Vampires suck. Yet, people are
fascinated with them.
Mosquitoes also suck, but on a hot
summer night, most people would find mosquitoes annoying than
interesting.
Maybe people think vampires are "cool"
because they are mysterious, exotic, yet dangerous; the protruding
canines, the dark clothes they wear, their pale complexions, and
don't forget, the gothic castles they live in. Those things are pretty
cool.
But aren't vampires also scared of
garlics? Is it cool to fear garlics? Anyway, vampires are usually
associated with all the abovementioned things. The question, where
will the vampires be without this list of traditions?
"But vampires will never be rid of
these traditions", you said.
Well, you are thinking of earth, but I
can talking about Discworld, a realm of many possibilities. In fact,
on the Disc there is a story called Carpe Jugulum; it is all
about the modern vampire's place in the society. Here is how it goes:
A time of enlightenment has descended
upon Lancre. The king invited a family of vampires to the naming of
the new born princess. The ceremony was to be conducted by a Omnian
priest called Mightily Oats.
Hang on, did you say the king invited
vampires to his daughter's naming? Who in their right mind would
invite vampires?
Well, this vampiric family looked
rather normal on the outside. They wore bright clothes, they filed
their teeth, and they weren't even afraid of garlics and religious
symbols!
But vampires will always be vampires,
just because vampires stop living in gothic castles don't mean they
won't suck. As soon as they arrived at Lancre, the count and his
family cast a hypnotic charm on the whole kingdom so they can suck
more (this is the further evidence that people are easily attracted
to vampires). Ohhh, big trouble! Fear not, the formidable witches of
Lancre, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Agnes Nitt, will save the
mountain realm from the vampiric suctions!
In Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett
satricited the vampire and gothic literature and the result is
hilarious. If you have read, or seen, books and movies such as
Twilight then you will appreciate the humor in Carpe
Jugulum even more. What makes it even funnier is that this book
came out in 1998, which was almost a decade before Stephenie Meyer's
Twilight series achieved fame. As usual, Sir Terry's writings
are superb, I think he mimicked Edgar Allen Poe's style to create the
gothic vibe felt in vampire novels, but on the whole this book is a
slapstick comedy. So you can imagine what this book is like. It is
something out of this world and it is laugh-out-loud funny.
But every Discworld book is
bigger and deeper than the comedy on its surface. Underneath this
satire about vampire novels, Carpe Jugulum touched the
engaging topic about religion, faith, and modernity. I found it very
interesting that only two characters in this book, Agnes Nitt and
Mightily Oats, were able to resist the vampire's hypnotic charms.
How? I won't spoil it, read this book and find out for yourself.
Theme wise, this book is one of the
heaviest in Discworld series. What is the main theme? I think
it is about basic morality. Aside from the three witches, the fourth
hero in this book is an Omnian priest called Mightily Oats, who
entered the story as a priest who was doubting if his faith has a
purpose. Initially, the three witches disliked Mr. Oats because his
church order had a history of burning people who disagreed with them,
witches included. But as the story progressed, Granny Weatherwax and
Agnes gradually came to respect him for his decency (and the
narratives respected him too). The dialogues between Mr. Oats and
Granny Weatherwax were the most profound moments in this book.
Eventually, Mr. Oats overcame his crisis of faith and was able to
defeat a vampire at the pivotal moment, because Granny Weatherwax (an
irreligious witch) reminded him that the problem was never his doubt
in his religion, but it was his doubt in humanity and himself that
was causing the problem.
However, this theme also raised further
questions: Should people always do what their religions tell them to
do, or should they do what their inner decnecy tell them to do? And
is religious morality compatible with progress at all?
This book touched a handful of topics
about religion that reminded me of my own exodus from Christianity;
from the schisms within the church, the religious history, to the moral conflicts I
always felt about the religious doctrines while I was a believer.
But that is enough ranting from me. It suffices to say, while Carpe
Jugulum is abundant with humors but it also philosophically
heavy. I think this is an excellent book, and what a way for Terry
Pratchett to end the witches sub-series.
Until the next time, happy reading!
P.S. "Carpe Jugulum" was
thought by Terry Pratchett to mean, "go for the throat".
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