#magrat garlick

“Good and bad is tricky,” she said. “I ain’t too certain about where people stand. P’raps what matters is which way you face.”

as always, such a treat!! how to even describe this book. part of it is our delightful trio of maiden mother crone but you’re not quite sure which witch is which, part is what if tiana combined with cinderella, part is about stories and the grooves they wear in history, part is about the bad kind of fairy godmother, one bit was a lotr reference that snuck up and hit me over the head like granny weatherwax had reached right out of the page herself to break the fourth wall, which, incidentally, also happened at one point-

and the rest is, as always, pure terry pratchett. i probably have over 50 quotes highlighted so have another!

Mirrors contain infinity. Infinity contains more things than you think. Everything, for a start. Including hunger. Because there’s a million billion images and only one soul to go around.

Perhaps one of the strangest things about Lords and Ladies is Pratchett's sudden concern about continuity. It's never been a major concern before this, other than in the general sense of one event following another, but here he begins the book with a quick rundown of important events in Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad, and litters the narrative with little references to previous events and ideas, even if it's not really warranted.

At one point, for example, characters take the time to explain that yes, some elves and humans did breed and have descendants in the past, and these people also refer to themselves as elves. Considering these half-elves were only mentioned as a bit of background texture in Moving Pictures, it seems a lot of effort to take to explain them. Pratchett has unceremoniously dropped much bigger concepts without a word.

Still, on the back of Witches Abroad this is a good return to form for the Witches books. It works almost as a triple-sequel: to Equal Rites, revisiting the culture class between wizardry and witchcraft, now in a much more fleshed-out setting; to Wyrd Sisters, returning to Lancre to see the impact of the coven's political meddling with Verence II on the throne; to Witches Abroad, to show what happens when the witches haven't been around a while.

To do all this, and to comment on the fractious nature of parallel (and parasite) universes, to have a wistful romantic subplot for Granny, to parody fairy folklore and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream... and still have time satirise the bog-standard depiction of elves in fantasy...

It's a busy book, that's all. And having so many moving parts means a few wobble on their axles occasionally.

Case in point: some of the things Granny Weatherwax does get overlooked, especially when they make the situation actively worse. While Magrat does eventually get around to confronting Nanny about Granny arranging the wedding without her consent, the rather more pressing issue of Magrat being purposely overlooked regarding the elves gets entirely skipped over.

Let's be clear, by not trusting Magrat with knowing about the elves she takes away the iron protecting Diamanda, and helping the elves find a way into the world. For that people are killed and tortured, which nearly includes Diamanda herself (in fact the injuries are implied to be pretty extreme and Diamanda's survival is almost written as an afterthought). This seems somewhat harsh, as an awkward conversation with Magrat to try and convince her that elves are, in fact, bad would be considerably better than allowing Diamanda to be hypnotised and stabbed almost to death.

This isn't the problem exactly - Granny is allowed to have flaws and make mistakes, and being riled up by Diamanda in the first part of the book is shown up as exactly that - but crucially, these should be at least acknowledged.

Similarly (and I've mentioned this before) there's an overlooked moment in everyone looking to Granny for approval before Magrat is crowned queen - exactly the thing that both Duke Felmet and Granny herself had warned about back in Wyrd Sisters if they had used magic to put someone else (Verence) on the throne.

“You'd have done the same, " said Lily.

"No," said Granny. "I'd have thought the same, but I wouldn't have done it."

"What difference does that make, deep down?"

I found that intriguing, but couldn’t find any basis for it, except maybe Terry Pratchett. Granny Weatherwax is the crone, or the “other one.” Nanny Ogg is the mother, and originally the maiden was Magrat Garlick. But the problem with maidens is that they grow up. Soon Magrat became a queen, and then a mother. The maiden role is later filled by Agnes Nitt and eventually Tiffany Aching.

So, born to be a crone, but forced to go through the maiden, mother, and queen phases in life first. I also saw a Thread on how women were going to celebrate their 40th birthdays and started planning. I’ve been to “Dirty 30” parties, but what to do for 40? I’ve settled on “Fuck it Forties,” because I’m kind of already done giving a fuck.

But then if the 30s are “dirty” that implies a slut phase after the maiden phase, and I started thinking of all the dichotomies that could exist as a counterparts to the “traditional” triple goddess.

Maiden-Slut (naievity vs. experience)

Mother-Queen (private vs. public)