133 The Colour of Magic Who is your favourite author? Take about ten minutes to prepare a two-minute presentation to share with your classmates. You could talk about: what you know about the author’s life the genre(s) they write in the style or tone of their writing (e.g. serious or humorous, contemporary or historical, etc.) Get into small groups and present to each other. Read the following short biography of the British author Terry Pratchett. Summarise it in three sentences, then compare your summary with a partner and in class. SPEAKING 25 a your favourite book by the author what makes their work special or meaningful to you why you consider/don’t consider their books to be art b READING 26 5 OBE: (abbr. for) Officer of the Order of the British Empire: Die Aufnahme in diesen Ritterorden würdigt Verdienste unter anderem im Bereich der Kunst Expand your vocabulary: Talking about literature Find the expressions in the text above that mean the following: LANGUAGE 27 1 stories with imaginary worlds and magic 2 to make a piece of writing publicly available 3 to become known and respected in a field 4 a very productive author 5 the state of being well known 6 a reward or title expressing great respect 7 to be popular with young and old readers 8 a very popular author with a loyal following Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE5 Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 and had his first story published when he was just 13. As a young child, one of his hobbies was astronomy. He spent much of his youth looking through a telescope, and it was his interest in space that sparked his passion for the science fiction and fantasy genres. After leaving school at 17 to become a journalist, Pratchett published his first book, The Carpet People, in 1971. He quickly established himself as a popular author, with his defining achievement being the Discworld series. A prolific writer, Pratchett produced 40 Discworld novels, each filled with some of the most memorable characters you could ever hope to meet. The fact that they are hilariously funny, full of parody and wordplay can sometimes obscure the fact that they also contain thoughtful world-building, innovative magic systems, noble heroes and all manner of villains. They are strangely poignant stories that grapple with the human (and dwarven, and goblin, and otherwise) questions at the bottom of it all. Pratchett’s work reveals a sly and observant view of human nature, which contributed greatly to his fame. Not many people become famous and influential enough to have NASA name a minor planet after them, but in 2002, Terry Pratchett achieved this. Seven years later, Terry Pratchett became Sir Terry when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for ‘services to literature’. In true Pratchett fashion, however, he maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any. Amongst other awards and prizes, he also received the prestigious Carnegie Medal for his children’s book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, showing his ability to reach audiences of all ages. Pratchett became a cult writer, with his books translated into 36 languages and selling over 80 million copies worldwide. Sir Terry Pratchett passed away in March 2015 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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