Arise, Sir Terry

My favourite living author, Terry Pratchett, was awarded a knighthood in the New Year's Honours List that was announced at the end of December. I was delighted by the news as Pratchett's...er, Sir Terry's...hmm, Sir Terence's?...nah, Sir Terry it is on this blog. Sorry, where were we?

Oh, yes. I was delighted because Sir Terry's writing style is absolutely wonderful in my opinion, and his most famous creation, Discworld (a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin) has previously been described on this blog as "sublimely lunatic", and I stand by that description.

The strange thing is that I am not normally much of a chap for the fantasy genre. Even "The Lord of the Rings" and Harry Potter required the movies to provide incentive for me to read them. I picked up my first Discworld book, "Monstrous Regiment", solely on the advice of a friend who seemed to share similar literary tastes to mine. I've read about a dozen or so of the Discworld books so far, and only wish I could put life on hold for a while to be able to read the rest of them. One reason why I like Sir Terry's writing so much is because one of his influences is my favourite author of all time, P. G. Wodehouse. The Discworld novels have a wonderfully entertaining style about them, just like Wodehouse's stories, and a fair dose of spot-on satire as well.

While reading the BBC article announcing the Honours List, I was stunned to discover that Sir Terry suffers from a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. It is such a shock to think that the man's wonderfully imaginative brain, that has provided me with so much delight, may slowly be shrivelling up and dying.

Sir Terry has donated $1 million to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, and an internet campaign has been set-up called "Match It for Pratchett", which aims to raise another million for the same purpose. Please do what you can, and also spread the word. I have put a permanent link to the site on the left of my blog if you need to find the site later on.

PS: Great quote from Sir Terry: "Wikipedia, eh? Must be accurate then!"