Читать книгу Terry Pratchett - Craig Cabell - Страница 13
Оглавление‘I never expected to make money.’
Terry Pratchett
In October 1968, Pratchett married Lyn Purves at the Congregational Church in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. He was 20 years old and his life was moving at lightning pace. He was still writing his column for the Bucks Free Press, along with other news items and features. Shortly before his marriage he interviewed Peter Bander van Duren, co-director of publishing company Colin Smythe Limited. Van Duren had edited a book about how the educational system would look over the next ten years (Looking Forward to the Seventies). It was during this meeting that Pratchett told van Duren that he had written a novel called The Carpet People and wondered if he would consider it for publication. Van Duren said that they would be interested and passed the manuscript to his co-director Colin Smythe.
It didn’t take long for Smythe to work out that they had a very talented young man on their hands, and he asked Pratchett to produce approximately 30 illustrations for his novel. Pratchett would draw and paint the illustrations throughout 1969 and 1970, and the book was published the month after his third wedding anniversary, in November 1971.
Smythe and van Duren wrote publicity material, the blurb on the inner flap of the book making it very tempting for younger readers: ‘There is magic in every carpet. Cities and villages exist right under your feet and the people who live there are so small that each tuft of wool stretches high above them like great trees.’
Although they are becoming less common today, up until the new millennium it was almost standard practice for publishers to hold a book launch for new and important titles. Journalists, editors and freelance reviewers would be invited along to raise a glass or two to the new release and meet the author. The launch for The Carpet People took place in the carpet department of the upmarket furniture store Heal’s on Tottenham Court Road in London. The trade turned up with their light blue invitations to the launch – the publicity folders had been illustrated by Pratchett – and were handed a cocktail called Essence of Underlay (the recipe for which, Colin Smythe tells us, is now lost). Large card images of the Carpet People were displayed in front of carpets in that department and Pratchett drew his characters on other sheets of card for the smattering of children who had accompanied their parents to the cheerful launch.
Pratchett also inscribed copies of the book for people, writing in Colin Smythe’s copy: ‘… and may his book make lots of money! Best wishes, Terry, 16 September 1971’. He also hand-painted all the illustrations in Smythe’s and van Duren’s copies in beautiful watercolours, and added other doodles and comments as well.
The Carpet People was printed in a run of 3,000 copies. It had a black dustwrapper with a central colour image of the creatures of the carpet eating a grain of sugar, again drawn and painted by Pratchett. The hardback boards were two-toned bronze and green, making an attractive, but slim, volume.
Despite the enthusiasm for the book, there were not many reviews. The ones that were printed were very good but they failed to stimulate sales. Most copies of the book were sold to libraries, making fresh, untarnished copies very rare today. Some copies of the book were sold to North America and have the original British price of £1.90 clipped off. These copies are not worth as much as priced UK copies.
Copies of Pratchett’s first novel remained in stock for many years, and were given new price labels until they eventually sold out. Pratchett collectors today keep an eye out for the super-rare copies of the book – no more than a dozen having colour illustrations painted by Pratchett, and only two known to have all the illustrations painted.
Pratchett has described his first novel as ‘The Lord of the Rings of the microscope’, and one can see in The Carpet People how ten years of feasting on fantasy novels had influenced his style.
What is interesting is that the young man didn’t launch himself into a frenzy of novel-writing from then on. He was a journalist and enjoyed his job immensely; the writing of books was just a hobby for winter evenings. He enjoyed drawing and painting too, illustrating his own book being the culmination of a skill that he had started to develop by embarking on an A level in art back at school.
On 28 September 1970, Pratchett moved from the Bucks Free Press to the Western Daily Press. He would return to the Bucks in 1972, but this time as sub-editor. On 3 September 1973 he moved on again, this time to the Bath Evening Chronicle. He was still involved with Colin Smythe Limited, attending occasional book launches and drawing cartoons – he provided a series of cartoons for their monthly journal Psychic Researcher up until 1975. These depicted the work of the fictitious government paranormal research establishment Warlock Hall, and one can imagine that Pratchett would enjoy exercising his satirical flair in these cartoons. Pratchett illustrated about 17 issues of Psychic Researcher and these remain some of his most obscure contributions to this day.
It is important to note Pratchett’s flair for art, from illustrating his first novel and drawing with children at his book launch, through to his cartoons in the Psychic Researcher. Today, the Josh Kirby dustwrappers to his books are eye-catching and as much a part of the Discworld series as the novels themselves, but one can instantly see a Pratchett character in the mind’s eye, as if it has been drawn for you, so one should never underestimate the importance of art in Pratchett’s life.
One could argue that Pratchett didn’t write any fantasy tales during the 1970s. The Carpet People had been written in the late 1960s, and his next novel – his only novel from the 1970s – The Dark Side of the Sun, would be a stab at a science fiction novel. This second book would be written during the evenings and published by Colin Smythe in 1976, shortly after the birth of Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna. The rest of the 1970s saw him continue his career in journalism and bring up his daughter, interspersed with intervals of serious gardening, one of Pratchett’s favourite pastimes. His passion for writing was now the day job, and his priorities had to change slightly with a young family to provide for. So it is interesting, then, that as soon as he gave up journalism, he started writing novels with a passion.
‘He says it gives the place a friendly and open aspect. Friendly and open aspect! I’ve seen keen gardeners break down and cry.’
(Eric)
