Praise and Sadness for Terry Pratchett

"There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write." ~ Terry Pratchett

I love darned near everything about Terry Pratchett. For those of you unfamiliar with this genius of words, he's a British author who writes in the genre of fantasy and science-fiction. Most of his books revolve around a place called Discworld and the very interesting characters who live there. One of the most amazing things about him is that he's been writing these books for over forty years. That's my entire lifetime, plus a year for good measure.

Before turning 60, Terry Pratchett was appointed to Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to literature", knighted, awarded eight honorary doctorates, and won too many awards to list including the Carnegie Medal. His books are translated into more than 35 languages. They even named an asteroid after this guy. As of two years ago, his books had sold more than 65 million copies. I can't even begin to comprehend what one million books would look like, much less sixty-five times that number.

Sadly, three years ago Terry Pratchett announced that he suffers from Alzheimer's Disease. This runs on both sides of my family, so it's a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. When he found out he had it, he didn't bemoan his fate and sit around pouting about it. He made a sizable donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, and then went a step further and developed a program for BBC television that chronicles his experiences with the disease.

But wait, there's more.

Terry Pratchett doesn't have just any form of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. He has a rare type called posterior cortical atrophy. Know what that means? Areas at the back of his brain are shriveling up, and actually shrinking. I cannot imagine how that would feel, knowing that a disease could take away the thing that you loved to do best...writing.

This man is an utter optimist. He met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2008 to ask for an increase in research funding, and has been testing a prototype device that has shown some improvements in his condition. Sadly, in the time since his condition has deteriorated to the point that he writes via dictating to someone else, or with speech recognition software. In 2009, he stated that he does not wish to let the disease win, but prefers assisted suicide. That makes me really sad. Regardless of whether a disease takes your life or you take it yourself, the disease still wins.

That's Why I Wrote That

...I discovered that if I trusted my subconscious, or imagination, whatever you want to call it, and if I made the characters as real and honest as I could, then no matter how complex the pattern being woven, my subconscious would find ways to tie it together -- often doing things far more complicated and sophisticated than I could with brute conscious effort. I would have ideas for 'nodes', as I think of them -- story or character details that have lots of potential connections to other such nodes -- and even though I didn't quite understand, I would plunk them in. Two hundred pages later, everything would back-fit, and I'd say, "Ah, that's why I wrote that." - Tad Williams

I just recently re-read The Dragonbone Chair, the first book in his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy. While reading, I found myself just as enraptured with the different story lines and how they fit together within the overall plot as I was the first time I read it back in 1990.

Like perusing a scrapbook from the past, reading this book brought up memories from that earlier time in my life. I love Tad Williams, and have since I was first introduced to him by my first serious boyfriend, who I met shortly after the breakup between myself and the date to my senior high school prom, who had a name quite similar to that of the author. (It was probably the only reason I agreed to read the book in the first place.)

This new boyfriend was nothing like the prom date boyfriend. Where the prom date was tall and athletic, the new boyfriend was short and muscular. The prom date knew the ins and outs of an automobile engine like girls know how to apply mascara and walk in heels, while the new boyfriend's vehicle broke down frequently, often leaving us stranded and breaking curfew. Where the prom date was obsessed with things like NFL and hunting, the new boyfriend was a passive intellectual.

While re-reading The Dragonbone Chair, I wistfully reflected back on my relationship with the young man who let me borrow his copy - a huge deal in the world of book lovers. I wondered where he might be now, but not enough to look him up. There are many things I do not know about life and relationships, but I know to leave that door to my past closed and locked with several deadbolts.

That boyfriend and I, for a variety of reasons, didn't make it past the second book in the series. Upon reaching the end I slipped it into the mail even though he lived just a few miles from my parents' home. By the time the third was released in 1993, we were barely speaking and it was too awkward for me to ask to borrow his copy. Finding a library with one to loan took months, but it was well worth the wait.

Stone of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower, which are respectively the second and third books in the trilogy, are on my 2012 reading list. I look forward to long afternoons revisiting the characters and following along with their adventures. If you've never read the series and are a fan of fantasy series books like Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, then you may find yourself a fan of Tad Williams, too.