My nephew loves the HP books and recently got into Douglas Adams. I have told him he Aint Read Nothing Yet but he's never heard of PTerry from any of his peers so he's skeptical.
For Chanukah I wanted to get him a nice box set of DW which I thought were available in certain combinations but didn't see any in the several shops I checked. (I need these by Sunday so time is an issue.) So then I thought - 14 year old boy, Rincewind and Mort would probably appeal.
It irked me to do it but I went ahead and bought these Harper-Torch mass market editions of TLF & TCOM (horrible covers- one even has a blurb about "'Conan' The Barbarian"), and so far have not yet found a copy of Mort in the 3 stores I've checked.
My question to the group is whether a young teen who's never read a TP book would fully appreciate PTerry & DW from reading TAMAHER? I haven't read it yet 'cause I know I'm getting it myself along with TLH for Chanukah. (My mom ordered both for me.) And while I am definitely looking forward to reading it I don't necessarily need to pocess it right now. Maybe I should reimburse her for it and give it to my nephew.
I realize that since I'm already introducing him to Rincewind & Cohen in TLF & TCOM he'd probably appreciate TLH more- especially with the art work, but unfortunately money is an issue this year (seriously sick kitty = major financial drain). TAMAHER is about half the cost of TLH (which is damn decent of PTerry), that's why I'm considering this. Or, should I skip TAMAHER for him, keep it for me, and get him something else to round out the gift?
I haven't posted for a long time. Your kind feed- back would be welcome.
> My nephew loves the HP books and recently got into > Douglas Adams. I have told him he Aint Read Nothing > Yet but he's never heard of PTerry from any of his > peers so he's skeptical.
> For Chanukah I wanted to get him a nice box set > of DW which I thought were available in certain > combinations but didn't see any in the several > shops I checked. (I need these by Sunday so time > is an issue.) So then I thought - 14 year old boy, > Rincewind and Mort would probably appeal.
> It irked me to do it but I went ahead and bought > these Harper-Torch mass market editions of TLF & > TCOM (horrible covers- one even has a blurb about > "'Conan' The Barbarian"), and so far have not yet > found a copy of Mort in the 3 stores I've checked.
> My question to the group is whether a young teen > who's never read a TP book would fully appreciate > PTerry & DW from reading TAMAHER? I haven't read it > yet 'cause I know I'm getting it myself along with > TLH for Chanukah. (My mom ordered both for me.) And > while I am definitely looking forward to reading it > I don't necessarily need to pocess it right now. > Maybe I should reimburse her for it and give it > to my nephew.
> I realize that since I'm already introducing him to > Rincewind & Cohen in TLF & TCOM he'd probably > appreciate TLH more- especially with the art work, > but unfortunately money is an issue this year > (seriously sick kitty = major financial drain). > TAMAHER is about half the cost of TLH (which is > damn decent of PTerry), that's why I'm considering > this. Or, should I skip TAMAHER for him, keep it > for me, and get him something else to round out the > gift?
> I haven't posted for a long time. Your kind feed- > back would be welcome.
> Thanks, > deborah
As ever, it depends on him really. But TAM is "officially" a kid's book, whereas most of the rest of the Discworld is "officially" for adults. The vast majority of 14 year old boys would not thank you for buying them a kid's book, even a good one. Me? I'm "officially" grown up. I can read kid's books if I like :-)
>My nephew loves the HP books and recently got into >Douglas Adams. I have told him he Aint Read Nothing >Yet but he's never heard of PTerry from any of his >peers so he's skeptical.
>For Chanukah I wanted to get him a nice box set >of DW which I thought were available in certain >combinations but didn't see any in the several >shops I checked. (I need these by Sunday so time >is an issue.) So then I thought - 14 year old boy, >Rincewind and Mort would probably appeal.
>It irked me to do it but I went ahead and bought >these Harper-Torch mass market editions of TLF & >TCOM (horrible covers- one even has a blurb about >"'Conan' The Barbarian"), and so far have not yet >found a copy of Mort in the 3 stores I've checked.
>My question to the group is whether a young teen >who's never read a TP book would fully appreciate >PTerry & DW from reading TAMAHER? I haven't read it >yet 'cause I know I'm getting it myself along with >TLH for Chanukah. (My mom ordered both for me.) And >while I am definitely looking forward to reading it >I don't necessarily need to pocess it right now. >Maybe I should reimburse her for it and give it >to my nephew.
>I realize that since I'm already introducing him to >Rincewind & Cohen in TLF & TCOM he'd probably >appreciate TLH more- especially with the art work, >but unfortunately money is an issue this year >(seriously sick kitty = major financial drain). >TAMAHER is about half the cost of TLH (which is >damn decent of PTerry), that's why I'm considering >this. Or, should I skip TAMAHER for him, keep it >for me, and get him something else to round out the >gift?
Yes.
My son's eleven and has read most of them. He was just given TAMAHER and TOT by his Bubbie [1], who asked what books he might like[2].
[1] Spelling accurately appear to be quite optional/random when transcribing Yiddish.
[2] It was handy for me that my wife wasn't sure what to recommend.
deborah cohen <dcoh...@luc.edu> wrote: >My nephew loves the HP books and recently got into >Douglas Adams. I have told him he Aint Read Nothing >Yet but he's never heard of PTerry from any of his >peers so he's skeptical. <snip> > (I need these by Sunday so time >is an issue.) So then I thought - 14 year old boy >Rincewind and Mort would probably appeal. > so far have not yet >found a copy of Mort in the 3 stores I've checked.
>My question to the group is whether a young teen >who's never read a TP book would fully appreciate >PTerry & DW from reading TAMAHER? > Or, should I skip TAMAHER for him, keep it >for me, and get him something else to round out the >gift?
To be honest, I found TAMAHER ..a tiny bit "preachy". When I was 13 or so, I hated preachy books. I'd find him a copy of something else early in Discworld, maybe Guards!Guards! or Pyramids since you can't find Mort.
> In article <bf390993.0112041613.995c...@posting.google.com>, > deborah cohen <dcoh...@luc.edu> wrote: > >My nephew loves the HP books and recently got into > >Douglas Adams. I have told him he Aint Read Nothing > >Yet but he's never heard of PTerry from any of his > >peers so he's skeptical. > <snip> > > (I need these by Sunday so time > >is an issue.) So then I thought - 14 year old boy
> >Rincewind and Mort would probably appeal. > > so far have not yet > >found a copy of Mort in the 3 stores I've checked.
> >My question to the group is whether a young teen > >who's never read a TP book would fully appreciate > >PTerry & DW from reading TAMAHER?
> > Or, should I skip TAMAHER for him, keep it > >for me, and get him something else to round out the > >gift?
> To be honest, I found TAMAHER ..a tiny bit "preachy". When I was 13 or > so, I hated preachy books. I'd find him a copy of something else early in > Discworld, maybe Guards!Guards! or Pyramids since you can't find Mort.
If you can get hold of it, give him Good Omens. Then you get something that is not full on pterry, giving him time to get used to the style, and you'll also put him onto Neil Gaiman, which can only be a good thing.
(snip question about giving TAMAHER to a fourteen-year-old)
I think you should save TAMAHER until he's read a few of the DW ones. 'Guards Guards' might be good, since it's the beginning of the Watch series. I think TAMAHER is better appreciated once you're familiar with Pterry's other work.
> (snip question about giving TAMAHER to a fourteen-year-old)
> I think you should save TAMAHER until he's read a few of the DW ones. 'Guards > Guards' might be good, since it's the beginning of the Watch series. I think > TAMAHER is better appreciated once you're familiar with Pterry's other work.
Thanks to you and all who responded for your helpful advice. I had a nagging suspicion that a young teen might balk at receiving a book tainted with the stigma of being intended for children. Better wait until he's hooked and hungry for every word penned by Pratchett. [Sigh], Guess I'll just have to keep TAMAHER for myself, OH WELL!
If I can't find him a copy of "Mort" I'll probably go for GG - the Watch books are my personal favorites.
> >seriously sick kitty = major financial drain
> I hope the cat's better now.
Thanks. My cat is getting up there in age and has developed a chronic serious disease (pancreatitis). 'Poor guy's been through a major surgery, a feeding tube and multiple daily injections and fluids. Right now we're narrowly dodging another "last chance" surgery because he has actually been improving the last few weeks (knock wood). As long as he's still fighting I'll do what I can do. I won't give up 'til he does.
> Thanks. My cat is getting up there in age and has > developed a chronic serious disease (pancreatitis). > 'Poor guy's been through a major surgery, a feeding tube > and multiple daily injections and fluids. Right now we're > narrowly dodging another "last chance" surgery because he > has actually been improving the last few weeks (knock > wood). As long as he's still fighting I'll do what I can > do. I won't give up 'til he does.
Spot on. My cat has been rebuilt that many times there's probably more metal and plastic in him than anything else. But he's still *my* cat. I'd rather go hungry than see him suffer.
Hope he keeps on fighting.
-- Huw Owner of furry orange thing, afpfiance to Kimmi
> My question to the group is whether a young teen > who's never read a TP book would fully appreciate > PTerry & DW from reading TAMAHER? I haven't read it > yet 'cause I know I'm getting it myself along with > TLH for Chanukah.
I was considering getting it for my (much) smaller sister who has lately been reading / being read the first Potter book. Picked it up in the store and had second thoughts, on the following grounds:
1) WAY beyond her. 2) Why would I give this book to someone else anyway?
> Thanks. My cat is getting up there in age and has > developed a chronic serious disease (pancreatitis). > 'Poor guy's been through a major surgery, a feeding tube > and multiple daily injections and fluids. Right now we're > narrowly dodging another "last chance" surgery because he > has actually been improving the last few weeks (knock > wood). As long as he's still fighting I'll do what I can > do. I won't give up 'til he does.
That's the spirit! I know of a ferret in a shelter in Canananada that's been suffering from a bacterial infection in an empty eye socket off and on for about three years now - several surgeries and semiregular nasal flushes (I don't know and I don't *want* to know!) - and lots of people have told his human that she should have "let him go" and not have him "suffer". But he's still a happy little weasel, so she does what she can to help him. As long as there's quality of life there, keep your cat with you and enjoy his company. He'll tell you when it's time to quit.
Wishing your cat the very best of luck.
Paul E. Jamison
--
"There's more pressure on a vet to get it right. People say 'It was God's will' when Granny dies, but they get *angry* when they lose a cow." - Terry Pratchett
In article <af26c87a.0112061117.3498f...@posting.google.com>,
phob...@hotmail.com (phobos) wrote: > I was considering getting it for my (much) smaller sister who has > lately been reading / being read the first Potter book. Picked it up > in the store and had second thoughts, on the following grounds:
> 1) WAY beyond her. > 2) Why would I give this book to someone else anyway?
> > Thanks. My cat is getting up there in age and has > > developed a chronic serious disease (pancreatitis). ... > > As long as he's still fighting I'll do what I can > > do. I won't give up 'til he does.
> That's the spirit! ... > Wishing your cat the very best of luck.
AOL. I had to put my cat down last year (at the age of fourteen, and I'd had her for at least twelve and a half of those years -- ain't a lovelier cat anywhere) as she had multiple tumours, a swollen breast that burst and festered, and was getting insane. I couldn't afford treatment, either.
<sigh> Oh well, at least I know she was getting good service.
> AOL. I had to put my cat down last year (at the age of fourteen, > and I'd had her for at least twelve and a half of those years -- > ain't a lovelier cat anywhere) as she had multiple tumours, a > swollen breast that burst and festered, and was getting insane. > I couldn't afford treatment, either.
I'm so sorry.
I am very lucky to have had (emphasis on *had*) savings to pay for the initial vet bills which included the major expenditures of ultra-sounds, a biopsy, a major surgery and hospitalization. Now that those funds are exausted I've had to dust off the credit card. If I had had to charge what this initially cost me I am not sure what I'd have done because frankly at my meager pay it would have meant years of debt. His post surgical care is still very much a financial drain what with all of the ongoing vet visits, tests, multiple medications and special perscripition diets. I'm hoping he won't need another surgery because it's all on plastic now. At least the surgeon has told me that since he's already been through so much and I've already spent so much that he'd try to reduce the cost for me.
This is why I don't have a house full of animals. Proper care of healthy animals is costly enough. But to have a beloved pet fall ill and be unable to pay for critical veterinary care is a terrible position to be in. Just the other day I saw a distraught man in my vet's office whose cat had just died. He'd brought it in sick but couldn't afford to pay for any tests. It gave me chills.
> > AOL. I had to put my cat down last year (at the age of fourteen, > > and I'd had her for at least twelve and a half of those years -- > > ain't a lovelier cat anywhere) as she had multiple tumours, a > > swollen breast that burst and festered, and was getting insane. > > I couldn't afford treatment, either.
> I'm so sorry.
> I am very lucky to have had (emphasis on *had*) > savings to pay for the initial vet bills which > included the major expenditures of ultra-sounds, a > biopsy, a major surgery and hospitalization. Now that > those funds are exausted I've had to dust off the > credit card. If I had had to charge what this initially > cost me I am not sure what I'd have done because > frankly at my meager pay it would have meant years of > debt. His post surgical care is still very much a > financial drain what with all of the ongoing vet visits, > tests, multiple medications and special perscripition > diets. I'm hoping he won't need another surgery because > it's all on plastic now. At least the surgeon has told > me that since he's already been through so much and I've > already spent so much that he'd try to reduce the cost > for me.
Blessed be the vets who are willing to work with a person.
> This is why I don't have a house full of animals. > Proper care of healthy animals is costly enough. > But to have a beloved pet fall ill and be unable to pay > for critical veterinary care is a terrible position to > be in. Just the other day I saw a distraught man in my > vet's office whose cat had just died. He'd brought it > in sick but couldn't afford to pay for any tests. It > gave me chills.
Oh, God. This hits too close to home. My ex-SO had been going through some very tough times last year and she finally decided that she couldn't care for her elderly ferret, so she gave Al over to me. It turned out that something was *very* wrong with him. He had lost a lot of weight and was grinding his teeth when he tried to eat. The trouble was that I was severely strapped financially - due to helping the SO with her tough times - and when I got him to a vet, there was only so much he could do. Frankly, this vet was unfamiliar with ferrets - not uncommon - and he attributed the teeth-grinding to a mouth problem. He gave me some medication and sent us home. About weekend or two later, a ferret-knowledgable friend from out-of-town said she would take Al to her vet, and I could pay when I could afford it. She came into town that Saturday, and fed him some broth to get some food down him. He didn't like that. Just as she was putting him in her pet carrier, it proved too much for him. He apparently had a heart problem as well. He just gave out a squawk and passed away.
I think the teeth-grinding was actually a stomach problem - maybe a tummy ulcer; I should have raised the possibility with the vet, but I figured he knew what he was doing. For that matter, I should have put my foot down about the finances with my SO, but I didn't. Now she's gone, and Al has a little grave in my backyard. I don't know how much longer he would have stayed around - he was at least 10, which is a ripe old age for ferrets - but I can't help but feel that I let him down.
> > AOL. I had to put my cat down last year (at the age of fourteen, > > and I'd had her for at least twelve and a half of those years -- > > ain't a lovelier cat anywhere) as she had multiple tumours, a > > swollen breast that burst and festered, and was getting insane. > > I couldn't afford treatment, either.
> I'm so sorry.
Thanks. S'allright, really.
Besides, even if I'd had the money for treatment, it wouldn't have done any good. She was just *too* sick. Putting her down really was the most humane thing to do -- for her, at least. I, who had to watch her die, have felt better. But I did it with the knowledge that it was the better of two options.
<morphing into a pet peeve -- ha bloody ha>
Which makes me rather angry when I see how most Western World countries treats their terminally ill. I mean, an incurably sick and/or old animal that suffers, we put to death. An incurably ill and/or old person -- one of our own *species*, for heaven's sake! -- we keep alive at any cost, not seldom *against their will*.
Yes, I am pro-euthanasia. I think that in extreme cases, cases where quite sane people suffer badly from an incurable disease, they should be allowed to decide their own fate, i.e. time and manner of death. And should they not be capable of suicide, I think they should be able to get assistance. I know I would want to. I'm not afraid of dying -- there's no rush, of course, but I'm not afraid. As i have said earlier in this thread, I know the service when dying is excellent.
-- Marco Villalta
Contrary to popular belief, human lives aren't very precious. I'm not saying this. Human history for the past million years is saying this.
Marco Villalta wrote: > and/or old animal that suffers, we put to death. An incurably > ill and/or old person -- one of our own *species*, for heaven's > sake! -- we keep alive at any cost, not seldom *against their > will*. > Yes, I am pro-euthanasia. I think that in extreme cases, cases > where quite sane people suffer badly from an incurable disease, > they should be allowed to decide their own fate, i.e. time and > manner of death.
Just for discussion, not implying I'd support such a thing [1], what would be the ramifications if everyone could have a legal document that is opened upon one's meeting requesting death under certain "extreme condition" criteria in the same way that a will is opened upon one's becoming dead? A person might have chosen for this document to say, for example, that euthanasia can procede only with the signatures of two or more immediate relatives. Changes to it would have to be witnessed by both a lawyer and a psychiatrist, and only allowed when the person is in stable mind.
> > already spent so much that he'd try to reduce the cost > > for me.
. Just the other day I saw a distraught man in my
> > vet's office whose cat had just died. He'd brought it > > in sick but couldn't afford to pay for any tests. It > > gave me chills.
> Oh, God. This hits too close to home.
I know I have mangled the attributions a bit. But the general drift is cost of vet bills, yes? Here (Ireland) and I know U.K. you can get pet insurance for a fairly small monthly amount, I think about £3 for a cat and there are reductions for pensioners. I don't know about students/unwaged. It does make things doable. For instance our Golden was very poorly, vomiting, refusing food etc. I brought him to the vet's one day and again two days later when he didn't pick up. We were able to check that it wasn't a bit of Barbie doll stuck in his tummy etc. I only had to pay £35 of the treatment cost. What was wrong actually was diet, which I figured out myself. He hasn't looked back since I changed him from commercial food to real. My reasoning is when you see what humans who buy the stuff will eat in the way of processed food, poor doggies and moggies must really get gypped with their kibble and tins. My other recent discovery/damascine conversion is Homeopathy for Dogs. Same Pip had a swollen eyelid and I gave him one little pillule just matching his symptoms as best I could. He was better in 2 hours. Yeah. I don't believe Homeopathy could possibly work either. Louise
> > > already spent so much that he'd try to reduce the cost > > > for me. > . Just the other day I saw a distraught man in my > > > vet's office whose cat had just died. He'd brought it > > > in sick but couldn't afford to pay for any tests. It > > > gave me chills.
> > Oh, God. This hits too close to home.
> I know I have mangled the attributions a bit. But the general drift is cost > of vet bills, yes? > Here (Ireland) and I know U.K. you can get pet insurance for a fairly small > monthly amount, I think about £3 for a cat and there are reductions for > pensioners. I don't know about students/unwaged. It does make things doable. > For instance our Golden was very poorly, vomiting, refusing food etc. I > brought him to the vet's one day and again two days later when he didn't > pick up. We were able to check that it wasn't a bit of Barbie doll stuck in > his tummy etc. I only had to pay £35 of the treatment cost. What was wrong > actually was diet, which I figured out myself. He hasn't looked back since I > changed him from commercial food to real. My reasoning is when you see what > humans who buy the stuff will eat in the way of processed food, poor doggies > and moggies must really get gypped with their kibble and tins. My other > recent discovery/damascine conversion is Homeopathy for Dogs. Same Pip had a > swollen eyelid and I gave him one little pillule just matching his symptoms > as best I could. He was better in 2 hours. Yeah. I don't believe Homeopathy > could possibly work either. > Louise
