Carpe Jugulum (by Terry Pratchett)

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I’m slowly re-reading the entire Discworld series by the late Terry Pratchett, and - on the whole - enjoying them. Each one stands alone, although of course many character re-appear, and in many cases it’s at least twenty years since I last read the book. 

I’ve just finished ‘Carpe Jugulum’, which is twenty-third in the series. I know I’ve read it before, but since I hadn’t reviewed it previously it must have been early in 1998. That was shortly after it was published, when - most likely - I read it aloud to my sons, who were teenagers at the time.

I remembered that it involved vampires - the titles of the books are excellent, in my opinion, reminding me of the broad theme of the books - but had forgotten that it’s essentially another book about the witches. There are four of them now: Granny Weatherwax is getting a bit frailer, Nanny Ogg is still rather bawdy and Agnes Nitt (with her inner self Perdita) is the third. However Magrat, married to Verence, is still a witch on the inside…

As with many of the books in the series, the opening pages have several different storylines, hinting at things to come, but basically quite confusing. Granny Weatherwax is upset about something that she keeps looking for, and grumpier than ever. There are a lot of magpies around. There’s also some other strange object, emanating light. And there are people who are excited about a gold-edged invitation…

The first main event is the naming ceremony of Magrat and Verence’s new baby. This is a huge affair; the entire population seems to have been invited, as well as representatives from neighbouring regions. Verence has even invited some vampires - or vampyres - from Uberwald. And because they’re invited, they can wreak havoc. Vampires, we quickly learn, have ways of controlling and manipulating people even before they have bitten them.

One of my favourite characters in this book is the Reverend Mightily Oats, a very determined evangelist from the Omnian religion. He has been invited to conduct the naming. He’s a bit confused about what he believes, and at first tries to squash down any thoughts or doubts, wanting to follow what he has been taught blindly. But events - and Granny Weatherwax - get him thinking, and he turns out to be a very selfless and kind person, who gradually realises that he doesn’t need to hide behind religious symbols and aphorisms.

Pratchett was famously anti-religion, but he makes some excellent points in this book. I was particularly struck at Granny Weatherwax commenting to Oats that sin begins with treating other people as things. I had remembered her later, longer comments about how any real religious belief should cause people to care deeply and passionately rather than being wishy-washy and handing out pamphlets. Granny makes some excellent points, and I enjoyed her acerbic relationship with Oats - including the way he was willing to keep helping her, despite her constant criticism and lack of appreciation.

But theirs is a sideline to a rather complex story that’s caught up in vampire mythology, something I knew little about. The Count and his family are particularly unpleasant people, despite their insistence on being more modern and up-to-date than their ancestors. I rather liked their servant Igor, a ‘man of many parts’, as someone put it, who speaks with a deliberate lisp and wants to be treated badly.

I suspect I missed a lot of the references, and didn’t entirely keep up with the storyline which was somewhat complex, but I liked the book on the whole and am glad I finally re-read it.

Recommended as part of the Discworld series, but best read after the earlier Witches books - particularly 'Wyrd Sisters', ‘Lords and Ladies’ and ‘Maskerade’.

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