Paperback, 445 pages
English language
Published March 8, 2006 by Corgi Books.
Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, and a 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee. It was first released in 1996 and published by Victor Gollancz. It came in 137th place in The Big Read, a BBC survey of the most loved British books of all time, making it one of fifteen books by Pratchett in the Top 200.The book focuses on the absence of the Hogfather, a mythical creature akin to Father Christmas, who grants children's wishes on Hogswatchnight (December 32) and brings them presents. While Death attempts to fill in for the Hogfather, his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit tries to find and rescue the Hogfather.
My favorite bit in this book is the amazing rhyme between the beginning and the ending. Monstral relativism!
Very interesting overarching plot, but a bit too all over the place to be truly enjoyable. Sometimes I had to force myself to continue reading. When it ended, I had to take a step back to comprehend the main story, without being distracted by the details.
But I wouldn't skip it.
Susan is one of my favourite characters, so I was glad to see her, her denial and her adventures. It was also entertaining to wonder if Death's behaviour was sound or capricious. Both? I enjoyed the discussion between Death and Albert about giving people what they want.
I don't usually seem to appreciate the Wizards, but the parts with Ponder Stibbons and Hex were an exception.
And of course there are a myriad of very witty and quotable jokes and puns.
How would you go about killing someone who was never really alive – not in the usual sense of the word? Mr Teatime (pronounced teh-ah-tim-eh) knows exactly how he'd do it.
As philosophical textbooks go, this is a stonker. What is the nature of belief? How do beliefs interact with reality? How do they colour our view of reality?
As for zingy and/or pithy moments … this books got them in spades.
“The phrase 'Someone ought to do something' was not, by itself, a helpful one. People who used it never added the rider 'and that someone is me'.”
As a novel, though, this one falls a bit short. The plot meanders a bit too much for my liking.
Very good, but not Sir Pterry's finest.
Otro más del Mundodisco. Muy divertido, en especial los diálogos, personajes que tras 20 volúmenes ya forman una verdadera mitología: magos, gremio de asesinos, ese Hogfather que montado en un trineo tirado por puercos reparte regalos a los niños, y mucho lío con las relaciones entre el mundo real y los distintos seres imaginarios que nos hacen humanos.
Me gustaría que dejase esas tramas estilo película de James Bond, pero me da la impresión de que son marca de la casa.
