{"id":254,"date":"2015-03-28T00:06:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-28T00:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ailurophileuk.wordpress.com\/?p=254"},"modified":"2015-03-28T00:06:19","modified_gmt":"2015-03-28T00:06:19","slug":"a-eulogy-with-a-feline-vibe-in-memory-of-sir-terry-pratchett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/?p=254","title":{"rendered":"A eulogy with a feline vibe – In memory of Sir Terry Pratchett"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unless you\u2019ve been stranded on a desert island, you\u2019re likely to be aware of the recent passing of one of the biggest names in modern day literature, Terry Pratchett. Sir Terry\u2019s Discworld series is a firm favourite with many fantasy readers and not just for his human characters either\u2026.<\/p>\n

The first cat that springs to mind has to be \u201cThe Amazing Maurice.\u201d Maurice becomes sentient after eating a rat who has consumed waste from The Unseen University; which is the wizard\u2019s place of study. The rat had also become sentient before he became Maurice\u2019s lunch\u2026.<\/p>\n

Then there are the Discworld witches who, naturally, share their lives with cats. Granny Weatherwax has a kitten that was presented to her by the young apprentice, Tiffany Aching.\u00a0 The kitten is merely referred to as \u201cYou\u201d and for a time it feels there\u2019s no actual compassion for the small cheeky bundle. But anyone who knows the Pratchett\u2019s characters knows the steely veneer is just that, and soon it becomes apparent Granny feels rather a lot of affection for the new friend she\u2019s been given. (This is illustrated when it\u2019s revealed she lets You sleep under her hat; she claims it\u2019s to keep her head warm, but the reader knows different.)<\/p>\n

The most notorious feline in the series in my opinion though, has to be Nanny Ogg\u2019s rather fine specimen of a tom; Greebo. Greebo is a rough, tough bruiser of a cat; but as with any cat carer, Nanny Ogg doesn\u2019t view him that way at all. He\u2019s her fluffy little angel, and she adores him. \u00a0Greebo is mentioned regularly in the Discworld novels featuring the witches and on one occasion, even has a stint as a human when Nanny Ogg casts a spell on him; which means he can cause mayhem in a whole new way.<\/p>\n

Sir Terry also mirrored his high regard and fondness for felines with an opinion held by one of his better known Discworld characters.\u00a0 In the book Sorcery, when Death is asked \u201cwhat is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?\u201d, Death responds eventually by saying \u201cCats. Cats are rather nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

His begrudging admiration for cats can be seen no more clearly in the book \u201cThe Unadulterated Cat\u201d which begins \u201c\u2026.Our garden was debated territory for five local cats, and we\u2019d heard the best way to keep other cats out of the garden was to have one yourself. A moment\u2019s rational thought here will spot the slight flaw in this reasoning.\u201d I think the book recognises that cats are smart enough to ingratiate themselves into human society when the cat feels it will be of benefit in some way.<\/p>\n

The fact is, once a cat came into Sir Pratchett\u2019s life noone can dispute they were inspirational to him judging by how he wrote about them. The fact that his passing was reported using the words the author died at his home \u201cwith his cat sleeping on his bed, surrounded by his family\u201d\u00a0 goes a long way to giving people an insight as to how much his own feline became part of his family.<\/p>\n

Rest Easy, Sir Terry. Your wonderful, inspiring and giggle inducing creations will be sorely missed.<\/p>\n

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Unless you\u2019ve been stranded on a desert island, you\u2019re likely to be aware of the recent passing of one of the biggest names in modern day literature, Terry Pratchett. Sir Terry\u2019s Discworld series is a firm favourite with many fantasy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ailurophile.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}