Terry Pratchett: The Spirit of Fantasy

by Craig Cabell

The extraordinary life story of one of the most beloved writers in the world, including his courageous battle with Alzheimers  With worldwide sales of more than 65 million copies in 37 languages, Terry Pratchett's novels are eagerly awaited by his legions of fans year after year. Featuring an in-depth look at the man and his work, as well as on-screen adaptations and a collector's guide, this is essential reading for any fan. His first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic , was released in 1983 and ever since then the series, with its whimsical heroes and fiendish foes, has delighted both young and old alike. In 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He has courageously faced the disease head-on, equaling the determination of his characters in his vivid and satirical novels. This book examines his extraordinary life, showcased against the backdrop of more than 40 years of irreverent artistic achievements. For devoted fans it features appendices of more than 60 pages listing Pratchett's works on screen and at the theatre, a complete UK bibliography and collector's guide, and a note about cats.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography

246 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously only bought because it is related to Terry Pratchett, but apart from his name being on the cover, I really don't see how this is all that PTerry at all.

I added another star purely because I learnt some things about PTerry and his Discworld series (and a couple other books) that I didn't know previously and probably would not have ever learnt about as it seemed quite niche at times.

However, the book seemed to be mostly the author trying to high-key flex about his knowledge and opinions on the Discworld. Sometimes it was quite interesting, but even then his annoying turn of phrase or manner of explanation really were off-putting; it read like a journalism article padded out to fit a publishing word count. From the title of the book, one would expect perhaps a bit more about PTerry himself, his earlier life and career or even just some of the wonderful, clever and kind things he's ever said.

As a Terry Pratchett collector, I can say safely that this book is not one that you need to own to have a complete or even incomplete collection.

[Nicky · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting how many negative reviews of this book there are. I'll confess to not reading it in its entirety: the complaining, self-interested foreword with weird value judgements about people who own Kindles and so on got on my nerves. Which is one of my hobby-horses, as you probably all know: forget the fact that I have a Kindle, the reason any of my family originally had an ereader was so that Mum could still read, since she has macular degeneration and most books have too small print.

(She can't use Goodreads, either, because of the colour scheme and serif fonts, but no one can seem to persuade the PTB to care.)

So I confess to putting this book right down after that rambling, seemingly irrelevant foreword. And the other reviews and ratings suggest I was right to.

[Erika · Rating 1 out of 5]

"There comes a time when there is only so much that can be said about a specific fantasy world, because too much explanation becomes tedious and take away some of the mystery." - Craig Cabell, seemingly describing his own book. Cabell makes some incredibly tenuous links between Pratchett's works and has many an opinion about the meanings in Pratchett's life and works (I feel dubious about whether he has confirmed any of this with Pratchett). He also spends the first half of the book getting hung up about the difference between the fantasy and sci fi genres. a) who cares what the difference is and b) how is that relevant to a book about Terry Pratchett?

[Kaśka Zaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Kristina Andreeva · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Той не само е духът на фантазията - той е въплъщение на човешкия дух."
Книгата е биография на Тери Пратчет, но аз лично я възприемам повече като сборник с есета за неговото творчество. Разбира се, има някои споменати факти за личния живот на писателя, повечко за неговата болест и това как той се справя с нея, но в по-голямата си част - разсъждения за развитието на романите му в горе-долу хронологически ред, както и сравнения с произведения на други писатели, които пародира или от които черпи идеи, за да създаде нещо единствено по рода си. Дали това е минус зависи изцяло от читателя. Ако някой не е чел романите, за които има отделени глави, би разбрал целия сюжет и често - края, но на мен това не ми пречи, тъй като книгите на Пратчет бих ги чела дори, когато знам всичко за тях. И все пак ми се искаше тук да прочета нещо повече за живота на писателя - за житейски случки, които са го вдъхновявали, може би спомени от негови приятели за него. Книгата предоставя такива пасажи (говоря за участието му в закрилата на орангутаните, които изглежда доста е харесвал), а макар останалото да беше разсъждения върху темите, разглеждани в произведението му, ми достави удоволствие да я прочета.

[Holly Leighfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has a small amount of information about Terry Pratchett. Has an even smaller amount of Terry Pratchett's perspective or comments on his own work and when that subject arises it is mainly so that Mr. Cabell can tell us that his opinion trumps the author that he's writing about. Found it to be a smug and ill informed read. Will not be reading it again.

[Liliq Nikolova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Не ми хареса.Не знам какво си е въобразявал автора като е решил да напише тази книга.Даже 2 звезди са й много,но само от уважение към Тери Пратчет.През цялото време беше разсъждение и съчинение...сравняване на книгите му с други книги....чак ме подразни.Преди години я бях чела.но сега след биографията на Тери тази е направо,как пък в едно нещо не задълба така да разкаже интересно.И видите ли Тери имал много котки...ами аз нищо такова не прочетох...имал е костенурки .И едва ли не всяко едно нещо в неговите книги е заимствано от други книги....не ми хареса

[J.S. Watts · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book in pursuit of an identity. It is really struggling to work out what it is.

At times it reads a bit like a biography - there is Terry Pratchett the early years, but then the biography largely peters out. Then there are various attempts at critical analysis of Practhett's works, but only some of them and only those the author really likes. Moreover, the analysis is largely opinionated journalism, rather than real critical analysis and the few genuine insights get lost in the sub-A level standard attempts at literary criticism. The author also attempts to trace the history of fantasy v science fiction, presumably in an attempt to assert Pratchett's place in the canon of the great and influential, but constant referencing to every other significant SF or fantasy book takes over and tries to become a book in its own right (and I am really not going to mention the constant references to Doctor Who, the T.V. series. Oh dear, I just did, but then again so did Craig Cabell, at length, time and time again, and so on).

At the end of the book, and it is a book of several endings, there are some interesting chapters on Pratchett's Alzheimers, his support of good causes such as Orangutans and assisted death. These were actually quite good, but didn't fit with the rest of the book, except perhaps the biography section which had petered out many chapters before. There is also a stray chapter on cats, looking for a home, because Pratchett wrote the entertaining "The Unadulterated Cat" with Gray Joliffe. Apparently Terry likes cats. Oh good.

For fans, and Craig Cabell clearly is one, there are lists of Pratchett books and films and a further reading list, should you want to pursue the evolution of SF v fantasy theme.

The book is extremely repetitive (did I mention Dr Who?)and full of quotations, many of them from writers other than Pratchett, including Dickens. I am therefore going to end on a quotation from Craig Cabell himself. It comes in the end note to the book: "I've written several books now about a writer and his works, but this was the first about a writer and his key works. In that respect it became a very self-indulgent book". Very true, Mr Cabell. Very true.

[Alison Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much ado about nothing - although the Appendices were very comprehensive & no doubt the die-hard Discworld fans will love this book. I'd like to have heard more about Pratchett's life as an author, more biographical details.

[Jáchym · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I'd love to, I can't recommend this book. Mr. Cabell is weirdly focused on whether this and that book is collecteble, and his mentions that at this point Pratchett's books weren't making that much money, or how great a financial decision it was to write some Discworld books. His tone is sometimes very condescending and his own subjective views are presented as objective facts - despite being incorrect from a factual point of view on several instances. I expected a book written with love for the great man, and some insight into Pratchett's works. Instead I got a condescending but shallow retelling of things I already knew. I'm really sorry to say this, but it was a disappointing read.

[OonaReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for an easy to read book that would include some pointers to good Terry Pratchett books I haven't read and I guess I did get that. But this is a very light book and I'm glad I borrowed it from the library, rather than bought it. It is very nicely produced, but the content is a strange mixture of information, including regular references to other books by the author, about Doctor Who and the X-files for example.

The photographs are all recent and, I guess bought from a picture agency, when I think readers would like to see photos of our hero at very stages of his life. There are also detailed chapters near the end for book collectors and those interested in tv and movie versions of Terry Pratchett's work which, while interesting, feature incredible detailed and lengthy production credits that could easily be found online.

I will take up the author's suggestion to explore the Johnny Maxwell trilogy further, but I would not recommend that anyone buy this - unless you worked on one of those tv series and would like to see your name in print!

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did like the way Crag liked "The Colour of Magic". It seems to be fashionable to despise Pratchett's early works, but I remember how they had me in stitches back then. I disagree with his implication that "Colour of Magic" was the best Pratchett film, however, as I didn't think it was nearly as good as "Hogfather" or "Going Postal". The list of books at the end seems a total waste of space purely for the benefit of book collectors - fancy buying a book simply as an investment! What a waste. Some of what Mr Cabell has to say is interesting, but it does seem mainly about Craig Cabell than about Terry Pratchett.

I loved the list of "further reading" at the end -- basically a list of my favourite books, and the three I haven't read, I am definitely going to find.

[Madla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Na knihu o Terrym Pratchettovi jsem se moc těšila. Možná právě proto a proto že je jedním z mých nejoblíbenějších spisovatelů, mě dost zklamala. Autor skáče z jednoho tématu k druhému. Něčemu se skoro nevěnuje a jindy zas zachází až moc do detailů, nehledě na to, že dané téma s Pratchettem prakticky nesouvisí. Myšlenky a názory v knize jsou hodně subjektivní a dost často se s Cabellem v jeho soudech rozcházím.

Knihu jsem dočetla a jsem ráda, že jsem to udělala, ale myslím si, že takový velikán, jakým je Terry Pratchett, si zaslouží obsažnější, přehlednější a čtivější biografii.

[Patrick Lum (Jintor) · Rating 1 out of 5]

A huge disappointment. Though it conforms more or less to the basic tenants of a biography, it's largely the author's own views of what PTerry's work reflects, blah blah blah, blah blah blah. What little analysis exists is extremely brief and not very well supported. For a book about Terry, it's simply quite odd how much of it seems rather to be about Craig.

There is also a hell of a lot of quoting lines in lieu of actually saying anything.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Keep your money. This will sound unkind but Craig Cabell has no sense of humour. One of his previous books is entitled "Snipers: profiles of the world's deadliest killers" - to me that screams humourless pillock. He is singularly unqualified for the task at hand.
Its also very obvious he has never personally interviewed Terry Pratchett. I'd give this half a star at best

[Josef Horký · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informačně poměrně ok (i když někdy se řeší témata úplně zbytečná, rozdíl mezi fantasy a sci-fi fakt v téhle knize nebylo třeba vysvětlovat), ale na to, že je to knížka o Terrym Pratchettovi, je zoufale nevtipná a tak nějak i bez osobního vhledu, podpultových historek, taková trochu roztáhnutá wikipedie, sakra, proč to nepsal Gaiman?

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Príjemný životopis. Ocenia ho najmä fanúšikovia, lebo sa tam spomínajú jeho knihy kížom-krážom. Mne sa to páčilo.

[Marta Węglarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurde, mam tak mieszane uczucia, że nie wiem, od czego zacząć. Może na sam początek przyznam, że naprawdę szybko i przyjemnie się to czyta.
NO ALE.

Po pierwsze, wbrew pozorom to nie jest biografia Pratchetta. Absolutnie podstawowe informacje z jego życia są podane na początku i to tyle. Pod koniec rozwinięte są tylko 2 elementy życiorysu, a o życiu prywatnym dowiadujemy się tyle, co nic.
Skoro to nie biografia, to co w takim razie? W sumie, to nie wiem. To trochę streszczenie kilku powieści, uznanych przez autora tego cuda za najważniejsze, a niektóre z tych streszczeń są tak obszerne, że praktycznie znam już całą fabułę i wszystkich bohaterów kilku książek. Oczywiście, niektóre dzieła Pratchetta nie są w ogóle wspomniane.

Po drugie, czytając to, odnosi się wrażenie, że czyta się jakąś rozprawkę, w której uczeń na siłę próbuje znaleźć powiązania między motywami i jednocześnie próbuje pokazać, jak wiele "tekstów kultury" zna. Autor CAŁY CZAS odwołuje się do innych filmów, seriali i książek, co z tego, że kompletnie nie związanych z autorem, TAM TEŻ
MAMY NASTOLETNIEGO PROTAGONISTĘ, WIDZICIE?

Po trzecie, autor jest trochę za bardzo przekonany o sile swojej własnej opinii. Krytykuje ponadczasowe dzieła uznawane za genialne, ponieważ on zrobiłby to inaczej. Nie zliczę, ile razy wspominał, że pierwsze 4 książki ze "Świata Dysku", są jego ulubionymi.

Po czwarte, okropne wnioski, które można streścić w słowach: "no no, Pratchett spoko morda, ale przeczytajcie Johnny'ego Maxwella". Jakby, co?

Po piąte i ostatnie: dlaczego pierwsze 50 stron tej książki to dywagacje na temat różnic między fantasy i science fiction z chyba wszystkimi możliwymi przykładami dzieł z obu gatunków? Dlaczego? No kto tego potrzebował?

[Luke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Avoid at all costs.
Typically I tend not to read biographies where the writer has no immediate connection to the subject but stupidly I made an exception here.
The primary problem is that the author keeps injecting his own views and interests into the book and this happens right from the start when he launches into a tirade in the 2nd introduction about the differences between sci-fi and fantasy! The fact that there's 2 introductions should be a warning sign.. It's a common problem with career biographers where they have a passing understanding of the subject but can only really contextualise it in comparison with other topics they've worked on. In this book it manifests in part as a heap of random quotes from Pratchett's work (clunky but sometimes relevant) and a tonne of quotes from other authors which not only feel out of place but constantly detract from what little flow and pacing exists. In fact the entire book is a random jumble of thoughts about a few topics tenuously linked with moments from Pratchett's career.
At the start of the book there's some background about how Sir Terry started his career but that soon devolves to rants and tangents.
An overly detailed bibliography and filmography fill out the final pages but aside from these and the myriad quotes, there's very little content here and most of that consists of the author's own opinions. The fact that it is so short is a mercy but still I can't recommend this for even die hard fans as there really is very little of value in this book.

[Rebecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot of things about Terry that I didn’t already know. I won’t go into detail there, to avoid spoilers. I will say that Terry is my favourite modern author, so I read this book exactly for this purpose.

I feel like at some points in the book the author presumed a lot of Terry that he couldn’t possibly have known. There were sections where he would state what Terry said about one of his works, or influences, and then the author would argue that he wasn’t correct in his statement, which felt strange. However, this did provide some interesting insights into the author and the subject, and a unique take on him.


This book provided a brief glimpse into Terry, his life, and works, that couldn’t afford to go into too much detail. There were some elements explored more deeply than others (the role of teenhood and growing up, for example), and much emphasis is placed on Terry’s early works. There were repetitive moments in this book that felt a tad unnecessary, though it didn’t hamper my enjoyment in any significant way. I did finish this book feeling satisfied, though I would have liked to be able to dig into Terry deeper in this book.

The book is also very outdated, having been written in 2011. This is obviously through no fault of the author, but if you want a complete screenshot of Terry’s life (who died in 2015), then this book won’t be for you. However, if you are a fan of Terry Pratchett, the Discworld, or any of his other works, this book is still worth the read.

3.5/5

[mysilicielka · Rating 1 out of 5]

To była okropna książka, prawdziwy potworek. Jakby ktoś przemądrzałemu uczniakowi zadał rozprawkę pt. „Napisz o czymś, co lubisz”, a jeśli nie wypełni określonej liczby stron, to nie zda do następnej klasy. Postać Pratchetta jest tylko wymówką do snucia wywodów na różne tematy. To nie jest żadna biografia, tylko przydługie wyznanie, które fantastyczne książki (w ogólności gatunku) autorowi się podobały, a Terry był klawy, bo tak, uwierzcie na słowo.

Autor nie potrafi się skupić i porządnie, obiektywnie opowiedzieć o jednym, bo już zabiera się za następne. Dużo tutaj niepotrzebnych wiadomości, a zwłaszcza cytatów. Złote myśli przerywają tekst jak dziury w serze i są tak samo puste w znaczeniu. Często to nawet nie są słowa Pratchetta, tylko innych pisarzy, w dodatku nijak się mają do treści! Po co one tam są?

Nie warto, nawet jeśli jesteś wielki fanem, nie rób sobie tego. Książka jest wyjątkowo pusta i drażniąca, brrr, mam nadzieję, że szybko o niej zapomnę.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was written quite some time ago and before Terry's passing so there is quite a chunk of information missing.
The first part of the book talking about the origins went into a bit more detail with some of the lesser books hardly receiving anything - The unadulterated cat probably got about 25 words right at the end of the book -admittedly this is not the usual Pratchett type book though.

The book was fairly interesting but towards the end I almost felt like abandoning it - but I had read this far so continued on.

[Magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kompletnie bezsensowna książka, autor nie miał na nią pomysłu, pisanie bez ładu i składu, co nam akurat w duszy i gra i wrzucanie skojarzeń to nie jest analiza twórczości. Parę zdań o życiu TP, kilka arbitralnych ocen twórczości (wcześniejsze książki są lepsze, bo są starsze i lepsze), więcej cytatów z róznych filmów, Dickensa czy Adamsa niż z Pratchetta, na zasadzie chyba: "skojarzyło mi się i pamiętam, to wpiszę. Średnio pasuje, ale co tam, udam, że takie mam głębokie skojarzenia..."

Szkoda czasu i pieniędzy.

[Adelina · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you think this book is about Sir Pratchett, well... it is not. And I was kind of expecting it to be, because of the name and picture on the cover. However, this turned out to be some sort of literary analysis of his works and earlier life trough the author's understanding and I frankly confess it was boring as hell. I do not want to read what Pratchett wanted to say or could have wanted to say or what the book is possibly about, I know that - I've read them. I only finished it in a quick read trough by diagonal because I hate leaving books unread, but I don't recommend.

[Vladislav · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would say that the book does not deliver what is promised in the description. Most of all it does not show much research and systematisation of themes that Pratchett has written about.

It still had some value as a biography and some value in highlighting less well known Pratchett's books. It also provides some insight about how Pratchett's works evolved, but very little in comparison to some off-topic rant about how bookstores place books on their shelves.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit disappointed with this. I had imagined it was going to be a biography of Terry Pratchett and that I would gain more insight into the man. There was a couple of chapters briefly describing his earlier life but the remainder of the book was more an analysis of his work based mostly on the author Craig Cabell's personal opinions.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a biography of Pratchett. You get significantly more information on his life from Wikipedia's page. It's also not a comprehensive study of his work. It is a very long high school term paper, which I would only give a C. Not worthy of Sir Terry.

[Anna Kowalczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography, but different than others. This is very untypical biography, something like a psychology study of Pratchett. I think that is worth to read, expecialy if You are fan of Pratchett's books.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. A brief journey through the highs and lows of the discworld and a bit of background information about Terry Pratchett and his life behind the scenes. All in all a wonderful tribute to a very talented man who made his magical stories come to life. R.I.P sir Terry