Skip to main content

An Embuggerance.

I'm gonna simply copy and paste everything from this announcement on Paul Kidby's website:
Folks,

I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news. I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, which lay behind this year's phantom "stroke".

We are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism. For now work is continuing on the completion of Nation and the basic notes are already being laid down for Unseen Academicals. All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments but will discuss things with the various organisers. Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet :o)

Terry Pratchett

PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should
be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it's too soon to tell. I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do", but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry.
Mr. Pratchett has always made me laugh with his Discworld books, in particular his City Watch series, but getting Alzheimer's is no laughing matter, of course.

Like the man says, I shall try to feel cheerful, but it won't be easy with this knowledge. What a total bummer. It's awesome how he manages to keep his humour intact.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Kenny Mah13/12/07 12:39 pm

    Damnit. Poor Terry. :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nazri14/12/07 10:05 pm

    Oh my, oh my...

    He wrote a lovely sad news, though (i don't mean to be rude).

    I really-really love his works and hoping for more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous16/12/07 9:20 pm

    That's what people don't understand, sadness is funny. Everyone in Discworld is kinda sad in one way or another, that's what makes it funny :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous17/12/07 3:51 pm

    Discworld! Ah, I could never get enough of the quirkiness of Terry Pratchett's world. Sad, humourous, dismal and very entertaining!

    That aside, you're doing anything this Wednesday, Ted? You wanna take your missus out for a free movie date? I've got free passes to the Atonement to give out. It's going to be at TGV Suria KLCC at 9.00pm.

    Pass the word around to your buds as well if they're interested in catching this screen adaptation of Ian McEwan's book, rather than reading the book itself! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ted Mahsun18/12/07 9:08 pm

    Check your mail, Wanderer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ted Mahsun18/12/07 9:10 pm

    Anon,

    Though I agree the "sad" characters in Discworld can be funny at times, I'm still loathe to laugh at someone with Alzheimer's.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...
5 comments
Read more

Review the Dark City TV Series!

According to Swifty , the Dark City TV series that Xeus mentioned some time back has apparently already started showing on Astro RIA. I don't own a TV and I certainly don't own a satellite dish to connect to the TV that I don't own, so I wouldn't know if the show is really based on the book of the same name. I highly doubt it. Seems the ratings have been low because there hasn't been any marketing to promote the show. So the filmmakers have taken things into their hands and plunged their film-making selves into the tubes of the dangerous internets to bring you the following message: NICHE FILMS present DARK CITY, a local 13-episode series playing on Astro RIA every Wednesday at 10:30pm (followed by repeats throughout the week). In the tradition of omnibus shows like ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and THE TWILIGHT ZONE, DARK CITY brings you various tales of the macabre with a distinctly Malaysian flavor ... ranging from supernatural horror to psychological thrillers, an...
18 comments
Read more

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...
5 comments
Read more