This was the first Pratchett book I read, and I'm glad of it. While it has the humor and satire that is inherent in all of the Discworld books, it also has something else - something to say. It was evident, even from the first time I read this book, that Pratchett had put some real heavy thinking into it.This book is, as the title suggests, about gods. Where do they come from? Where do they go? What keeps them moving? Ordinarily, gods don't like this sort of question. People who think are not what gods look for in followers. Gods want people who believe. That's where their power comes from. Gods with many believers are stong, great gods. Armies of priests and worshipers attend to their every needs, the sacrifices are plentiful and their dominion is vast. A great God wants for nothing.A god with no believers, however, is a small god, a mindless thought blistering through the firmament, searching with single-minded fervor for one thing: a believer.What happens, then, when a Great God finds out that, while he wasn't looking, he lost all of his believers? That's the thrust of this tale, the story of the Great God Om and how he became a tortoise for three years. It's about the difference between what is real and what is believed in, and how much difference that can make at times. It's about fundamental and trivial truths, and how to tell them apart. It's about eagles and tortoises and how much they need each other.Above all, it's something of, in my opinion, a statement of faith. Many people ask me if I am religious, and I tell them no. That's partly due to this book and the thinking that it made me do. Spiritual? Sure. Religious? No.This is, as I said, the story of the Great God Om, who discovered, about 300 feet above the ground, that he had been a tortoise for the last three years. Before this mid-air revelation he had been just chewing at melons and wondering where the next lettuce patch was. Suddenly, all the self-awareness of a Great God was put into his head, as well as the knowledge that he was probably about to die. Om had intended to manifest as a bull or a pillar of fire - something much more majestic and Godly - but for some reason, that hadn't worked. He had become a tortoise.Now, in the presence of Brutha, a novice in the Church of the Great God Om, the god remembers who he was, and discovers that he's in a lot of trouble.The Church of the Great God Om. There's something to talk about. Many people believe, upon reading it, that it's an allegory for the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Omnian Church permits no heresy. It permits no sin, no disbelief. Violating the precepts of Om and His Prophets can lead to death, in a lingering and painful manner. The Quisition cannot be wrong, for was it not Om Himself who put suspicion into their minds? It's a tactic that has been used by many religions over the years, often to justify acts that they know their god would not approve of.I don't believe that Pratchett was trying to take a stab at the Catholics in this book. It's just an unfortunate coincidence that the Omnians and the Catholics bear a few points of similarity. A rigid hierarchy, for example. A penchant at one point or another for extracting confessions by any means necessary is another. It's all very efficient and effective.There's a problem, though, as is pointed out by Brutha late in the book: if you beat a donkey with a stick long enough, the stick becomes all that the donkey believes in. At that point, neither gods nor believers benefit. The only people benefiting are those wielding the stick. Instead of becoming a tool for inspiration, the church becomes a tool for terror. People do not obey their god out of love - they obey their church out of fear.This is the kind of church that could produce the Deacon Vorbis, head of the Exquisitors. He is one of those men who would turn the world on its back, just to see what would happen. He is everything that is wrong with the Church and, unfortunately, it seems that he is in line to be the Eighth Prophet. In other words, Omnia is not a nice place to live. Its church is vast, its god is small, and neighboring nations want to take it down a few pegs. It's up to Brutha and his God to change the course of history.As I said, there was a lot of thought put into this novel, as well as Pratchett's usual hidden research. For example, Brutha is called a "Great dumb ox" by his classmates, due to his size and apparent lack of intellect. The same epithet was thrown at Thomas Aquinas by his classmates, and he was canonized less than a century after his death. Like Aquinas, Brutha is not dumb. He is simply slow and careful in how he thinks, and his measured pace leads him far more surely to the truth than the hot-headed and passionate men who march with him.Some people read this book as an attack on religion. Others see it as a defense of personal faith. I think Terry had a story to tell, and perhaps a point to make. The beauty of books such as these is that they can be whatever you want them to be. For me, it came as a kind of defense of gods. Humans, the book suggests, need gods. Now there is a growing atheist community out there who disagree with that idea, and I can definitely see where they're coming from. As I've said many times, I'm not entirely sold on the god idea yet. But the gods that are rampant in the Discworld aren't the kinds of gods that the atheists and the true believers fight over - the omnipotent creator of Everything. They are gods who are controlled by humans, who exist with humans in a kind of co-dependent relationship. Humans need gods, and gods need humans. In its way, this kind of theology makes gods more... realistic to me. I can't say for sure whether a god or gods exist, but if they did, I think I could live with this kind of arrangement.What this book definitely is, in any case, is good. Very good. If you haven't read it, do so. If you have read it, do yourself a favor and read it again. ---------------------------------------------------"Around the Godde there forms a Shelle of prayers and Ceremonies and Buildings and Priestes and Authority, until at Laste the Godde Dies. Ande this maye notte be noticed."- from the writings of the philosopher Abraxis, Small Gods---------------------------------------------------
The Complete Discworld RereadI. ‘ SMALL GODS’ IS THE STORY OF BRUTHA, LAST OF THE PROPHETS TO THE GREAT GOD OM. IT IS CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE BEST BOOK BY PRATCHETT FOR GOOD REASON. IT SHOULD BE THE ONLY BOOK A PERSON EVER NEEDS TO READ.It is true that ‘Small Gods’ is a hell of a book, and is probably my favorite of the author’s vast catalog. I don’t know how many times I have read it in my life, but over a dozen is a safe bet. It tells the story of Brutha, an illiterate novice in the Church of Om. Tending the garden he hears the voice of his god coming from a small turtle. Turns out that in the middle of the temple dedicated exclusively to Om, filled with statues in his image and an inquisition designed to keep everyone on the true path, Om can only find one actual believer. And for gods on Discworld, belief is the sole way to power.II. EVERYONE MUST KNOW THE STORY OF OM AND BRUTHA. THE TRAVELS THEY TOOK TOGETHER. BRUTHA’S RISE. THE NEED TO ALWAYS BE KIND TO TURTLES.Brutha never had a single doubt about his god, but once he gets proof the rest of his beliefs go up in flames. The church itself is going through some harsh measures to enforce its beliefs. The inquisition enforces the rules of prophet after prophet, rules that the great god Om claims to know nothing about. A resistance is growing, starting with the simple verifiable fact that globe Omians claim the world to be a globe is false, every traveler knows it is a disc sitting on a turtle. With the cry of “the turtle moves” flowing through the church Vorbis, high deacon of the inquisition, decides it best to stamp out the heresy at the source. A trip to the philosophers’ city of sin is planned, and Brutha is dragged along.III. VORBIS IS A COMPLETE ASSHOLE.Ya, he really is, but he is a wonderful villain character. Ice cold doesn’t even begin to describe him. It is pointed out that some people in the inquisition truly enjoy hurting people, making them merely terrible humans. Vorbis truly thinks people deserve it, making him a true monster. Terrible as he is Vorbis makes the perfect counterpoint to the saint like Brutha. Even after he shows his worse Brutha is there time and time again to right his path, right up to the perfect ending.IV. DESPITE BEING WRONG IN THE PAST BE ASSURED THAT THE CURRENT CHURCH OF OM CAN NEVER BE WRONG.Writing a book that mocks religion, or aspects of religion, can be tricky. Many authors would be content to just be mean; have everyone in power shown to be a buffoon and make fun of the funny little rituals and contradictions in text. Pratchett took a different tact. While the institutions of the church had major problems the solution was a reformation rather than a dismantling. It is a more respectful tone that is one of the reasons I find the book so readable. The fact that we know from the start that God exists changes everything. People living in fear find themselves believing in fear more than the god. A favorite passage comes from an outsider to the church remarking on a stoning he watched; every person present was absolutely certain of one thing, that they were not the person being stoned. V. THE GREAT GOD OM DEMANDS THAT REVIEWERS OF HIS BOOK GUSH A BIT MORE. THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH PRAISE!I can’t really gush enough about Small Gods. There is no way I can give it a fair review, and it took me a week to write this silly thing up. I never realized how hard it is to explain why one of your favorite things is so good. But damn, it is hard. This is the best I can do. Please read Small Gods if you have not, it is one of the best. As a plus it is a standalone within a series and requires no knowledge of the rest of the series to read.5 stars. VI. THE END!
What do You think about Small Gods (2005)?
This is the only Terry Pratchett book I've ever really been able to stomach. I've always found it odd that the stories of Discworld fail to strike home with me. I've tried to read several (Mort, The Color of Magic, Hogfather) and none have struck me enough within the first forty pages to keep reading.This is the exception to the rule.It covers the story of a forgotten god of the Discworld universe: the Great Turtle. Everyone knows about the Four Elephants holding up the great disc of the world, but most have forgotten that upon which the Elephants stride. All that is about to change when the Great Turtle speeks to a dimwitted monk and begins to preach the gospel of Discworld in a whole new light.The book is laugh out loud funny and better yet it requires absolutely NO understanding of the rest of the Discworld series to enjoy (despite the presence of Death, who is a recurrent character in most Discworld novels, who has its own individual hangups).Let there be lettuce. Low hanging lettuce.
—Monk
"- МОЖЕ БИ СИ ЧУВАЛ ИЗРАЗА, ЧЕ АДЪТ - ТОВА СА ДРУГИТЕ ХОРА?- Да, да, разбира се.Смърт кимна.- С ВРЕМЕТО - рече той - ЩЕ РАЗБЕРЕШ, ЧЕ НЕ Е ПРАВИЛЕН."Кара те да се замисляш за твърде много неща. И извън религията. На толкова места се изумявах "Това все едно аз съм го измислила, но написано стотици пъти по-добре, отколкото аз бих го казала". Книгата е великолепна метафора на религията. Всички боговете са малки, докато не повярваш в тях. Докато не им позволиш ти самият да пораснат. Бог не е някакво смътно антропоморфно проявление, не е инкарнацията на всичките ти страхове и опрощението на всичките ти грехове, не е и институцията, която умело се прави, че неуморно работи в Негова възхвала. Не е дори малката костенурка, която ненадейно е изгубила последователите си. Бог си ти. Не, ти не си обикновен. Ти си толкова, колкото вярваш. И можеш толкова, колкото вярваш. Точка.
—Наталия Янева
Funny doesn't begin to describe the writing of Terry Pratchett. Yes, the book is hilarious and I really did laugh out loud at certain times, but it's also cleaver and witty. The great god Om has been trapped inside the body of a tortoise and has lost most of his power because almost no one believes in him anymore. The story is about what happens to small gods as they struggle for survival, but it also shows the impact of the struggle on the world of mortals. Different cultures worship different gods and the book also shows what happens when people focus more on the institution (what the god represents) rather than the god. This was the first book I've read by Terry Pratchett (aside from Good Omens, which he co-wrote) and I have to say that I am sorry I haven't read more of his work before now. I will be reading much, much more by this author.
—Amy Neftzger
