Terry Pratchett : Men at arms

Bienvenue à Ankh-Morpok, la ville la plus sûre du Disque-Monde, la ville où les voleurs montrent un certificat avant de voler, et où les meurtres sont très rares - en revanche les suicides sont nombreux :"Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suice. Saying "Got rocks in your head" to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful."

La ville où le Guet veille.

Le Guet. Son patron dépressif, Vimaire. Son nain de deux mètres de haut, Carotte. Ses trolls et ses nains, ses loup-garous, ses 'minorités ethniques'.

Et son incapacité chronique à résoudre des affaires (le manque d'entraînement, sans doute). D'ailleurs quand un objet bizarre est volé dans le Musée de la Guilde des Assassins, et que des gens sont retrouvés morts, percés de trous, ils ont bien du mal à s'en sortir...

"The most dangerous man in the world should be introduced.

He has never, in his entire life harmed a living creature. He has dissected a few, but only after they were dead *, and had marvelled at how well they'd been put together considering it had been done by inskilled labor.

*Because he was an early form of free-thinking scientist, and did not believed that human beeing had been created by some sort of divine being. Dissecting people when they were still alive tended to be a priestly occupation; they thought mankind had been created by some sort of divine being and wanted to have a closer look at His handiwork."

Je ne vais pas vous raconter l'histoire : lit-on un Pratchett pour l'histoire ? Non. On lit un Pratchett pour retrouver des personnages qu'on aime ; rire comme un bossu à chacune des phrases. Et dans ce cadre, ce Men at arms est parfaitement réussi. Vimaire, Carotte, Vetarini, Lady Ramkin sont bien là, et j'ai adoré découvrir Angua, Detritus et les autres.

Et quand aux anecdotes pratchettiennes, en voici quelques unes :

"He looked at Cuddy's report, written in the careful angular handwriting of someone more used to runes. And sagas.

'Captain Vimes, this herewith is the chronicle of me, Lance-Constable Cvddy. Bright was the morning and high ovr hearts when we procedeed to the Alchemist Gvild, where events eventvated as I shall now sing.' "

"Dogs are not like cat, who amusingly tolerate human only until someone comes up with a tin opener that can be operated with a paw."

"IS THAT SOME KIND OF BURIAL CUSTOM ?

Don't you know ? You are Death, aren't you ?

THAT DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT BURIAL CUSTOMS. GENERALLY, I MEET PEOPLE BEFORE THEY'RE BURIED. THE ONES I MEET AFTER THEY'RE BURIED TEND TO BE A BIT OVER-EXCITED AND DISINCLINED TO DISCUSS THINGS."

Bref, à lire pour remplacer une bonne séance d'abdos !!

Commencé pendant le RAT, fini deux jours après

Lu en VO

Dans la PAL !