Nightwatch

Here, I'll speak a little of all the books that made my life wonderful.

Because life is wonderful. A miracle. A gift from God himself. And nothing better to honor that miracle by speaking about the author who mastered the art of God's sense of humor: Terry Pratchett.

If you don't know who he is, I suggest you stop everything you're doing and go buy one, if not all, of his books. Pratchett's not only a FUNNY writer, he's a philosopher. Using his Natural Gift, he created the Discoworld and uses it to implicitly criticize EVERYTHING in this world.

And we'll laugh at it.

So I'll start this column by speaking about one of his better creations: Nightwatch. In this novel, you'll meet Samuel Vimes, a "good" cop who, while in the pursuit of murderer, somehow is transported back in time along with him... back to the days when HE himself was joining the cops.

The book is a brilliant exercise of self-instrospection: What you would do if you managed to get back in time with all the experience you've acumulated along with the years?

For Vimes, the answer is obvious: he teaches himself EVERYTHINg he knows to his young self. Hahaha, brilliant. Of course, he had a help from some monks at the beginning and at the end, but whatever, that's not the point.

There are so many epic passages on that book, and so many lines that could become The Line for any of you people reading this, that I will leave to your curiosity to do the rest.

I will finish this quick column by (one of) the moments of it that I remember fondly: When Old Vimes asks for volunteers for a suicidal mission, the Young Vimes steps in quickly, and Old Vimes thinks in a depressing way "Damn you, silly!".