Mort: The Book That Has a Bite

I'm not a fan of whiskey, I'll be the first to admit it. The entire experience isn't one that I necessarily enjoy; you know, with the whole burning of the throat, coughing up fire, and the general taste of what I imagine old Listerine to be like. But, apparently that's just the type of thing Dylan Thomas, a 1940s and 50s poet, would have settled down with after a long day of writing (or during writing, which ever seemed more suitable at the time). In fact, the guy died after taking 18 shots of straight whiskey one night. I thought that was impressive if nothing short of dramatic, especially for a guy who was once quoted saying, "An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you."

Now, in a desperate attempt to connect whiskey with the novel, Mort, I can really see that there is no segue. We'll press on anyways. Terry Pratchett, the author of Mort and the creator of the Discworld fantasy series, is one of my favorite authors and deserves to be one of yours. He's a British writer that revels in the satirical and often times brings serious social issues into humorous light. His career started off as one that was meant to satirize and mock the fantasy genre (his stories all take place on a flat world known as the Disc, which is held up by four elephants all riding on the back of a giant turtle swimming through outer space), but has now turned it into a living. The fourth book in his 39 work series is Mort.

Mort is a brilliant novel that follows the life of a young boy whom the title is named after. He is a clumsy, air-headed boy who is hired on to be Death's apprentice at what appeared to be a medieval career fair. Although interning with The Thief of Years, Harvester of Mankind, and Usher of Souls sounds like a great opportunity to build the resume, Mort soon discovers that it's quite a killer on his love life. When Death suddenly springs the desire to discover what human joy and happiness is like, Mort is left to help carry souls across into the Great Beyond (or whatever Beyond those souls decide is best for them). Little does he know that in doing Death's job, he is slowly becoming like his Master.

This book bites with humor and satire so much as to say that you don't realize a joke has been made until the paragraph is over. It seems that almost every sentence is constructed to bring about a much larger joke as the novel progresses. Pratchett crafts his words and humor so fluidly that it's amazing how serious the overarching theme actually is. Mort is far more than a book about Death's apprentice, but about the meaning of justice and what it is to enact it or not. It's something that Mort wrestles with and another thing that Death can't fathom. Throughout the work, Death constantly reminds Mort that there is no good or bad justice in his line of work, there is only Death. This obviously doesn't sit well with the boy.

Despite the fact of whether you enjoy fantasy novels or not, at least one of Pratchett's works needs to occupy a spot on your shelf. He is a man that deals with social themes rather than concrete plot lines and deserves the attention of any reader willing to relax and be entertained in words rather than television.

-- Zach