Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman: Dobrá znamení (Czech language, 2007, Talpress)
Czech language
Published April 29, 2007 by Talpress.
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a 1990 novel written as a collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.The book is a comedy about the birth of the son of Satan and the coming of the End Times. There are attempts by the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley to sabotage the coming of the end times, having grown accustomed to their comfortable surroundings in England. One subplot features a mixup at the small country hospital on the day of birth and the growth of the Antichrist, Adam, who grows up with the wrong family, in the wrong country village. Another subplot concerns the summoning of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, each a big personality in their own right. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 68 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
I read this about 20 years ago and liked it then, so I thought I'd give it a re-read. It's nothing like I remember.
Ilmestyskirjan tapahtumat ovat käymässä toteen 1980–90-luvun vaihteen Englannissa, hyvän ja pahan voimat jäljittävät uudestisyntynyttä Jumalan poikaa, neljä modernisoitua ratsastajaa karauttaa paikalle moottoripyörillä ja joka välissä viljellään populaarikulttuuriviittauksia. Kirja onnistuu tavoittamaan Thatcherin ajan talouspolitiikan maailmanloppua muistuttavan ilmapiirin, ja monille samoille asioille itsekin teininä 90-luvulla irvailleena olisin varmasti tuolloin ollut varsin lumoissani tästä. Mutta nykyinen makuni menee vähän ohi anglospefistä, ja etenkään en jaksa lämmetä kirjoitustyylille, jossa tehdään vitsailevia yleistyksiä asioista kuin ne olisivat universaaleja, vaikka eivät voisi olla kauempana omasta elämästäni.
Skaičiau tramvajuose ir metro - juokiausi pats ir juokinau žmones, dovanojau šią knygą - manau, kad pasaulio pabaigos negali būti geresnės, negu čia aprašyta.
I was a little surprised by this one. Maybe I’m not the right target audience but I found it all just a tiny bit too whimsical for me. I still thoroughly enjoyed it though, just not 5 stars enjoyed it
Humor and caricatures highlight a cataclysm - in this case, the biblical judgement day. Yet it feels like a sitcom, a 2D story that plays itself for laughs.
I have not watched the series, and this is only the second Terry Pratchett I have read. One good point is that I cannot tell which author wrote which parts. The problem is that almost everything is played for laughs. It feels like there is a commentary here, empowering humanity, but it is mostly lost in the shuffle.
Perhaps, in 2020, the apocalypse is just much closer than in 1990 - and less humorous. Not sure. I plan to watch the series on TV. I'd also like to know why later editions of this book are over 400 pages, when the original was 268. Illustrations? Even more footnotes for Americans? Overall rating 3⅜ stars.
