Thorne Smith
Alan Sim
Pleas be kind gentle readers and indulge my strange question. One that I
am sure has been answered many times before. However I have never seen
it and I do have an inquiring mind and want to know. Was Terry Pratchett
ever in any way, shape or form influenced by Thorne Smith and in
particular Smith's book "The Night Life Of The Gods"? I see vague
similarities there. Nothing definite but just a nagging feeling. Is
there anybody else who has seen this or am I alone?
Granny.
Dick Eney
In article <338E418D...@polarnet.ca>,
I don't know for certain, but Pterry is well-read and I would find it hard
to believe that he hadn't encountered Thorne Smith's work. Most any comic
writer is going to be influenced by the comedy they have read. The
treatment of magic as being usually more trouble than it's worth does
occur in some of T. Smith's books, but as often as not the magic works
just fine, and the trouble is caused by the short-sighted motives of the
users, and that is a comic standard. I don't think I could point to any
specific bit in Pterry's books and say, "Aha! that's from Thorne Smith!"
but like Benchley, Wodehouse, and other masters of comedy, there are some
inevitable similarities.
In my opinion "Night Life of the Gods" is perhaps the closest to Pterry's
work in that the magic, although reliable and occasionally helpful in
minor ways, is essentially useless in solving interpersonal problems. The
way the gods are characterized is pretty standard Greek myth. The ending
is sadder than Pterry's endings are, probably because the story is set on
Earth, published in a culture that wouldn't allow a continuing magical
element. Perhaps if Smith were writing today, he would have created a
different ending.
Dissenters?
=Tamar (sharing account dick...@access.digex.net)
Terry Pratchett
In article <5mlpsi$d...@access2.digex.net>, Dick Eney
<dick...@access2.digex.net> writes
>In my opinion "Night Life of the Gods" is perhaps the closest to Pterry's
>work in that the magic, although reliable and occasionally helpful in
>minor ways, is essentially useless in solving interpersonal problems. The
>way the gods are characterized is pretty standard Greek myth. The ending
>is sadder than Pterry's endings are, probably because the story is set on
>Earth, published in a culture that wouldn't allow a continuing magical
>element. Perhaps if Smith were writing today, he would have created a
>different ending.
I'm well aware of Thorne Smith and I think I read a couple of books
(didn't he write one that was the basis of 'Blithe Spirits' I know he
wrote one called 'The Jovial Ghosts', and I seem to recall other one
about a man who, unbeknownst, marries a witch -- hmm, sounds a bit
familiar to any long-time TV watcher:-) Night Life of the Gods doesn't
ring a bell.
But comedy grows on the rich compost of what has gone before, and for
that matter so do fantasy stories. And writers often resolve things in
pretty much the same way because other ways aren't satisfactory -- if
there's magic you can *really* use to make your personal life better,
bang go a lot of character possiblities. Magic as a kind of fairy gold
that disappears at dawn is well-rooted in storytelling tradition -- if
magic were food it would be sugar, sweet and enticing but not nourishing
in the long run.
Terry
--
Terry Pratchett
Dick Eney
In article <mFYNYTAh...@unseen.demon.co.uk>,
Terry Pratchett <tprat...@unseen.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Tamar <dick...@access2.digex.net> writes
>>In my opinion "Night Life of the Gods" is perhaps the closest to Pterry's
>>work in that the magic, although reliable and occasionally helpful in
>>minor ways, is essentially useless in solving interpersonal problems.
>
>I'm well aware of Thorne Smith and I think I read a couple of books
>(didn't he write one that was the basis of 'Blithe Spirits' I know he
>wrote one called 'The Jovial Ghosts', and I seem to recall other one
>about a man who, unbeknownst, marries a witch -- hmm, sounds a bit
>familiar to any long-time TV watcher:-) Night Life of the Gods doesn't
>ring a bell.
I don't recall one that was close to Coward's Blithe Spirit, but 'The
Jovial Ghosts' sounds like the one that was titled 'Topper' in the US
(also its sequel, Topper Takes A Trip). 'I Married A Witch' was not as
cheerful as the tv show (no doubt based on it in the usual tv sense of
taking the title and doing something else with it). NLotG was funny until
it got to the bittersweet ending; at least, it was funny until we got all
PC about the evils of excessive drink, etc. The scene in which the gods
(all drunk) decide to steal the stone wall across the road and do it in
chunks has a kind of daffy logic that would fit reasonably well into some
Discworld areas.
>But comedy grows on the rich compost of what has gone before, and for
>that matter so do fantasy stories. And writers often resolve things in
>pretty much the same way because other ways aren't satisfactory -- if
>there's magic you can *really* use to make your personal life better,
>bang go a lot of character possiblities. Magic as a kind of fairy gold
>that disappears at dawn is well-rooted in storytelling tradition -- if
>magic were food it would be sugar, sweet and enticing but not nourishing
>in the long run.
>
>Terry
>--
>Terry Pratchett
Yup. (Except some of the nutritionists tell me that all food ultimately
becomes sugar with a few trace elements before the body can use it, the
important part is how long it takes for that to happen and what the
traces are. I probably have this wrong too.)
=Tamar (sharing account dick...@access.digex.net)
Oooh. I'll never wash my monitor again. Or is that clean off my hard
drive?
Peter Ellis
In article <5mpv73$j...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>, aj...@thor.cam.ac.uk (Alex Burr) wrote:
>In article <33c7f7a3....@library.lspace.org>,
>The Bellinghman <al...@lspace.org> wrote:
>>ignore the role of fibre in keeping your digestive system in working
>>order.
>
>Actually, this is something I've been wondering about. I was taught about
>all this at school, but since I've got confued on one point - what do cows
>excrete? Since they are supposed to digest cellulose, I can't imagine
>what's left. But there clearly is _something_ left...
>
>Alex Burr
Own up, you're targeting this to my revision timetable. Biochemistry of
nutrition yesterday; Physiology of digestion today. Go on, gimme an
anatomy question before my first exam on Monday...
Adapted from "Textbook of Medical Physiology" by Guyton/Hall
"Composition of the Feces[1]"
The faeces [2] normally comprise about three-quarters water and one
quarter solid matter.
This solid matter contains:
30% dead bacteria [3]
10 to 20% fat [4]
10 to 20% inorganic matter [5]
2 to 3% protein [6]
30% undigested roughage (fibre) [7] and dried constituents of digestive
juices. [8]
The brown colour is caused by stercobilin and urobilin, derivatives of
bilirubin. The odor [1] is caused principally by the products of
bacterial action; these vary from one person to another, depending on
each person's colonic bacterial flora and on the type of food eaten [8].
The actual odiferous substances include indole, skatole, mercaptans and
hydrogen sulphide [2].
So now you know.
[1] Merkin textbook.
[2] But I *like* the English spellings.
[3] Mostly the usual intestinal flora, but you do get some of the
*really* nasty bacteria here. I'm not allowed to know about these until
I do Pathology (next year)
[4] Mainly from fat formed by bacteria in the colon (fat is only
reabsorbed in the small intestine, so any fat in the colon is on the way
out...) Some also comes from fat in the sloughed endothelial cells --
these are the cells of the gut lining that get abraded and are lost in
the faeces[2].
[5] Sodium salts, mainly. The anion in the salts can be fairly much
anything -- most noxious chemicals get conjugated to taurine or glycine
in the liver and then excreted either in the bile (liver secretions) or
in the urine.
[6] A very small percentage -- very little protein is ever excreted;
the protein that is excreted comes from the dead bacterial cells and
sloughed gut lining. Like the fats, these are lost from a part of the
alimentary canal beyond the point where they can be reclaimed.
If you eat too much protein, it gets broken down in the liver... the
amino groups go to make urea and get excreted; the rest is converted to
fats or used for energy[9].
[7] Even cows will excrete some fibre -- they may digest cellulose, but
I doubt they get all of it. Also, fibre (especially in tough grass
stems) will contain a certain proportion of woody lignin ("A" level
kicks in and says the phloem tubes are the lignified bit). Lignin is
the much tougher supporting polysaccharide that makes the difference in
texture between a leaf and a treetrunk.
[8] These dried constituents include the bile pigments and any parts of
the bacterial cells and sloughed gut lining that haven't already been
covered in the above.
[9] See my other boring, longwinded post.
Peter
Justin R Macfarlane
ppint. decided to enlighten us thus:
< - hi; in afparticle, <5mq2vt$l...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>,
< pj...@hermes.cam.ac.uk "peter ellis" furnished afp with absorbing
< (if rather smelly) details of the Šalimentary processes bovine:
<
< (snip :- )
<
< - so what's cow gum ? [1]
it's wot stops their teeth from falling out.
justin
--
educatelucidatexplicatenunciateradicateliminatequivocatedentatescalate
name: justin ray macfarlane http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~justin
anagram: scant marijuana flyer @}-,-`-- jus...@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
whatwasisiswhatwaswillbejapanese=> $B%8%c%9%F%#%s (Binnabunonnastick
Leighton Pritchard
Lethargic... oh, sod it wrote:
> If you have biochemical routes
> from fatty acids back to sugars, then you're a plant and should be on this
> newsgroup (apart from you, Your Majesty).
He's a plant! Quick, hide the evidence....
(Spreading rumours since 1997. Allegedly)
--
Leighton
To reply by mail, please change the quack.duck in the Reply-To line to
ac.uk
I apologise for the inconvenience. [1]
[1] Sorry.
{Thanks to Lethargic Man for the quacking idea, Gromit}
Suzi
Dave 'The Lard Man' wrote:
>
> "ppint." scribed thusly
> > (snip :- )
> > - so what's cow gum ? [1]
>
Yet another new flavour idea for Wrigleys: Worm-flavour - to encourage
very early use of gum <G>
--
Suzi
"You could turn it into Suzi, and it sounded as though you danced on
tables for a living. You could put in a Z and a couple of Ns and an E,
but it still looked like a name with extensions built on."
Soul Music - T. Pratchett | AFPurity 66% (and falling...) | AFPetite
+++ Spam-trap: to reply please remove x's from address +++
Peter Bleackley
In a sweet shop, ("ppint.") writes:
|> - so what's cow gum ? [1]
From the German Kaugummi, for chewing-gum.
--
~PETE "QUANTUM" BLEACKLEY~
Daleks! Repent of your evil ways, and live in peace as plumbers!
X-Ray Astronomy Group University of Leicester
p...@star.le.ac.uk ~ Website coming soon
Sarah Dalrymple
On the night of 3 Jun 1997 17:09:24 GMT, the accused, one
p...@ltsun6.star.le.ac.uk (Peter Bleackley), said:
>In a sweet shop, ("ppint.") writes:
>
>|> - so what's cow gum ? [1]
>
>From the German Kaugummi, for chewing-gum.
>
Welll i used it to moun...back...errr, put all my GCSE art coursework
on bits of card. it's a VERY smelly glue, also known as "high gum"
Sarah
Alex Burr
In article <5mq2vt$l...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>,
Peter Ellis <pj...@hermes.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>Adapted from "Textbook of Medical Physiology" by Guyton/Hall
>
>
>"Composition of the Feces[1]"
Well, gosh, that was informative. Thanks :-)
Alex Burr