# Discworld Reading Club #16: Soul Music \[Spoilers\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 15, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534 "2006-10-15T15:50:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/1 "2006-10-15T15:50:43Z")
(Today, of course, we’ll be munching on [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=391908) during our meeting…)
There are no inconsistencies in the Discworld books; ocassionally, however, there are alternate pasts.
–Terry Pratchett, at alt-fan-pratchett
The books covered so far!
1. [The Colour of Magic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=319942)
2. [The Light Fantastic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=322121)
3. [Equal Rites](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=323881)
4. [Mort](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=325906)
5. [Sourcery](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=329316)
6. [Wyrd Sisters](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=331474)
7. [Pyramids](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354028)
8. [Guards! Guards!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356823)
9. [[del]Faust[/del] Eric](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=359767)
10. [Moving Pictures](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=362543)
11. [Reaper Man](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=364542)
12. [Witches Abroad](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=366634)
13. [Small Gods](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=368592)
14. [Lords and Ladies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=370560)
15. [Men at Arms](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=385770)
“Of course, just because we’ve heard a spine-chilling, blood-curdling scream of the sort to make your very marrow freeze in your bones doesn’t automatically mean there’s anything wrong.”
We see Death giving up on his duty (again. Must be Tuesday) and get an interesting plot twist on one of the final scenes in _Mort_. We get Quoth the Raven and the Death of Rats, and Susan falls in love for the first time.
Not to mention the many, _many_ Rolling Stones, They Might Be Giants, U2, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Thelonius Monk, The Grateful Dead, Def Leppard, Elvis, and Beatles jokes…
Share your thoughts. 🙂
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/2 "2006-10-15T16:54:46Z")
You forgot the Meatloaf reference! 😃
One of my favorites, and one I reread regularly. So many puns and homages and references…a beautiful piece of work. Depth, pathos, some meaningful insight into various parts of The Human Condition. And Opening Acts.
Favorite line: “We’re on a mission from Glod.”
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### Author:  [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/3 "2006-10-15T17:56:47Z")
Starring… Bud y Holly!
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/4 "2006-10-15T18:49:32Z")
Don’t forget The Velvet Underground!
Lotsa good quotes in Soul Music!
> [@](#):
>
> The class was learning about some revolt in which some peasants had wanted to stop being peasants and, since the nobles had won, had stopped being peasants really quickly.
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### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/5 "2006-10-16T06:01:21Z")
I’m not much of a music buff, but _Soul Music_ really tickled me with all the musical allusions and gags. Especially the recurring bits with Crash and his crew. 😉
The novel is a good introduction to Susan, but I thought the non-resolution with Susan and Imp to be somewhat (heh) anticlimactic. But then that gets into the broader problem of trying to find an appropriate boyfriend/SO/soulmate for Susan, which took Terry a long time to resolve anyway.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/6 "2006-10-16T10:37:11Z")
I really liked it when it first came out, but it’s not one of the ones that’s grown on me, I must confess. Still worth a re-read and a chuckle, but lacks a certain something that later Susan books have. I do like the musical puns, and the whole Klatchian Foreign Legion bit too. Heh “Beau Nidle” 🙂
Also, IIRC, this is the introduction of Hex as well?
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### Author:  [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/7 "2006-10-16T11:52:53Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath]
Starring… Bud y Holly!
[/QUOTE]
Did he look a bit elvish to you?
I saw the animated version recently and they made a pretty good stab at it, with the music with rocks in style evolving, sort of Elvis-\>Beatles-\>Hendrix
Biggest laugh, when the band are chased out of town (pseudopolis?) when Buddy says:
We’re more popular than _cheeses_.
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### Author:  [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/8 "2006-10-16T17:25:09Z")
Time to read this one again.
Additional things I liked that have not been elswhere mentioned -
the continuation of the Dean’s character arc, with his studded black leather robes the punk rock band ( and the search for the leopard skin pants)
the musician’s pawn shop
and of course, Death on the Librarian’s creation
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### Author:  [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/9 "2006-10-16T17:28:56Z")
I really don’t like Soul Music. And I have no idea why. There isn’t anything I can point to and say I don’t like; and there are certainly parts I do like, like the discussion of Mort and Ysabell. And yet… I dunno. There’s something that bugs me about it.
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### Author:  [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/10 "2006-10-18T21:10:07Z")
Crash buying a deaf leopard, ‘Pathway to Paradise’ (“If anybody tries to play it, tell the troll to rip their head off” “What about a warning?” “That’ll _be_ the warning”), ‘Sioni Bod Da’, Death on a motorbike (with a rose in his teeth), Asphalt the roadie…
_Loved_ it!
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/11 "2006-12-08T01:50:29Z")
Isn’t it about time for the next book in line? **Interesting Times** , isn’t it?
Well? 😃
Paging Kythereia…
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2006, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/12 "2006-12-08T10:14:09Z")
This is one of my _least_ favourites. Mostly because I’m not a fan of music, but also because the puns overwhelm most of the humour this time. There are probably more parodies here than any other book, with the possible exception of _Moving Pictures_, but I like that one better.
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### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/13 "2008-03-17T18:02:46Z")
[QUOTE=Boulter’s Canary]
…Death on a motorbike (with a rose in his teeth)…
[/QUOTE]
Wearing a coat he borrowed from the Dean.
Do we know the Dean’s first name? Can’t be “James” I’m sure.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/14 "2008-03-17T18:53:29Z")
In spite of having many enjoyable elements, this is my least favorite Discworld book. Not that rock music isn’t ripe for parody, but what’s left after “The Rutles” and “Spinal Tap”?
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### Author:  [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/15 "2008-03-17T19:18:10Z")
The only thing that distinguishes this book (for me) is that it introduces Susan. I say, enough already with Sam Vimes, give me more Susan. Along with Granny and Nanny, she’s my favorite Pratchett character.
The book begins badly, by doing away with Mort and Ysabel. My guess is that Pratchett felt he’d done all he could with Mort, and morphed the previously underused Ysabel into Susan. Okay. But I still think he could have gotten more mileage out of Mort.
Imp and the band are a non-starter for me. C.M.O.T. Dibbler never made it for me at all. I really wish he would cut his own throat and be done with it. And the whole book seems like one allusion after another.
This is not to say that I think the book sucks, but without Susan it would.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/16 "2008-03-17T19:30:38Z")
To each their own. This is still my favorite. It’s not Literature like _Night Watch_, but it’s close, and oh so hilarious. I discover or rediscover some lost gem every time I re-read it. Vimes is still The King, but Susan is at least, oh, Aretha in my pantheon of favorite characters.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/17 "2008-03-17T19:50:53Z")
As a teacher, I have modelled myself on Susan Sto Helit.
It’s working so far! 😃
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### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-16-soul-music-spoilers/376534/18 "2008-03-17T23:21:54Z")
[QUOTE=glee]
As a teacher, I have modelled myself on Susan Sto Helit.
It’s working so far! 😃
[/QUOTE]
Sounds great! And if we were anywhere near, I’d send my daughters to your class.
I wonder how you work the “visit an exotic location for a day” bit, however. 🙂