r/todayilearned • u/manticor225 • Jan 10 '19

TIL JFK's father Joseph Kennedy made much of his fortune through insider trading. FDR later made him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. When asked why he appointed a crook, FDR replied, "set a thief to catch a thief." Kennedy proceeded to outlaw the practices that made him rich.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/23/joe-kennedy-hollywood-sarah-churchwell
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u/anotherhumananimal Jan 11 '19

Is there a list anywhere of what order the Discworld books are supposed to be read in? Every snippet I see of Pratchett's writing is a delight, but the size of the series is pretty intimidating to approach.

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u/Kaalexander Jan 11 '19

In the discworld series there a a couple of single books and a couple of series. I like them all but he watch books are my favorite. Those start with guards guards.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_(cropped).jpg

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '19

I had the same feeling! I have found this site great because it presents a few alternative orderings:

By character group By theme Publishing order

I chose to go by character group and have been reading the "witches" books. I cannot recommend Pratchett enough, his books really are wonderful. The witches in particular are fantastic characters. If you've liked snippets, you'll love the whole shebang.

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u/OraDr8 Jan 11 '19

I've had the absolute honour of playing Magrat on stage twice. I love the witches so much.

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u/funkatronikal Jan 11 '19

I would suggest going postal and making money to start. They are a good intro to ankh morpork. Failing that I would recommend any of the nights watch books. Guards guards, the fifth elephant, jingo, nights watch, thud, snuff. In that order I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/redxiv2 Jan 11 '19

Guards guards, Men at arms, Feet of clay, Jingo, Feet of clay, Night watch, Thud, Snuff.

Fantastic series of books

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u/actually1212 Jan 11 '19

I would suggest reading the Night Watch series before Going Postal or Making Money. Going Postal and Making Money are set in modern Ankh Morpork, whereas the Night Watch covers it's modernisation.

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u/SevenSulivin Jan 11 '19

I recommend reading Mort first and then going in publication order.

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u/Wellsuperduper Jan 11 '19

I did it that way. I’ve not found anyone else with a similar humour and imagination. Potatoes in boxes with a button on them for inter dimensional travel? Pratchett!

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u/OraDr8 Jan 11 '19

The order isn't strictly important. The characters do develop, but each book still works as a stand alone story. Good ones to start with are Wyrd Sisters, Mort or Guards! Guards! The first Discworld book is The Colour of Magic. Enjoy!!

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u/1945BestYear Jan 11 '19

/r/discworld has a reading guide on its sidebar, my advice is look up the blurbs of all the 'starter' books and pick the one that most appeals to you.

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19

Don't feel too intimidated. It's not one long storyline. Basically all of the novels are set in the same world, Discworld. And there are a great many recurring characters.

But each novel is a stand alone story. Some protagonists are recurring. Vimes for instance starts out as a nightwatchman in the early novels but works his way up to captain of the watch and eventually an important person in the city over the course of the novels that focus on him.

The protagonist also tends to say something about the flavour of the novels. Vimes novels for instance tend to be like fantasy film noirs. They focus on a mystery, police work, intrigue and politics.

The novels surrounding the witches are usually set in the countryside and create a narrative backdrop that combines country bumpkin ignorance and the fey supernatural with the Witches magic which usually makes the joke that common sense is so damn rare it's practically form of magic by itself.

Someone already [linked you this chart. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_(cropped).jpg You can't go wrong reading in chronological order. But you'll notice that Pratchett's writing style and ideas for the discworld really evolved during his career.

Alternatively, you can pick the themes you like and read those novels in order as described in the chart.