Yeah...

by Molly Featherstone

Like I said in the other post, it's just so easy to get those names mixed up. :P I have only read Guards! Guards! _once_, it's one of the Discworld books I had a really hard time tracking down--and therefore, I haven't owned it for very long. (And the library didn't have it, either.) Okay, so NOW it's out in a reprinted form in America, but at the time I wanted it it was totally out of print here and I had to import it from England..and then the VERY NEXT MONTH I see the new printing on the shelves here! YOUR WIFE IS A BIG HIPPO! But at least I have the original version, that's cool, I guess...

Let's just say that Molly is a bit bigger than your average swamp dragon, MUCH better looking, and somewhat less likely to explode.

Now, as to the similarities between the two series (Harry Potter and Discworld)....well...maybe it's just because I was reading (hearing) one RIGHT exactly after I'd finished the other and it was really fresh in my mind, but...I don't know. It's not any one big over-arcing thing I can put my finger on, it's more a bunch of little specifics. Mostly names that sound like each other; of people, places, and things. A few spells. Some concepts or characters who kinda think/act the same way. I don't remember names very well right now so I can't name you very many of the name-similarities, other than "Quirrel" reminding me of "Quirm", Longbottom and Littlebottom, Hogsmead and Hogswatch...etc. And the basic similarity in..._structural_ feel/style between Hogwart's and UU.

Yes, HP is written more for the "kids"/young adult point of view. It's sweeter, less, as you said, "abrasive". DEFINITELY much CLEANER. (Discworld is fun, but Pratchett can be a potty mouth and sometimes that just goes a BIT too far to where it actually bothers me. Nanny Ogg mainly. The Hedgehog can never be "wossnamed" at all and so forth...) Discworld is more adult, more obscure, more intellectual, and has generally more complex plots--where there's more than one thing going on at once and it takes you a LONG time to figure out how these things are ever going to have anything to do with each other. (Although the last Harry Potter book got rather more complex.)

But...I dunno...a LOT of things just rang similar to me. And I DON'T mean the fact that they both use "magic". They're both FANTASY! Of COURSE they use magic! That's like saying that Star Trek and Blade Runner are the same because they're both in the future...

It's really hard to explain, especially since the Harry Potter stuff, and especially the early books, aren't really fresh in my mind right now. (I have a hard time remembering character names and most of the time, when I do, I can't SPELL them right! :P) But..I dunno...
Similar overall feel of how to name characters...
Similar...way of looking at things...
Similar sense of humour in SOME cases and in SOME ways, mind you, not all the way through.
Use of "Headology" with varying degrees of success. For example, Madame Trelawney is DEFINITELY trying for the "headology" effect--all the candles, incense, bead curtains, etc.--to make people believe that she's a better fortune-teller than she is. Whereas Granny Weatherwax's pointy hat, broomstick and all black outfit tell people she's a witch, right off the bat, no arguing!

But I SWEAR, the instant I heard the description of Trelawney's classroom, my brain shrieked out, "SHE'S USING HEADOLOGY!!!!"
The weird structure of both schools...
My mother said that Eskarina Smith from Equal Rites very much reminded her of a young Hermione...the same practical, smart, "Let's just do this" personality and
so forth. I can't say I disagree.
When Lupin first showed up, his description, as a very skinny, very scruffy, "losery" or "pathetic" wizard, with long stringy hair and beat-up robes with the sequins falling off..etc. I was totally seeing Rincewind. DON'T HIT ME!!

I mean that as a compliment! I ADORE Rincewind! (And a friend of mine that I recently got into Discworld was ready to fight me over him after reading less than half of the Colour of Magic...) I have no idea who's going to be playing Lupin in the next movie, but if he looks right for that part, I'd reccommend him for Rince-baby as well.

I dunno. Not much I can put my finger on, but there's definitely more of a similarity than what you said. It's NOT just that they're fantasy. It's also not that they're both British although that might have more to do with the flavouring of names and stuff. It's just....I don't know.
They just kind of, in a few ways, FEEL--to _me_, anyway--like the kid and adult versions of the same thing. Or maybe like a kid and an uncle in the same family, that level of "relation". Whatever.

Also: I SWEAR to you this is true: When I was drawing my picture of Ponder Stibbons and this guy at my work saw it, we had the following bit of conversation:

HIM: Did you draw that or just trace it?
ME: Drew it.
HIM: No WAY! That is like a PERFECT Harry Potter!

Um...

UH....

Never mind the fact that Ponder has brown hair, not black, he is older, his robes are way different and he doesn't have a scar on his forehead... :P
I guess that's a form of "headology", as well. People see what they expect to see, and with Harry Potter being so popular at the moment, if someone sees a picture of a young male wizard with dark hair and glasses, GUESS what conclusion they're going to leap to? :P
And the funny thing is, I didn't even NOTICE the similarity between the characters (physically) until he said that...

And with that for our segue, here is my gallery of Discworld--and some random fantasy stuff--artwork.

http://members.tripod.com/~emperor_cartagia/discart.html

Enjoy! But no comments about my taste in men. Well, unless they're GOOD comments, of course...

...Notorious

Posted on Nov 30, 2001, 1:28 AM

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