Review: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” is a rather interesting
place. Firmly located in the realm of fantasy, the universe of
Discworld combines traditional fantasy elements like vampires, golems,
witches, trolls, and wizards with concepts from the “real
world” like equal rights for men and women, technology, and – in
this case – mail delivery. The Discworld books have a little of
that same kind of British humor we see in Monty Python or Douglas Adams’
books, combined with some humor that is uniquely Pratchett’s.
From
the title “Going Postal” one might think this is a book about
a person losing their grip on sanity and killing lots of people, but
that’s not the story at all here.
“Going Postal” opens
with the main character Moist Von Lipwig being sentenced to death and
about to hang. Shortly after he hangs, he becomes
unconscious. When he awakens, the local official tells him he was
hanged expertly, within an inch of his life. He now has two
options. He may take a civil service job that is being offered to
him at the post office, or he may walk through a door leading out of the
room. After learning that on the other side of the door is a pit
leading to his death, Moist decides that becoming the new Postmaster is
the better option.