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Product Description
Review
Only a writer with a masterstroke of imagination could place an entire empire of goodies and baddies within the fronds of a carpet Daily Mail Mouth-watering attention to names and place names... adding greatly to the story's enjoyment factor. The story itself - part saga, legend and adventure - swings along at a fair old clatter. Terry Pratchett's writing is vivid and immediate. He wastes no time. There is little padding. The swiftness of the storyline is everything... For young readers unaware of Pratchett's oeuvre, The Carpet People is a fine introduction The Junior Bookshelf Wacky, weird stuff which should make you think twice about crossing the living room! TV Hits Magazine It's a winner School Librarian
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Book Description
Master storyteller Sir Terry Pratchett's debut novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Let me make one thing very clear - I have loved this book since I borrowed a first edition from our local library many, many years ago. My complaints do not refer to the story, just to the extremely disappointing packaging of this edition.
When I stumbled across a paperback edition of the revised book in Manchester airport, I was very sad to see that the illustrations that I had been captivated by as a child were not present. It was like a copy of Winnie-the-Pooh without the original illustrations - unthinkable. I had thought that the hardback edition would restore them, but no such luck. I even contemplated trying to get hold of a first edition until I found out how much such a thing would cost (gulp!). Then I saw that this edition was going to be released which contained the illustrations. I was very, very happy.
However, when I received the copy yesterday I was devastated to find that, not only had the writing been printed on very inferior quality paper, but the format of the book did absolutely no favours to the illustrations at all. OK, they had been printed on glossy paper, but they had all been bound into one clump and because the size of the book was so small, much of the detail was lost. The larger format pictures from the original book (eg the Hymetors and the Wights) had been so compressed as to be next to useless. Worst of all, by far the best picture in the original book - a double page spread illustrating a sugar crystal surrounded by a mass of licking creatures of all shapes and sizes - was not there at all. A real tragedy!
So, if you are wanting to get this book as a cheap alternative to a first edition, forget it. The book is brilliant to read, but this edition is a massive disappointment.
When I stumbled across a paperback edition of the revised book in Manchester airport, I was very sad to see that the illustrations that I had been captivated by as a child were not present. It was like a copy of Winnie-the-Pooh without the original illustrations - unthinkable. I had thought that the hardback edition would restore them, but no such luck. I even contemplated trying to get hold of a first edition until I found out how much such a thing would cost (gulp!). Then I saw that this edition was going to be released which contained the illustrations. I was very, very happy.
However, when I received the copy yesterday I was devastated to find that, not only had the writing been printed on very inferior quality paper, but the format of the book did absolutely no favours to the illustrations at all. OK, they had been printed on glossy paper, but they had all been bound into one clump and because the size of the book was so small, much of the detail was lost. The larger format pictures from the original book (eg the Hymetors and the Wights) had been so compressed as to be next to useless. Worst of all, by far the best picture in the original book - a double page spread illustrating a sugar crystal surrounded by a mass of licking creatures of all shapes and sizes - was not there at all. A real tragedy!
So, if you are wanting to get this book as a cheap alternative to a first edition, forget it. The book is brilliant to read, but this edition is a massive disappointment.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The story behind this story is nearly the best story of all: "This book had two authors, one aged seventeen, one aged forty-three. Both of them were Terry Pratchett." Having penned this tale and had it lapse into obscurity, Pratchett is impelled by his editors to revive it years later. Rightly so. For the dedicated PTerry fan, this example of his early writing is an illuminating read. Many views expressed in the Discworld books are readily perceived here. For someone new to Pratchett, it's a great introduction to the scope of his ideas and his writing skills. For any reader, it's simply a delight to enjoy.
The story is a fine example of Pratchett's ability to view the world from a fresh perspective. If there's a fantasy novel lacking a dark forest and mysterious creatures, i've missed it. Pratchett, never a formula writer, simply shrinks the scope. His forested world is a thickly napped rug. Instead of pines or oaks, it's nylon and wool "hairs". The creatures are there, the snargs, the hymetors and others - including silverfish, who live under the world. There are also people - the Munrungs, the Deftmenes and - the Dumii. They interact, sometimes violently. Deep down in the pile, these people and their communities are invisible to humans. Something, however, sends terror through the forest peoples - Fray. This immensely destructive force topples cities and obliterates villages.
Pratchett builds a story of the conflict of respected traditions countered by innovation and invention. There is an Empire, to which taxes are due. That means clerks, organisation, regulations. While the Munrungs have always met the demands for revenue, others have opposed the imposition, hence, the Empire. Could two such peoples find a common cause? It seems unlikely, but the best way to unite two dissimilar tribes is having a common enemy.
Except for the conflict of good and evil, this story avoids formula approaches to fantasy. There are many characters, all of them reflected by people around us. Snibril, a Munrung, stands out but a little from the rest. One of his attributes is that he suffers sinus trouble. This isn't normally a heroic virtue, but it proves valuable here. There's also a philosopher. Everybody thinks to some extent. Philosophers are typified by telling about it in an interesting way. This description, of course, fits Pratchett admirably. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
As a teacher of ages 9 to 11 I think this book has enormous potential as a shared reading text for use in the classroom. Pratchett takes an everyday item, a carpet, and turns it into something magical. The use of language and his descriptions are ideal for younger readers and having read many of pratchetts other books, including the terrific Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, I think this is an ideal starter for anyone who may not of read any Terry Pratchett before as it isn't as complex as some of his other books nor are the descritptions as detailed.
I can't wait to share this book with my students and I would recommend other teachers to read this book too. We'll certainly be doing lots of creative writing and story telling based on this book and hopefully writing our own answers to questions such as `What is Fray?'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Love it!
This is a great book - I love the whole concept of tiny people living in a carpet, and the writing is fresh, funny and highly readable. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Sopranomonkey
great book
This is a great book. I thought it would be more of a children's book, but it was quite complicated. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Published 11 months ago by essi
A brilliant beggining!!!
An incredible piece of writing for an authors first novel. A world full of tiny people in the carpet! what a wonderfull idea! Read more
Published 12 months ago by L. R. Pritchett
great read
my first pratchett book I ever borrowed from a library I read it. it got me hooked for life on his books and as it was many moons ago I bought to start over again
Published 13 months ago by jobs worth
Pratchett is King!
He's done it again, or rather he started brilliantly and everything else follows. For a first novel it is fantastic and shows where many of his future ideas came from. Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by A. Ballard
Bit confusing, but wonderful ideas.
I loved the locations visited and talked about - the underlay caves, the edge, 'achairleg', the city on a coin, and some of the races - the time reversed wights, the dinosaur... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2009 by Mr. M. Jones
First Book
This is the first book I ever read, so I always look back on this book with a certian ammount of nostalgia. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2007 by E. Perkins
Origional and Exciting
'The Carpet People' is a book you could read again and again and you will never get bored of it in my opinion. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2007 by some reader
Down among the warp and woof
The story behind this story is nearly the best story of all: "This book had two authors, one aged seventeen, one aged forty-three. Both of them were Terry Pratchett. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2005 by Stephen A. Haines
An adventure filled with peril and mystery (and humour)
The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett is an updated version of a small book the author when he was seventeen (actually, it was his very first novel). Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2004 by "amberzed"
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