Fantasy and humor

April 15-23, 1975 - nothing listed in the notebook. I must have been preoccupied with actual life.

April 15-23, 2005
A Monstrous Regiment, Terry Pratchett
This book follows the adventures of Polly Perks, who cuts off her hair and disguises herself as a man to enlist in the Borogravian army and find her missing brother. Borogravia follows an insanely fanatical religious, and when the government is not harassing its own citizens for violating an encyclopedic list of "Abominations," the nation is continually attacking its neighbors. This war is not going well, and recruitment goals are so far from being met that very few questions are asked. Some of Polly's fellow recruits include a vampire, a troll, a religious fanatic, a sort of "Frankenstein's assistant" called Igor, and two recruits who stick uncommonly close together at all times.

Terry Pratchett's Diskworld series is amazing to me in that he manages to be satirical, laugh-out-loud funny, and profoundly thoughtful. He deftly tells the story, entertains, and offers insights on subjects such as war, religious faith, gender, death and lies. Something about reading Pratchett makes me wonder about humor in horror. He's more in the fantasy line--he has monstrous character such as vampires, but like all the other characters they are played for laughs rather than fear. But he's set me thinking. . .