Moving Pictures: A Novel of Discworld

One of my favorite Pratchett books! This is actually a re-purchase as my old paperback copy fell apart from being read so many times. I'm a big fan of hollywood history, and I love the fantasy spin on in that Pratchett has put on it here. It's funny and inventive, full of fun anachronisms, and even a little sweet at times. Though this discworld novel falls outside of the various groupings of books Pratchett has created (such as the group of night watch books, or Rincewind books), there are still several familiar faces. Cut Me Own Throat Dibler makes a memorable appearance as one of the discs first movie producers, and I believe this is the first book to feature Gaspode the Wonder Dog. You'll also see some cameos from Ankh-Morpork, including old Windle Poons and the other wizards at Unseen University. It's a great standalone story, though, and a good jumping-in point for anyone new to the discworld series. There were several passages that really did make me laugh out loud on one or two occasions, and grin widely on several others. Despite always being classified as a "humor writer", Terry Pratchett's stories also have a warmth to them that many other authors lack. The characters are well-written and are the types of characters that feel instantly familiar as soon as you meet them. This isn't just a funny book--it's smart, witty, touching, intriguing, and sometimes a little zany. And well worth reading.

Moving Pictures is the tenth book in his Discworld series and is a fairly standard Discworld novel, not particularly remarkable but solid. It’s a witty parody on Hollywood and 20th/21st century life. It meets the standard for this series meaning it's humorous, clever read full of great characters and colourful ideas. There are some ongoing Discworld characters that spring up from time to time so while it’s a standalone book it helps to read the others. Not quite a 5 star read.

Reading Pratchett often reminds me of another equally merry and profound occupation - trying to count ducklings on a pond :) Those who ever tried, will understand. One, two, three, four...oy, two just dived - but three surfaced in another place. Then there is yet another fluffy backside on the surface - then it dives and five more appear! Same with Sir Terry's ideas and jokes - just when you are positive you got a joke by its tail, it wiggles the tail - and suddenly there are three more jokes. Or more... Just as with ducklings, you'll never get bored with Pratchett. The plot is there, it's not really important (honestly, when was the last time you picked up a new Pratchett for the plot?) but there is a mountain (with stars over it) of funny and profound ideas about reality and illusion and how they coexist and intersperse... and what is reality anyway?.. it seems that Sir Terry wrote a charmingly pointed dissertation on the more philosophical aspects of the "World according to Cinema". Plus multiple bonuses for those who know their oldies-goldies: gallant heroes with pencil-thin moustache, whose every smile sends women swooning, langourous blonds who perfected the profound art of reclining among silk pillows... thousands of elephants and undulating "is this a gun in your pockets or are you just happy to see me?" Ruby - West. And a mental image of a 50-ft blond climbing a tower with an ape in her hand... that stays with you forever! :)

My favourite Terry Pratchett quote yet: "Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened." His characters & plots come alive with his wizardry sarcastic & humerous story telling. Excuse my Klatchian, but this was damn funny! Disc World's clicks are familiar yet oh so startlingly different. The pop culture references, irony & word play make his books so fun to read; you have to keep your corner of your brain sharp to catch all the humor. As always, the plot moves along quickly & there's never a dull moment on the Disc. In this book we reconnect with old friends & places & meet new exciting & zany characters. I've never caught Mr. Pratchett out making a mistake from earlier novels; his characters & geography flow from book to book. I want to visit Disc World & have a sausage in a bun!!

I'm rebuying the Discworld series and I returned this book, because of my mistake. Harper is reissuing the series, and this particular book not the same form factor as the Harper series. Nothing wrong with the book, but I want all he books to be the same size - also the new Harper series has great cover artwork. The 3-star rating is probably unfair, but intended as a size warning. Again, nothing wrong with this particular book, just make sure you are ordering the particular book you want.

The last priest of Holy Wood, a sandy little hill near Ankh-Morpork, dies without a successor. Were his daily chants and rituals actually holding something at bay, or were they the meaningless drivel of a dead religion? Soon after his death, an alchemist in Ankh-Morpork invents the moving picture--the difficult part was to keep the film from exploding. Victor Tugelbend, perpetual student-wizard and "the laziest person in the history of the world" sees the first moving picture projected on a sheet in an Ankh-Morpork square. The next thing he knows, Victor is on the road to Holy Wood, along with C.M.O.T. Dibbler, low-life purveyor of 'sausage inna bun' and Gaspode, the Wonder Dog (the only one of the three who was smart enough to hitch a ride in a lumber wagon). Holy Wood is now a ramshackle town, thrown together practically overnight and overflowing with humans, dwarfs, and trolls who want to make moving pictures. Companies like 'Century of the Fruitbat Moving Pictures,' and 'Floating Bladder Pictures' are cranking out two-reelers like 'Sword of Passione,' 'The Third Gnome,' and 'Turkey Legs.' Victor falls into the role of leading man. Dibbler extorts his way into the role of leading producer. Victor's leading lady, Ginger keeps dreaming that she's standing on a grate with hot air blowing up her skirt---that is when she's not walking in her sleep and trying to wake Something slumbering in the cave beneath the brand new city. Reality is stretching thin between worlds. When Dibbler decides to make a moving picture about Ankh-Morpork's Civil War, called 'Blown Away,' Holy Hell breaks loose. "Moving Pictures" is Pratchett's satirical look at everything Hollywood, with puns and allusions rocketing overhead like shooting stars. Many of his references are way over my head, e.g. 'Floating Bladder Pictures' and a moving picture called 'Turkey Legs,' but movie aficionados should nail down every one. At least I figured out the golden statue named Oswald (or Osric), and the gigantic woman climbing the Tower of Art with a tiny ape clutched in its hand. Basically, a good time is had by all in "Moving Pictures." Although it is not as deeply philosophical as some of Pratchett's Disworld novels, Gaspode, the Wonder Dog does have some great lines, especially when he's shooting the breeze with the Rabbit, the Mouse and the Cat, and the Duck (waack waack waack waack! Sorry Walt).

A really good story! This is Pratchett's take-off of the early days of commercial movie-making, particularly in Hollywood (here named Holy Wood). As with most of the Discworld books, it starts off slowly, gradually builds, then there's a lot of action near the end. There's some unevenness and awkwardness that a copyeditor should have caught. It was enough to mildly annoy me, and maybe a second reading would give me a different impression. It usually does. But I enjoyed this story more than any of the previous ones. I loved the way the characters controlled reality at the end--that was a nice touch.

This 1 comes across as mostly new to me but I am pretty sure that I have read it before. If so it had to be 1 of the early ones there arises I really didn't recall most of it. I did have a feeling for the overall plot though. I love the way this story unfolds. Cut me own throat Dibbler was a great choice to star in this story. As usual you get to see some of the characters you've grown to know through the past novels and you get some really wonderful new ones to help blend and give you a bigger picture of how the twin cities are built. Being a big movie fan I really like the overall theme of this Us as usual and how they built magic into the whole deal. The idea of multiple types of magic is a great thought and plays out very well throughout. Plus as usual I love the librarians role and the use of the wizards.

I found this novel was a departure from Mr Pratchett's usual fayre in some ways. Oh, the comedy was great as usual but it was the enchantments of Holy Wood I only now start to understand. Have you ever gawped open-mouthed at a film or TV screen to the exclusion of everything else? Think about it ... Have you EVER channel-hopped the TV to watch anything you can to stop yourself from having to get up from the sofa? OK so earlier in your life ... Have you EVER had junk food or empty cans, cartons or bottles of drink piling up in the lounge? Think, honestly ... I know I have have ... not now of course. Have you EVER been on stage or on a film set? If you can answer 'yes' to any of the above questions then you will like this book, a lot.

Ce livre conforme bien au produit décrit. Très contente de la qualité et le prix.Mon marie adore ces livres. à recommander.

Motion pictures have come to the Dicsworld and everyone wants to be a part of it!

Das Buch an sich ist ein Geschenk aber es kam alles heile an! :) Das Cover sieht total cool aus und das Buch scheint eine gute Qualität zu haben.

Libro fantastico ma amazon me li consegna sempre ammaccati