I opened Terry Pratchett's latest addition to the Discworld Series, Snuff. with some reluctance. I feared that Pratchett's 2007 diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease meant that his writing would inevitably have suffered. I also wondered if the title of the book referred in some way to Pratchett's decline. I was delighted to find the author, who referred to his disease as an "embuggerance" continues to produce thought-provoking, humorous fantasy.
39th Book in the Discworld Series
Snuff is the 39th book in Pratchett's Discworld Series. Featuring police chief Sam Vimes, his wife, Lady Sybil, the young Sam, Ms. Felicity Beedle and goblins named Tears of a Mushroom and Stinky, the story takes place in the countryside where Vimes, who is supposed to be on holiday, fights the as-of-yet legal practice of enslaving goblins.
Pratchett's ability to illuminate social problems by casting them as fiction remains solidly intact. Goblins, still considered animals, are denied rights, until Vimes challenges the status quo. The harp-playing Tears of a Mushroom helps change minds of the upper class of Ankh-Morpork while Vimes hunts down Stratford, the kidnapper of goblins destined for slave labor on tobacco plantations.
The Importance of Darkness and Poop
Pratchett uses the dark and excrement to create a grimy subtext to Snuff. Many scenes in Snuff take place underground. Vimes, with the help of a demon called "Summoning Darkness" can see without light. The dark mirrors underground themes such as slavery and smuggling in the novel.
Another theme, kept "in the dark" in polite society is excrement. Snuff dredges up the stuff and puts it in the sights of the young Sam Vimes, who is delighted to study poop of all types. He is encouraged by the books of Miss Felicity Beedle. Young Sam learns why cows and horses, who both eat grass, produce different looking (and smelling) leavings. Collecting a sample of elephant poop is his ultimate desire.
About the Title: Snuff
While the title might obliquely also refer to Pratchett's personal medical condition, tobacco plantations play a prominent role in the plot of Snuff. Snuff, a tobacco product that is inhaled, is found the text along with cigars and barrels of tobacco. Additionally, the gruesome death of a goblin on Hangman's Hill, one whose life was "snuffed" out by murder, provides a key piece of evidence in solving the puzzle of what has happened to the goblin population.
While not my very favorite of the Discworld novels, Snuff holds its own, providing insight, and laughs. Pratchett, who proves to be a sly proponent of multi-cultural democracy though the observations of the low-born Sam Vimes, now Sir Vimes, takes us to task when we are too focused on maintaining our own nice perspective.
Sources:
Alzheimer's Society: Terry Pratchett: I have Alzheimer's retrieved February 3, 2012.
Pratchett, T. Snuff. Doubleday, London. 2011.
Gina Barrett Putt - Gina Barrett Putt works in housing, with experience in case management for elders and the mentally ill, and college and K-12 education.
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