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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In addition to the usual Terry Pratchett hilarity and wry social commentary, this book was very moving and full of memorable and vivid images. It deals with some very heavy and dark topics, especially death and loss, in an eloquent and beautiful way.
Pratchett does some amazing things with this story. Nation is thought provoking and emotion evoking. It's both sad and funny and completely charming. While the novel skirts the depths of philosophical pondering, it does provide commentary on ways Westerners think and attempts to turn the world upside down.
For once I found I really had to push to get through a Pratchett. He writes all the characters with an eye to deflating idea of colonialism, and he writes it well, but I didn't really care for any of the characters and the relationships. Plus I almost kept calling Daphne 'Tiffany' because, well, she practically is the same girl (archetype), just in a different universe.
Ok, this is technically a reread, but I needed to read something in the wake of Sir Terry's death. And this is brilliant. Just freakin' brilliant. Why are you still reading this when you could be reading Pratchett?
2016 Re-read for Sci Fi/Fantasy book club.
Seriously, does anyone else want to kick the Nobel Prize committee for not giving Pratchett the award? I wish this novel had been around when I was a kid.
older review
Philip Pullman is known, perhaps infamously, for His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been attacked because of Pullman's atheist beliefs as well as the endorsement of atheism that book represents. Pullman isn't the only writer to have been attacked due to his view on religion, and I doubt that he will be the last one. Of course, he will undoubtedly be attacked this year because of his new book about Jesus and his buddy Christ.
I find it strange that there was barely a peep about the books until the movie came out.
The problem, as I see it, with such "fame" as Pullman receives is that people get hot and bothered either condemning the work or, justly, defending the work. So hot and bothered that books like Nation get overlooked. In many ways, this is good, for no one is trying to ban the book. In other ways, it is bad, for the book doesn't get the fame it deserves.
Terry Pratchett is a humanist writer of fantasy fiction. He wouldn't call his work literature, but many of his later novels either is literature or rests on literature's mutable border. I've been a huge fan of Pratchett since Wyrd Sisters made me laugh during a very tough time in my life (Thanks Mom, for giving the book to me).
Nation is the best thing that Pratchett has ever written.
Nation is Literature.
I'm not sure if Nation was inspired by the Tsunami in Asia and/or Pratchett receiving his medical news. In truth, I don't really care. I do know, for Pratchett himself has said it, that Nation demanded to be told, and he stopped other projects to write it.
Supposedly a children's book, Nation tells the story of Mau who loses his whole Nation, his whole tribe, when a tsunami hits his island home. Eventually, Mau discovers Daphne, a "ghost" girl who was washed up by the same wave. What then follows is part Robinson Crusoe, told from Friday's point of view; part Swiss Family Robinson; part Island of the Blue Dolphins, and part religious and philosophical debate.
Pratchett's novels work because each of his characters is like the reader or like someone the reader knows. His characters are human and contain one or more aspects of everyone. Even Pratchett's most heroic or inhuman characters such as Carrot, Rincewind, or Death, have human traits that effect how they act (remember, Death really likes cats). Here, in this book, Pratchett presents multiple answers to the questions, "Why do bad things happen to good people if there is a just god?" and "How do you feel afterwards?"
Both Mau and Daphne have tragically lost family. Both of their reactions are human, yet different from each other. Both question the idea of god (or in the case of Mau, gods) and faith. Both arrive at different answers. More importantly, Pratchett doesn't preach, he doesn't persuade. He just wants the reader to think, the conclusion is left up to the reader. This makes the book totally honest, for there is no clear cut answer to the first question.
Besides engaging the idea of the god debate, Pratchett touches on another part of creation - where do stories come from? Are stories more than just religion? Is religion more than story? This comes as no surprise to the reader who has read the last two Science of Discworld books.
Despite the tragic and bittersweet events of the story, Pratchett's trademark humor, including footnotes, is present in full force. Like his characters, Pratchett's humor works because it contains an element of human truth. As the following exchange shows:
"Don't look back!"
"Why not?"
"Because I just did! Run faster!"
The tale of Mau and Daphne is an adventure tale of two teens surviving the aftermath of a natural disaster. They most rebuild. They must outwit cold blooded killers and hungry cannibal as well as the odd Grandfather Bird and tree climbing octopus. It is a thrillingly story that closely, honestly, and fairly examines faith, science and all in between.
Older Review
When Nation came out, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't a Discworld novel.
Then I read it.
It's the best thing that Pratchett has ever written.
The one thing about Terry Pratchett, as [a:Lawrence Watt-Evans|20331|Lawrence Watt-Evans|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1311122102p2/20331.jpg] pointed out, is that the only real difference between his adult books and his children books are the age of his protagonists. There is no reason why an adult shouldn't treat this as a book.
It's a book everyone should read.
I suppose if Pratchett had the reputation or high profile of [a:Philip Pullman|3618|Philip Pullman|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1396622492p2/3618.jpg] or [a:J. K. Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1415945171p2/1077326.jpg], then there would be a huge cry of how this book should be snatched from the hands of impressable children before they learn how to think for themselves. Maybe there is already such an outcry, but I haven't heard anything.
Nation reminds me a bit of [b:Island of the Blue Dolphins|233818|Island of the Blue Dolphins (Island of the Blue Dolphins, #1)|Scott O'Dell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418516281s/233818.jpg|3215136], with much more thrown in. Pratchett addresses the big questions of whether or not there is a god, and if there is a god, why do bad things happen? Bad things happen in this book, right from the start. Pratchett deserves credit for not sugarcoating what happens, but for also dealing with the deathes in a way that does not alienate or upset readers (okay, upset them too much).
What Pratchett presents for the reader is a book about what extactly faith and life are. When one reads Pullman, it is quite easy to figure out where Pullman stands in regards to religion. It is not easy to figure out where Pratchett stands. One character has lost his faith, but may or may not be talking to the gods. Other characters have faith. Neither character is seen as stupid or evil because of a belief or lack of belief. In many ways, Nation is a more mature novel about faith than Pratchett's earlier tolerance novel [b:Small Gods|34484|Small Gods (Discworld, #13)|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390899426s/34484.jpg|1636629].
This a powerful book, and I hope it continues to fly under the radar of those people who think children shouldn't read books that make you think.
Everyone should read this book.
Seriously, does anyone else want to kick the Nobel Prize committee for not giving Pratchett the award? I wish this novel had been around when I was a kid.
older review
Philip Pullman is known, perhaps infamously, for His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been attacked because of Pullman's atheist beliefs as well as the endorsement of atheism that book represents. Pullman isn't the only writer to have been attacked due to his view on religion, and I doubt that he will be the last one. Of course, he will undoubtedly be attacked this year because of his new book about Jesus and his buddy Christ.
I find it strange that there was barely a peep about the books until the movie came out.
The problem, as I see it, with such "fame" as Pullman receives is that people get hot and bothered either condemning the work or, justly, defending the work. So hot and bothered that books like Nation get overlooked. In many ways, this is good, for no one is trying to ban the book. In other ways, it is bad, for the book doesn't get the fame it deserves.
Terry Pratchett is a humanist writer of fantasy fiction. He wouldn't call his work literature, but many of his later novels either is literature or rests on literature's mutable border. I've been a huge fan of Pratchett since Wyrd Sisters made me laugh during a very tough time in my life (Thanks Mom, for giving the book to me).
Nation is the best thing that Pratchett has ever written.
Nation is Literature.
I'm not sure if Nation was inspired by the Tsunami in Asia and/or Pratchett receiving his medical news. In truth, I don't really care. I do know, for Pratchett himself has said it, that Nation demanded to be told, and he stopped other projects to write it.
Supposedly a children's book, Nation tells the story of Mau who loses his whole Nation, his whole tribe, when a tsunami hits his island home. Eventually, Mau discovers Daphne, a "ghost" girl who was washed up by the same wave. What then follows is part Robinson Crusoe, told from Friday's point of view; part Swiss Family Robinson; part Island of the Blue Dolphins, and part religious and philosophical debate.
Pratchett's novels work because each of his characters is like the reader or like someone the reader knows. His characters are human and contain one or more aspects of everyone. Even Pratchett's most heroic or inhuman characters such as Carrot, Rincewind, or Death, have human traits that effect how they act (remember, Death really likes cats). Here, in this book, Pratchett presents multiple answers to the questions, "Why do bad things happen to good people if there is a just god?" and "How do you feel afterwards?"
Both Mau and Daphne have tragically lost family. Both of their reactions are human, yet different from each other. Both question the idea of god (or in the case of Mau, gods) and faith. Both arrive at different answers. More importantly, Pratchett doesn't preach, he doesn't persuade. He just wants the reader to think, the conclusion is left up to the reader. This makes the book totally honest, for there is no clear cut answer to the first question.
Besides engaging the idea of the god debate, Pratchett touches on another part of creation - where do stories come from? Are stories more than just religion? Is religion more than story? This comes as no surprise to the reader who has read the last two Science of Discworld books.
Despite the tragic and bittersweet events of the story, Pratchett's trademark humor, including footnotes, is present in full force. Like his characters, Pratchett's humor works because it contains an element of human truth. As the following exchange shows:
"Don't look back!"
"Why not?"
"Because I just did! Run faster!"
The tale of Mau and Daphne is an adventure tale of two teens surviving the aftermath of a natural disaster. They most rebuild. They must outwit cold blooded killers and hungry cannibal as well as the odd Grandfather Bird and tree climbing octopus. It is a thrillingly story that closely, honestly, and fairly examines faith, science and all in between.
Older Review
When Nation came out, I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't a Discworld novel.
Then I read it.
It's the best thing that Pratchett has ever written.
The one thing about Terry Pratchett, as [a:Lawrence Watt-Evans|20331|Lawrence Watt-Evans|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1311122102p2/20331.jpg] pointed out, is that the only real difference between his adult books and his children books are the age of his protagonists. There is no reason why an adult shouldn't treat this as a book.
It's a book everyone should read.
I suppose if Pratchett had the reputation or high profile of [a:Philip Pullman|3618|Philip Pullman|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1396622492p2/3618.jpg] or [a:J. K. Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1415945171p2/1077326.jpg], then there would be a huge cry of how this book should be snatched from the hands of impressable children before they learn how to think for themselves. Maybe there is already such an outcry, but I haven't heard anything.
Nation reminds me a bit of [b:Island of the Blue Dolphins|233818|Island of the Blue Dolphins (Island of the Blue Dolphins, #1)|Scott O'Dell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418516281s/233818.jpg|3215136], with much more thrown in. Pratchett addresses the big questions of whether or not there is a god, and if there is a god, why do bad things happen? Bad things happen in this book, right from the start. Pratchett deserves credit for not sugarcoating what happens, but for also dealing with the deathes in a way that does not alienate or upset readers (okay, upset them too much).
What Pratchett presents for the reader is a book about what extactly faith and life are. When one reads Pullman, it is quite easy to figure out where Pullman stands in regards to religion. It is not easy to figure out where Pratchett stands. One character has lost his faith, but may or may not be talking to the gods. Other characters have faith. Neither character is seen as stupid or evil because of a belief or lack of belief. In many ways, Nation is a more mature novel about faith than Pratchett's earlier tolerance novel [b:Small Gods|34484|Small Gods (Discworld, #13)|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390899426s/34484.jpg|1636629].
This a powerful book, and I hope it continues to fly under the radar of those people who think children shouldn't read books that make you think.
Everyone should read this book.
What is this with awesome fantasy authors come out with these odd coming of age stories that are just amazing? When a tidal wives comes and leaves two very different teens stranded together, they are forced to create a new Nation, confronting old beliefs and building everything anew.
(Its not Lord of the Flies.)
And yes, its Pratchett, so old time fans will find many bits of his humor and wonderful social insights.
(Its not Lord of the Flies.)
And yes, its Pratchett, so old time fans will find many bits of his humor and wonderful social insights.
Quite a shift from the Discworld. Set in a world much closer to ours, but different. I could still hear the voices of some of the Discworld characters, mainly in the Grandfathers. Excellent. A little slow to begin with, but once Mau and Daphne were both on the island, the pace picked up to that of the Discworld novels.
Ostensibly about a catastrophic tidal wave/tsunami and how it affects the lives of two different people (destroying one's homeland and shipwrecking another), Nation explores the relationship between two radically different people and how they learn to survive together. Nation is a beautiful book about hope, loss, grief, and empathy. And it's funny. I adored it.
Excellent; a story about the search for silver linings in the face of an unimaginable (for the protagonists) tragedy.