On "Nation"

[angelophile]

Just finished reading Terry Pratchett's latest and I'm glad I did choose to pick it up. After a few years of ground treading since Small Gods, his latest novel is an excellent read, something a lot more thought provoking than his recent souffles. Pratchett's own condition has clearly affected his writing and tone as well as those stories he wants to tell and he's chosen his material a lot more carefully than he has done over recent years. It's a novel he should be proud of.

However, that said, has anyone read the book and can comment on a question I have?


Okay, one thing I really didn't get. The whole "world turned upside down" thing. Was that meant to be a metaphor? Literal? Was the world physically turned which triggered the wave? Was it turned in the past which triggered the first wave they talk about? Or was it just upside down by comparison to "our" Earth? I think I totally missed the whole point of what that was all about.

Comments

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

The English thought Europe was the centre of civilisation and knowledge. Then it turns out that, actually, this little island on the other side of the world is.

[angelophile.livejournal.com]

I got that part, in which case the "world turned upside down" thing is indeed metaphorical, but then why the upside down map on the inside back cover? Was that meant to indicate the map had been redrawn to make north south, etc? I'm not sure how you could redraw the map of the world so that the island was the center of the world (or the Greenwich Mean Time line at least) as the poles are static.