dwarf), but in Feet of Clay he's uncomfortable with the the concept of separate genders. However, it bothered me more here. At the end of Jingo, Carrot starts a football match between two armies, and it's clearly recognisable as the game we play on "Roundworld". In Unseen Academicals, they have to rewrite lots of the rules, e.g. getting rid of the ball that's basically a big block of wood. It's possible that I'm being a bit harsher this time because I'm not a football fan. However, another example involves rivalry between different universities. As soon as it was brought up, I thought about the university from The Last Continent, and Vetinari also refers to that to counter Ridcully's argument. It seems a bit odd to bring in a plot point that contradicts existing stories, and then point out that contradiction. This makes me suspect that Pratchett had forgotten about the previous story, and when someone reminded him it was too late to rewrite the novel so he just added the scene with Vetinari.

In one of the earlier novels, a character said "The leopard doesn't change his shorts". I assumed that was a deliberate mangling of an existing phrase, i.e. "The leopard doesn't change his spots" (meaning that people don't change their nature). I thought it was quite funny, and it's been repeated in several of the other novels since then. In this book, one of the characters ponders why everyone refers to shorts, but doesn't mention spots at all; that implies that she isn't aware of the original phrase. Again, this is an odd thing to put into the book, and I have to wonder whether Pratchett himself has forgotten why he started using that turn of phrase.

I'm reluctant to suggest this, but there is one obvious explanation: Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a few years ago. I'm not qualified to offer any kind of medical diagnosis here, and it could simply be that he's written so many books that it's hard to keep track of them all now. I've read worse books by other authors, which I'd still rate as "ok". In this case, though, I'd expected better from Pratchett based on his past work. That may be unfair, and hopefully his next book will be better.(less)

like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Terry Pratchett kämpft bereits seit einigen Jahren mit einer seltenen Form von Alzheimer, die ihn Stand heute dazu zwingt seine neuen Bücher einem Assistenten zu diktieren. Seit Pratchett dies publik machte, schauen Fans von Pratchetts Scheibenwelt-Zyklus teils besorgt (Wieviele Bücher kann er noch schreiben, und wie gut können sie sein?) und teils interessiert (Eventuell wandelt sich sein Werk zu etwas spannenden, neuen) in die Zukunft.
Unseen Academicals erschien 2009, demnach bereits von seine...more

like · see review

Jul 30, 2011 Luke added it · review of another edition

As a mad fan of Discworld and of Terry Pratchett in general, I was waiting eagerly for this book. It's the first written since Terrry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, if nothing else you've really gotta admire the fact he intends to keep writing.

Unseen Academicals deals with the game of football or soccor (depending where you're from) Ponder Stibbons, now a Professor of Unseen University and Master of the Traditions has discovered an ancient clause in the University by laws. If...more

like · see review

Jun 12, 2011 Terri rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book didn't captivate me the way most Pratchett books, but that isn't to say it's bad - a 3-star book by Terry Pratchett is still better than 85% of what's on the fiction shelves. And when one considers what he had to go through to produce this book, then this book can be considered a triumph and a great achievement. And I think we all have favorites and not-so-favorites in the spectrum of Pratchett's work--for me Going Postal and all the City Watch stories are favorites, while Mort, Eric,...more

like · see review

Mar 16, 2011 Jacob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Repost from http://drying-ink.blogspot.com/2009/1... )
Unseen Academicals, the latest novel set in Terry Pratchett's successful Discworld, is based around football. Yes, I'm reviewing a book that features football. But here, it's used as a device to present the rest of Pratchett's cask of concepts: for one, his crab-pot theory, about self-imposed ghettoes (as you can read about in the NewScientist interview). There's no need to mention Pratchett's writing, featuring the usual hilarity-inspiring...more (Repost from http://drying-ink.blogspot.com/2009/1... )
Unseen Academicals, the latest novel set in Terry Pratchett's successful Discworld, is based around football. Yes, I'm reviewing a book that features football. But here, it's used as a device to present the rest of Pratchett's cask of concepts: for one, his crab-pot theory, about self-imposed ghettoes (as you can read about in the NewScientist interview). There's no need to mention Pratchett's writing, featuring the usual hilarity-inspiring cast of UU, intermixed overt and subtle humour, and a style that literally compels you to read on. So, let's skip straight to Pratchett's plotting:

There's been a disaster in Unseen University. Well, two. Newly-appointed Master of Traditions Ponder Stibbons has uncovered that one of the University's oldest grants isn't quite as kind as they'd imagined (or simply not thought about): in fact, it requires that they partake in the city's football. Every year. But this wouldn't be a problem, if only the grant didn't support most of the cheeseboard - and a few other meals to boot. And Unseen University won't give up their food without a fight, even when it involves exercise. And then there's the other problem. The Dean, one of the largest (literally) presences in the staffroom, has become an Archancellor in himself - at another university. Even if it doesn't have banquets. Or much of a budget. But while Unseen University prepares for their turn to fight, the Patrician is playing a new game with equality - and Uberwald. The anonymously anonymous Mr. Nutt has been sent to Ankh-Morpork, the largest city on the Discworld, and he, too, has been enlisted by the University.

It's a fantastic satire with a message: for fashion, on equality, whatever Pratchett sets his pen to, it's literary gold. I don't need to talk about the prose, so instead let it suffice to say: it's brilliant. As for our cast, it's eclectic as always, although I'd have expected a little more of Rincewind. However, Dr. Hix thoroughly makes up for this, elucidating on his character from previous novels and making the "skull-ring" an in-joke. We've got appearances from a good deal of Ankh-Morpork's previous characters as well, among them William De Worde - all in all, it's a brilliant and insightful rentry to the Discworld, and well, well worth reading.

9/10 (less)

like · see review

Feb 08, 2011 Aoife rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, fantasy

I think this was the first time I had to fight my way through a whole Pratchett-novel. Yes, some of his books had a few pages or chapters there were a bit dull but in this book there were only very few scenes I enjoyed
That's probably also because it's a book about football...and while I love watching football I never felt the need to read about it. But it was more than that: I simply couldn't bring myself to care very much about the characters, especially Nutt. Yes I was curious what his secret...more

like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Gabe Dybing rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm becoming a Pratchett reader. I'm not usually a fan of humorous fantasy. I read _Soul Music_ and _Making Money_ (of which I preferred the latter) last year, under the insistence of a friend, without comment. This time I drove myself to Pratchett by trying to read _Gardens of the Moon_, a highly recommended fantasy that evidently creates "lovers" and "haters." Evidently I'm of the "hater" variety. The reviews suggest that the book has a "plot." The novel also seems to be informed by "gaming."...more

like · see review

Jan 06, 2011 Travis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

Ponder Stibbons discovers that the university will lose a large bequest if they don't have a football team. The wizards are unsurprisingly reluctant, but when he tells them it will affect the food budget, they decide football can't be that bad.[return][return]In addition to the wizards we all know and love, this introduces several new characters who work at the university, with three of them (Glenda, Trev, and Nutt) being the main POV characters. There are also several other new minor characters...more

like · see review

Dec 18, 2010 Helena Jole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'd give this three and a half stars, but I'll round up.

It's not unlike other one-trick gimmicks Soul Music and Moving Pictures, but for some reason annoyed me much less. And I don't even like sports. The new characters are likeable, and the old ones are always fun to spend time with. Lots of Ponder Stibbons and Ridcully, lots of Vetinari. I was quite pleased that Rincewind, though he does appear, plays hardly any role at all. (He's probably my least favorite character.) Death is not in this on...more

like · see review

title link	preview: Unseen Academicals
avg rating	preview: Unseen Academicals Goodreads rating: 3.91 (16254 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7187728-unseen-academicals?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327919038l/7187728.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7187728-unseen-academicals?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett[/url]

Unseen Academicals (Discworld #37)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (37)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Terry Pratchett

Books by Terry Pratchett

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Academische Boys

Quotes from Unseen Academicals