Jingo (A Discworld Novel) [Import] [Paperback]

Terry Pratchett (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 413 pages
• Publisher: Corgi Books; First edition & printing in this form edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055214598X
• ISBN-13: 978-0552145985
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,216,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987 he turned to writing full time, and has not looked back since. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback (Harper Torch, 2006) and trade paperback (Harper Paperbacks, 2006). Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller. Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire "for services to literature" in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Terry Pratchett lives in England with his family, and spends too much time at his word processor.  Some of Terry's accolades include: The Carnegie Medal, Locus Awards, the Mythopoetic Award, ALA Notable Books for Children, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Book Sense 76 Pick, Prometheus Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I rate it 5 stars because it's the most I'm allowed..., October 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jingo (Mass Market Paperback)

Simply stated, this is one of Pratchett's best. He brilliantly skewers politics, warmongering, racism, engineering, time management, navigational terms, police work, and foreign customs, for a start. He then manages to poke fun at (as opposed to ridiculing) humans, werewolves, dwarves, trolls, gnomes, Curious Squid, and the odd orangutang. His treatment of the temperature-sensitive intelligence of Corporal Detritus is well done, and the habit he gives of Commander Vimes returning to his old habits as a street copper even in the middle of ceremonial events had me rolling on the floor.

The demonic organizer and the temporal slip-up was a very nice touch... although the reeling off of the appointments in the alternative final defense (which I shall skip for those who haven't read this yet - I envy you people! <grin>) I found honestly to be as chilling as anything Stephen King ever wrote.

I don't believe I've ever read a bad book of his. Some may have been better than others, but not one of them have I put down and said, "My God, why did I read this?" Pratchett writes with a compassionate eye to his characters, keeping them comical without making them ridiculous.

These are books that I'll still be re-reading 20 years from now, and I'll wager I'll still find something new to laugh at each time.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A standard outing, February 25, 2000

By 

Raistlin Wakefield (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jingo (Mass Market Paperback)

This is by no means the best of the Watch novels ... but even an average Pratchett novel is a thing of beauty. By turns deadly serious and laugh-out-loud funny, the book has only three weaknesses (which other reviewers have touched upon).

First, most of the Watch characters get barely anything to do. Second, the Patrician is way out of character. And finally, the ending is pretty weak.

Nevertheless, this is a still a great and very entertaining read. I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point, though, as Guards! Guards! is a better introduction, Men at Arms is funnier, and Feet of Clay is a better mystery.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The difference between soldiers and coppers is..., May 18, 2001

By 

Christopher Fung (honolulu) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jingo (Mass Market Paperback)

This was the novel that got me hooked on the Discworld and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. It's very very funny and also wickedly intelligent. Someone here pointed out that Terry Pratchett is actually a philosopher masquerading as a funny man. Perhaps the reason why some people don't like "Jingo" is that the philosophy is a bit more overt here than in other Discworld offerings.

Those of us who were around when Maggie (excuse me, Baroness Thatcher) launched her little homage to the 19th century in the Falklands/Malvinas will probably enjoy "Jingo" a little more than others I suspect, but the book itself rings true on so many different levels that it transcends such a particular interpretation. This is Pratchett on the subject of nationalism, militarism and racism with Sam Vimes as usual cast in the role of ironic observer and moral center.

I actually liked seeing Vetinari out and about more, and it's clear that this novel marks the beginning of a more three-D presence in the Discworld universe for both Sergeant Colon and the ambiguously human Corporal Nobbs. Leonard of Quirm needs more work though. Once you got the initial conceit, he became tiresome quite quickly.

Captain Carrot, Sergeant Angua and Corporal Detritus do their usual sterling service. I had hoped for more from Constable Visit-the-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets given that the conflict between Klatch and Ankh-Morpork was partly a religious one, but you can't have everything.

Perhaps my favorite things in the novel were the face-off between the city nobles and Vimes, the Demon Pocket Organizer, and Vimes' precise and beautifully-articulated exposition of the differences between soldiers and policemen. Vimes, I suspect is an old-fashioned copper who believes in justice, rather than merely protecting and serving the law. Too bad the LAPD doesn't read Terry Pratchett.