meet the new boss, same as the old boss
04.05.03 @ 12:15 p.m.
I got a copy of Terry Pratchett's Night Watch from the library last night and am only 40 pages from completion when I come upon the following striking lines:
""Or, as we used to say at school, 'Ave! Bossa nova, similis bossa seneca!'" He gave a little schoolmasterly laugh. He felt at home with dead languages. "Of course, grammatically that is completely--"
"And that means . . . ?" said Madam.
"'Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss," muttered Doctor Follett.
Now, to hear words like that from a noted parodist who frequently uses all kinds of pop allusions, especially to pop music (Soul Music is a gold mine of minor jokes about the birth of rock and roll), my mind immediately goes to "Won't Get Fooled Again" (which, ironically, just started playing on my stereo as I typed the 'W').
Of course, this makes perfect sense. "Won't Get Fooled Again is a HUGELY ironic reference here. The song is about the circuitous nature of revolution. You change and change only to have to change later. "Nothing in the streets seems any different to me," Roger sings. A madman (in the book) has been deposed in favor of another madman. The song and the book parallel each other in some of their basic ideas. The people are getting fooled again into thinking that there will be any kind of signifigant change, but it's just a new kind of terror.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
I have to say that I don't think I'm spoiling anything for anyone vaguely familiar with Ankh-Morpork history. This book takes place 30 years before the Discworld 'present' at least and most of the timeline has been heavily referenced in other books, mainly things about Giggling Lord Snapcase etc. If you've read the DW books, you know that the Patricians before Vetinari had a tendency toward madness and so this shouldn't be a surprise.
It all weaves together so brilliantly and I'm just thrilled by it. I cannot believe I waited since November for the chance to read this book, but I'm so very happy that I have.
Previously
fuck it @ 08.01.05
fanciful imaginary sea voyages to come @ 07.20.05
*dies* @ 07.19.05
more ootp @ 07.17.05
harry potter: driving our children into devil worship @ 07.17.05
