Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Jan 14, 2007

Review: Going Postal

Filed in Reviews

Going Postal

Terry Pratchett

It’s been some while since I actually looked forward to reading a book. I think it’s probably because I spend a great deal of time down at the post office, to the extent where the staff actually knows me and greets me when I walk in…

Alfred Spangler, con-man extraordinaire, finds himself in a bit of trouble. He’s been caught. And hanged. And then brought to the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork…to be given a choice. He can walk out of the door, or he can take charge of the post office and make it what it once was. The insitution has fallen by the wayside, playing second fiddle to the “clacks,” a system of line-of-sight towers where semaphore messages can be transmitted rapidly and reliably. Astutely, Alfred chooses the post office, then makes an attempt to escape. His personal golem, Mr. Pump, fetches him back. This is the death of Alfred; he must use his own, unfortunate name henceforth: Moist von Lipwig. In doing so, he finds out what he really is. He is not sure that he likes it.

Thus begins a bizarre inner adventure: the discovery of corruption at the heart of the clacks system. His two colleagues are the ancient and crumbly Junior Postman Groat (none of the other postmasters ever survived long enough to promote him) and the perfect nutjob Stanley, pin collector and future stamp collector. They are hiding secrets. Dark secrets.

In search of information about golems, Moist meets a severely dressed, chain-smoking lady, Miss Dearheart, working in a charity to help golems gain their freedom. In her he finds True Love and a bitter twist that he can overcome only be admitting what kind of a person he really is–something he has never done before. This book works on so many different levels that it’s almost breathtaking–it’s humorous, poignant, and gives deep glimpse into human nature and how it can be manipulated. It is a story of inspiration, finding oneself, and the nature of freedom–both for Moist and for the golems he hires to deliver letters.

With shades of Brin’s “The Postman” (the uniform turns the character into a different person, a symbol of hope), and perhaps a nod towards “The Matrix”–Groat certainly believes that Moist is “the one” who can restore the post office to its former glory–it is a tale of starting from rock bottom, of finding good where there seemed to be none. Moist turns his con-man skills towards winning the game, and he discovers that it is actually fun. “Going Postal” is funny, clever, and very, very enjoyable.