by Terry Pratchett
332 pp.
HarperCollins Publishers
Most of us can trace our love affair with books back to a few select titles. Personally, as a child and young adult I was enamored with the likes of The Phantom Tollbooth, A Wrinkle In Time, and Bridge To Terabithia. These books are so valuable because they create lifelong readers.
Terry Pratchett’s new novel, Nation, is such a book.
Most readers are familiar with the incisive wit and boundless satire characteristic of Pratchett’s Discworld series, primarily responsible for the author’s 55 million copies sold worldwide. But Pratchett also has a long history of writing for young people, dating back to his first novel, The Carpet People (1971). He’s written a couple of trilogies for young people, and even introduced the Discworld to young adults with such successes as The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. As a fan, I’ve done my best to keep up with Pratchett’s prodigious output, and I am far from reading everything the man has written. Still, I feel qualified to characterize Nation as something different.
Nation is the story of Mau, an island boy on his journey to become a man. When he returns home, he finds his entire community—known only as “Nation”—destroyed by a massive wave. No longer a boy and not yet a man, Mau is in the disheartening situation of having to clean up after the deadly storm. It is then that Mau, now entirely alone, begins to question his people’s traditions and even their religious beliefs.
Mau is joined by a shipwrecked girl from Victorian England, Daphne, who is accustomed to the finer things in life. Together, the two young people help one another carry on. And as survivors of the wave from other nearby islands gravitate toward Mau’s island, Mau and Daphne find themselves rebuilding a society from scratch.
Nation will become a young adult favorite for different reasons, foremost of which is that it is both accessible and enthralling. A literary artisan, Pratchett understands how to ensnare the reader’s attention and arrest it completely. However, in Nation he manages this with a minimum of the wittiness that permeates many of his other books. Mau is a naturally sympathetic character who faces unspeakable hardships. Daphne, too, is entertaining and greatly challenged. In these two characters and indeed many of the supporting characters, Pratchett has created a cast that is perhaps more believable than many of his others—but no less intriguing. These are characters that will resonate with readers for a lifetime.
This is also a true adventure story in the realm of Robert Louis Stevenson or Rudyard Kipling, not only because it deals in shipwrecks and wilderness, but because of the hazards posed by the story’s environments and the revelations they elicit from the characters. Granted, the Nation’s island is remote. Even to its own inhabitants like Mau (not to mention pampered strangers like Daphne) the island poses significant hardships. But if these obstacles represented only physical danger, Nation would not resonate as it does. At one point, Mau must capture and milk a wild pig to feed a starving baby. The pig could easily injure or kill Mau, but he devises a way around this. While the danger to Mau creates significant tension and results in a gratifying payoff, it is not the danger that is most gratifying. Rather, it is the changes that come over Mau as a result of this and other similar obstacles that make the story worth reading. Similarly, Daphne’s immersion into a world without petticoats or books does much more than simply entertain the reader. It makes the reader think and devise ideas, which is one of the true joys of reading, especially for young people.
And there is plenty to think about. Pratchett does not address his young audience with kid gloves. In fact, few adult-oriented authors can pack so many thought-provoking conflicts and resolutions into a single novel while maintaining a good read. Pratchett himself has alluded to reading beyond his age as a youngster, and he no doubt expects the same of Nation’s audience. Through Mau’s tribulations, the reader is confronted with substantial questions on religion, cultural norms, the roles of men and women, and iniquities of tribal societies versus those in the developed world. Young readers will appreciate being treated as adults and will benefit from the thoughts that Pratchett provokes. And they will remember Nation for provoking those thoughts.
Nation is also trademark Pratchett in some places. Pratchett is a creator of worlds, and Mau’s world is full of unique sights. Foremost among these are the animals of Mau’s island, such as the tree-climbing octopus and the grandfather bird. They allow a source of levity and relief from the more disturbing proceedings that only the creator of Discworld could conjure.
Longtime Pratchett fans might not know what to make of Nation. The humor and wizardry of many Discworld novels is almost nonexistent. But those familiar with Pratchett’s health (He was diagnosed in late 2007 with Alzheimers.) may detect more self-contemplation than outright humor. Take, for instance, this passage:
They didn’t know why these things were funny. Sometimes you laugh because you’ve got no more room for crying. Sometimes you laugh because table manners on a beach are funny. And sometimes you laugh because you’re alive, when you really shouldn’t be.
Granted, these words have a very particular place in the story. But few authors facing significant health problems could write such words without regard of their own health.
If Nation does not end up on students’ summer reading lists, I’ll be disappointed. It is a very good example of young adult literature that is enjoyable, thought-provoking, and momentous in terms of the author’s personal situation. If nothing else, Nation will hopefully introduce young people to the wide worlds of Terry Pratchett. If so, we will undoubtedly have many more bibliophiles on our hands.
