Saturday, January 02, 2010

Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett


I love Discworld. I love Terry Pratchett's writing. I just finished the 11th book of Discworld, Reaper Man. What happens when Death has to die? What happens when a new Death does not promptly appear?

Death is dying. Our beloved character in Discworld is given a few days to live, and sent to Discworld as a skeletal human, to live the rest of his life.

Funny, satirical, and this book is a celebration of life on all aspects. It shows how some people even while alive, may in fact not be living their lives at all. This is what happens to Windle Poons, a 130-year old wizard, who is dying. He dies, but there is no death to take him, so he enters back into his own body. His adventure starts, and Windle, in those last few days, actually lives! He thinks, he listens to what people say to him, and despite being dead, feels alive.

Death on the other hand, starts to understand life. Even though he knows the rules, he breaks them and saves a little girl's life. Death shows how cunning he is, and how he escapes the new Death and reclaims his own place in the Discworld and in our hearts.

I am sorry about Terry Pratchett's illness. I do hope that he can fight it for some time to come, and continue to give us more books. Terry, we all hope for the best.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year 2010

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year 2010.

There are a lot of things that I am hoping for, and not just for myself. I do want to see a better world being made, and want to see the end to senseless wars, religious oppression, famine, poverty... More money for scientific endeavours and research and less money for armaments and wars. More money to help people in need, better education for the children wherever they may be.

No more wars on science, after all science is part of our daily lives. From pharmaceuticals to computers to modern cars, all those have come from science.

Please abandon religion, abandon dogmatism, misogyny and racism. Think critically and humanely, think logically, use your empathy towards other people and sensibility.