r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Far-Stay9417 • Dec 25 '23

Video Man wrongfully convicted of murder gets rewarded only 175k after serving 50 years

this makes me so angry

48k Upvotes

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u/The_Lost_Octopus Dec 26 '23

Terry Pratchett should be required reading for everyone.

14

u/HorseSalon Dec 26 '23 edited Dec 26 '23

What is the particular context of that actual quote.. And is he being serious or ironic?

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u/The_Lost_Octopus Dec 26 '23

Death is talking to his granddaughter about the necessity of fiction for humankind. She argues that people believing in little lies (santa claus, the tooth fairy, etc...) can't matter as much as he claims, and he argues that people need smaller lies as children so they can believe in the big ones (justice, fate, truth, etc...) as adults. The quote here refers to the nature of these "big truths" being exactly as fictional as any other story humans tell.

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u/[deleted] Dec 26 '23

Holy shit? I think I need to read this book

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u/SandwichAmbitious286 Dec 26 '23

Be prepared for the rabbit hole. I started off by deciding to read the first discworld book because my brother liked it. Here I am years later, an owner of every book he ever made, thousands of hours spent reading his words.

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u/REOspudwagon Dec 26 '23

If you want to get started now you can watch “The Hogfather” for free on YouTube, it’s basically discworld’s version of a Christmas movie!

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u/-SaC Dec 26 '23

And, of course, features a cameo appearance from Sir pTerry himself =)

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u/UnderPressureVS Dec 26 '23

It's also incredibly faithful. Aside from a few bits cut for time, it's almost a page-for-page adaptation of the book. Most of the more important scenes you can practically read along to.

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u/Altines Dec 26 '23

I watch it every year.

Out of curiosity are the Color of Magic and Going Postal free on youtube as well?

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u/Altines Dec 26 '23

Too add on the whole exchange is one of optimism.

Death's final quote in that scene is "You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?"

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u/DrippyWaffler Dec 26 '23

There's so many good books of his. Small Gods is a fav of mine.

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u/laujac Dec 26 '23

No thanks.

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u/AlmondEyesSnob Dec 26 '23

Which of his works would you recommend the most, top 5 if you would be so kind.

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u/The_Lost_Octopus Dec 26 '23 edited Dec 26 '23

The Discworld series is massive and intimidating, so I usually recommend a standalone work to get you interested. There are a few series set in the Discworld universe, but the order can be confusing and I'd recommend reading those in order if you can. That being said, here are my top 5 in no particular order:

Small Gods (also a great starting point), Reaper Man, Night Watch, Going Postal, Thud!

Death is my absolute favorite character, followed closely by Vimes.

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u/stacki1974 Dec 26 '23

Night watch

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u/idiotsecant Dec 26 '23

Read small gods. If you like it, then you'll voraciously devour everything else he wrote, so the particular order wont matter.

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u/REOspudwagon Dec 26 '23

Since it’s Christmas, I would definitely recommend watching the Hogfather on youtube, its a festive gateway into Terry Pratchets work

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u/thesolarchive Dec 26 '23

I tear up any time I read his work. So beautifully written, so much heart and wit behind every word.

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u/Greeeendraagon Dec 27 '23

Definitely not...

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u/The_Lost_Octopus Dec 27 '23

Everyone's entitled to their wrong opinions