As far as seeing Sgt Jackrum's point of view goes, have you finished the book yet? There's a bit very near the end where we get the Sgt telling Polly about earlier days in the army...
The ending of Jackrum's story is one of my favourite things in the book.
I'm sorry to have missed this one as could not locate our copy, perhaps it was lent out at some point. I have however enjoyed hearing everyone's takes on Pratchett and his oevre. Even though I haven't read many of his works, they would form a welcome gift for Cheery husband who is not a great reader. I always loved looking at the covers, so much detail in them! If I remember two artists did the covers, particularly for the earlier works
Josh Kirby was the artist for the early books. Paul Kidby for the later books, after Kirby died. Here's Pratchett talking about Kirby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KopJyHD9leA
I too liked Jackrum, he reminded me of my granddad, a professional soldier and roughly the same weight and height as I assumed Jackrum was. My granddad survived the Siege of Ladysmith and WWI mainly through his wits and a fair bit of lying. I wasn't totally convinced by the backstory though.
I think the issue with Raising Steam is that the characters are not as well drawn as Pratchett's best, and tend to lose distinctive elements as the plot requires (Moist and Vetinari most notably). There are a lot of fun elements, but the touch is not as deft as Pratchett's best.
I've come to this late, and it's given me a nudge to start rereading. I felt how awful it was that the disease went for him in the way it did, aiming at what he was good at. I think I've seen another case since, but I can't remember who, which is shameful.
I read the Discworld books in order, when I was doing my OU degree - each time I sent off an assignment I bought a copy, and read it before starting the next module. I was very slow getting the plot of this, that the whole lot of them were women, despite the title.
I've read this a couple of times and I wonder whether the women/men thing is almost incidental. Isn't it at root about the army and how it changes you by forcing you to do things out of necessity? Pratchett is interested in systems and institutions (the police, the press, the city) and many of his books are built around them.
So Jackrum is like the spirit of the army, providing the unattractive but vital path to survival and moulding the "little lads" into soldiers. This is an unsavoury process but for many people (like Tonker and Lofty) may represent a definite improvement on their previous situation. It involves stepping out of your previous identity and taking on a new persona. The fact that they're all women is just a way of sharpening this and driving the plot and humour, at the minimal expense of some realism. As mentioned above, it seems very implausible that the whole Borogravian top-brass should be cross-dressing. But it seems very plausible that every commander must suppress certain elements of themselves in order to make war effectively.
Most memorable exchange for me: "He seemed OK!" "Yes, he was good at seeming".
As mentioned above, it seems very implausible that the whole Borogravian top-brass should be cross-dressing.
Strictly speaking it's about ⅓ of the top brass, and one of Pratchett's other big themes is that people see what they expect to see, and Borogravians in particular have very rigid understandings of gender performance.
This was my first reading of Monstrous Regiment, and I finally finished the book about two nights ago. The characters and story were pretty entertaining, but I liked the characters best.
The ending of Jackrum's story is one of my favourite things in the book.
Like @Trudy, this was one of my favorite parts of the book! Put a large smile on my face!
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The ending of Jackrum's story is one of my favourite things in the book.
I read the Discworld books in order, when I was doing my OU degree - each time I sent off an assignment I bought a copy, and read it before starting the next module. I was very slow getting the plot of this, that the whole lot of them were women, despite the title.
So Jackrum is like the spirit of the army, providing the unattractive but vital path to survival and moulding the "little lads" into soldiers. This is an unsavoury process but for many people (like Tonker and Lofty) may represent a definite improvement on their previous situation. It involves stepping out of your previous identity and taking on a new persona. The fact that they're all women is just a way of sharpening this and driving the plot and humour, at the minimal expense of some realism. As mentioned above, it seems very implausible that the whole Borogravian top-brass should be cross-dressing. But it seems very plausible that every commander must suppress certain elements of themselves in order to make war effectively.
Most memorable exchange for me: "He seemed OK!" "Yes, he was good at seeming".
Strictly speaking it's about ⅓ of the top brass, and one of Pratchett's other big themes is that people see what they expect to see, and Borogravians in particular have very rigid understandings of gender performance.
Like @Trudy, this was one of my favorite parts of the book! Put a large smile on my face!