The Lasting Spell of Terry Pratchett: How a Single Sentence Took Root in a Reader's Mind
By
gorgmah
Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, baked to perfection. Worth every minute at the bakery.
Summary
A reflective personal essay about the lasting impact of a single sentence from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, read at age sixteen in a French classroom. The author explores how certain memories and phrases take up residence in our minds, using Pratchett's metaphor of memories as furniture that can terrorize other occupants. The piece meditates on the enduring power of literature to shape thought and the way specific lines can haunt us for decades.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThere is a theory, popular among certain very old and very tired philosophers, that all memories take up a kind of furniture in the head.
Rincewind tried to force the memory out of his mind, but it was rather enjoying itself there, terrorizing the other occupants and kicking
On reading Terry Pratchett at sixteen, in the back of a French classroom, and a sentence that has been kicking over the furniture in my head ever since.
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