Going Postal

Going Postal

By Terry Pratchett

Yesterday I finished Going Postal, another book of Terry Pratchett's (if you haven't noticed I'm on a bit of a Terry Pratchett kick right now. That's because Jesse downloaded a ton of Terry Pratchett books onto my Nook for me! I almost peed).

Going Postal is the story of a man named Moist von Lipwig, a con man who gets caught and is destined to dance the Hemp Fandango (yeah, I said "Hemp Fandango". I feel like I should be sitting in a wing-back chair smoking a pipe). And he does - do the dance, that is. He gets hanged (hung? Hinged?), but he doesn't die. Supposedly because there's a way you can do it that leaves you barely alive (for the purposes of the book, anyway). 

It's not an accident that he lives. The Patrician, Lord Vetinari, had him hanged so that everyone would think Moist's alias, Albert Spangler, was dead (Moist loved disguises, I think he had a mustache as Albert Spangler but as Moist von Lipwig he was utterly unremarkable). Then, the Patrician has a talk with Moist. He gives him a choice: actual death, or take over the Ankh-Morpork post office. So, naturally, Moist chooses to become Postmaster.

The Ankh-Morpork post office is basically dead. It's broken down and full of pigeon crap and letters. Like, really really full of letters. Thousands and thousands that never got delivered, some up to fifty years old. Nobody uses the post office any more, they use the "Clacks", towers that send messages really fast through codes. The Clacks are expensive though, and constantly breaking down. And, what's more, there have been suspicious deaths on the Clacks towers.

 So, with the help of his two staff - Junior Postman Tolliver Groat (who is ancient), and his assistant Stanly (who is obsessed with pins) - Moist sets out to restore the post office to his former glory, and deliver the mail!

There are golems (most notably Mr. Pump, Moist's parole officer), a golden suit, a love interest named Adora Belle Dearheart, a banshee assassin, letters to the gods, a race against the Clacks, and many many pigeons.

Favorite character: Usually I go with Vetinari, because he's just a really cool dude. But, for this book, I think I'm going to have to go with Stanly. He was just a background character, but I really enjoyed him. He was normally a pretty laid back guy, he just had an obsession with pins. But he had heroic moments. And I think he deserved them.

Quote: Moist always raised the stakes. Never promise to do the possible. Anyone could do the possible. You should promise to do the impossible because sometimes the impossible was possible. And if you failed, well, it had been impossible.

Extra: I like Igors. They lisp, and they seem to often have a dry sort of humor that comes from maybe a life of servitude, or maybe they're just naturally like that.