Reaper Man (Discworld, #11; Death, #2) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Apr 15, 2009 Dr M rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, humour

Part of what makes Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels an interesting series of books is Pratchett's play with taking ideas seriously, in a very literal sense. Consequently, Death, The Grim Reaper, the familiar anthropomorphic personification of the concept of death, is of course a factually existing person on Discworld. Pratchett likes to examine and bring to our attention the cultural concepts we live with and take for granted, by showing them to us reflected in a fun-house mirror, thus forcing Part of what makes Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels an interesting series of books is Pratchett's play with taking ideas seriously, in a very literal sense. Consequently, Death, The Grim Reaper, the familiar anthropomorphic personification of the concept of death, is of course a factually existing person on Discworld. Pratchett likes to examine and bring to our attention the cultural concepts we live with and take for granted, by showing them to us reflected in a fun-house mirror, thus forcing us to look at them and see them, and not merely subconsciously recognise them. The character of Death is a prime example of this technique in Pratchett's works. The Discworld Death becomes a person, in fact quite an amiable old chap.

In Reaper Man, Death unexpectedly retires and takes up a job as a farmhand in the middle of nowhere. This leaves the Discworld without anyone doing the important job of actually taking care of all the finished lives, and so Life is literally piling up in the streets of Ankh-Morpork. Meanwhile, Death is learning that there's a lot more to being human than having time on your hands, but also that having a finite amount of time is fundamental to what it means to be human.

The idea is great. If there is one book in the Discworld series that really has the potential to become both funny and profound merely based on the premises of its story, this is it. Unfortunately, Pratchett fails miserably to cash in on that potential. The entire book is a dud, full of false starts and failed launches. No idea ever really comes to fruition. There are two parallel storylines: one about Death and one about a bunch of assorted characters in Ankh-Morpork experiencing the mayhem resulting from Life not being properly taken away after it expires. The Death storyline rolls along nicely and is what keeps the book alive, but it never really takes flight as it is constantly interrupted by the chaotic Ankh-Morpork storyline.

The part of the story set in Ankh-Morpork mostly resembles one of those old comedy shows that seem to consist of nothing but people running around without aim or meaning slipping on banana skins that happen to be there only for the purpose of tripping up a character, and we are expected to laugh at all the silliness. The reason that doesn't work is that people falling over isn't inherently funny. When everyone is falling over all the time, for no apparent reason, and without any meaning to anything, we end up bored rather than entertained. The substance that is there, in the form of a well-deserved swipe at certain aspects of minority-rights movements, and a depiction of the shopping mall as an autonomous life form, is drowned under a flood of slapstick that never really was Pratchett's strong suite anyway.

Update Dec 2022: As it is not too long since I read this book and I wasn’t too impressed by it, I’m skipping it in my otherwise chronological Pratchett (re)read. For completeness, here is where I’d put it in the updated leaderboard:

1. Wyrd Sisters
2. Guards! Guards!
3. Mort
4. Reaper Man
5. Pyramids
6. The Light Fantastic
7. Moving Pictures
8. Equal Rites
9. The Colour of Magic
10. Eric
11. Sourcery ...more

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Sep 05, 2007 Tracey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-text, re-read, owned-etext

Previously read July 2004

Felt like taking it easy with a re-read, so I picked up Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett.

The celestial Auditors have determined that Death has taken on a personality, and therefore must be replaced. As a consequence, the life force in Discworld has nowhere to go, with odd results, such as Windle Poons, a wizard, becoming one of the undead. Death himself is given a deadline of sorts, and decides to live a normal life by going to work on a farm. Oh yeah - and these odd littl ...more

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Mar 08, 2017 Randy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Funny and touching. How does Pratchett do this?

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Mar 15, 2020 Sarah Sammis rated it really liked it

Shelves: exwishlist, beatthebacklist-2020, fantasy, pc, read-in-2020, reviewed-in-2021

While the main story is that of Death working under an assumed name at a farm, there's also a secondary plot involving a wizard at Unseen University who should have died but can't because of Death's absence. In any story where Death is gone, there's always on of these subplots. He, though, is the only un-dead character I've seen who actively tries to kill himself repeatedly to finish the job.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2021/comm... ...more

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