This summer I read eight books which were all very interesting and fun to read. The majority of my selections were written by Terry Pratchett, one of my favorite authors, whose British humor makes for an engaging read. Of my eight books five belonged to Mr. Pratchett; The Fifth Elephant,Tthe Truth, Thud!, Feet of Clay and Going Postal. The last three books were Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Of these eight books the one that I really enjoyed the most was The Truth. Pratchett’s novels take place in the imaginary world of Discworld, a flat disc carried by four elephants on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space, where live a wide variety of strange characters ranging from an Assasin Patrician ruling the capital city to the destined King of the city living as a humble cop. The Truth focuses on Mr William de Worde and his quest to start the first newspaper in Discworld. This story was particularly captivating in that it was based in a world that had never seen a newspaper, or any of the other modern amenities that we take for granted now, and so the other characters have a hard time adjusting to the idea of one. Pratchett’s satirical approach also pokes fun at the journalistic process; many times throughout the book the journalist comically takes things out of context and writes down absolutely everything that it said. De Worde is actively trying to prove the innocence of the Patrician in a crime that everyone knows he has commited, for no better reason than that it is convenient to them.

I think I particularly enjoyed the book because of its particular relevance to the media. Even though the setting was admittedly nothing like our lives the book tackles issues that are at the forefront of the media at all times. Crime and the police as well as celebrity scandals are the big headlines while the would-be journalist also has to deal with silly personal ads about strangely shaped fruit and missing wallets. He spends most of his time trying to find information on the Patrician but everyone is either hiding something or not cooperating with him. I enjoy the radical extent to which Pratchett makes these reluctant interviews so defensive and untrusting of the media. His hyperbole about the journalistic process really brings to light many realizations about our media and the fact that it does distort and even change facts.

At first the exaggerated look at journalism and newspapers was funny but as the story progressed I saw the tangents to modern media and its crooked look at the news. The people were more interested in the tabloid than the newspaper and more cautious around a newspaper reporter than the tabloid ones. I was reminded about how the majority of Americans pay more attention to the distorted stories about celebrity marriage and pregnancies than to the stories about Darfur or the Russian attacks on Georgia. Pratchett’s satire brought into perspective the way people look at the media and how many times the stories that will take precedence in the media are the insignificant ones about celebrity relationships. While we gawk at the personal lives of the rich and famous the important stories that actually have an affect on our lives pass us by and we don’t even realize it.