Get Access Weiberregiment Written And Illustrated By Terry Pratchett Offered In EText

didn't fully click with this particular Pratchett when it first came out, and I still can't count it among my favorites now.
This is in spite of Polly being a wonderful and relatable character, But this novel suffers from of the structural problems that plague a few of Pratchett's books there's a fun opening, and often an exciting climax, but the middle just sort of meanders aimlessly, dependent on the quality of the witticism and shenanigans, and this book does not contain my favorite examples of either.


Also it's amazing to me, in, how queer this book doesn't feel how many opportunities for queerness seem to slide right off the page and vanish.
I, being elderly, am well aware that the world was very different in, and I don't think Pratchett would write it this same way now.
To paraphrase his pal Neil Gaiman, I am still glad he wrote it then, But age has sadly not improved it for me, ReRead:

A delightful Discworld read that dives head first into a little country's war problem, Well, it's not really a problem, per se, . . in fact, it's almost done, As in fini. Kaput. With them the ultimate losers,

So you'd think, with all the men being dead and all, they'd be more welcoming of a bit of some added support.
And I'm not talking bras, . . or AM I

A very funny book, There are a few coffee drinking beasties here, a troll, and even an Igorina, It turns into a kinda Hogan's Heroes, Or rather, Heroines. And ooooh the abominations! CrossDressing Everywhere!

,rounded up to

I audibly snorted more times while reading this book than I did during all my other reads this year combined.


Pratchett tackles a lot of things in this book nationalism, war, religion including civili religion and how it can be instrumentalized, the Army, and gender especially gender equality and with most of these, especially when tackling war, the Army, and nationalism, his humor and satire are outstanding in the best Pratchett manner.


At the same time, some aspects of the book didn't quite land for me, I'll put the rest of this review under spoiler tags since I'm going to go into detail and will be quoting parts that happen towards the end of the book.


This is a book about women enlisting in the Army for a variety of reasons finding a brother, running away from dire circumstances, finding a “husband”, looking for a way to prove ones skills, etc.
and its here where the novel sometimes didnt quite land for me,

I think it is fair to say that when it comes to gender, Pratchett was mostly concerned with gender equality and the structural issues that lead to gender inequality not so much with gender identity though these two things can of course not be separated completely.
The novel is definitely completely on point when, after the reveal that a big part of the Armys leadership, including the famed General Froc, are actually women, it highlights that an institution like the Military isnt going to magically transform just because women enter it.
Rather, the institutional structures will change the individual especially if that individual wants to rise in the ranks,

At the same time, the repeated scenes of revelation throughout the book are also where things got a bit sticky for me.
Ive thought long about how to put this into words, but I think the easiest way of saying it is that the book deals with gender from a very cisgender and heterosexual perspective.
While there are some passages that deal quite well with gender performativity and the interdependency between presentation and how the world around people will treat them based on that presentation, the book also and with few exceptions, starts to use she/her pronouns and sometimes the characters former name as soon as a character is revealed as female.
There are a few exceptions, for example Sergeant Jackrum and General Froc and with the latter, the use of “he” and the title often comes with a nudge and a wink after the reveal.
All of this drives home that, in the eyes of the narrator, the characters are all really women, no matter for how long they have been living as men.


Mostly, I think, this is due to the position from which Pratchett was writing this and, again, on what is focus usually is.
In addition, he is clearly drawing on some wellknown stories of women who enlisted in the Armed Forces as men and the reasons that were given in those stories.
Deborah Sampson/Robert Shurtlieff is an obvious example from U, S. American history. In the narrative about Sampson/Shurtlieffs life written by Massachusetts writer Herman Mann patriotism is highlighted as a motif for enlistment.
However, as scholars like sitelinkJen Manion sitelinkFemale Husbands: A Trans History and sitelinkJudith Hiltner have pointed out, these kinds of narratives often draw heavily on already existing texts about “female husbands” and “female soldiers” and highlighting patriotism was one way of making the transgression of fairly fixed gender lines palatable to contemporary audiences.
It makes sense that Pratchett is drawing on these stories for his characters backstories, but in its insistence that all these characters are “really women” the novel also forecloses the possibility that some of them might actually be trans or enby.


This also means that some of the jokes come very close to common transphobic stereotypes, This is especially notable when Lieutenant Blouse one of the few cisgender men dresses up as a washerwoman to sneak into a castle.
What Pratchett is drawing on in those sections is clearly the tradition of young men playing female characters in Renaissance theater and also the tradition of drag in the Army, but a lot of the humor turns on the “a man in a dress who is badly imitating a woman” trope which also has a decidedly transphobic undercurrent.
I think Pratchett was probably not aware of that undercurrent I wouldnt have picked up on it had I read this book when it was first published, or evenyears ago, so Im giving him the benefit of the doubt here.
I wrestled a bit with whether I was too ready to do that for Pratchett compared to some other very famous fantasy author who shall not be named, but since Pratchett didnt have a habit of making increasingly transphobic statements afaik and since some of the issues I had with the book clearly come from his focus on structures of inequality and from him drawing on commonly known historical sources about women in the Army/drag in the Army, and the history of theater, I do feel justified.


All of this being said, there are two characters, one pivotal, one who is only mentioned in passing a few times, that could be read as trans, so I want to talk about them for a moment.

Sergeant Jackrum is not only the character who reveals that part of the Armys leadership is female, but also the sergeant of the eponymous regiment.
And, as becomes clear during a conversation between Perks and Jackrum is also passing, There are hints before this moment, but this is when the novel makes it clear, And while the text does continue using his last name and he/him pronouns afterwards, this only happens after the following exchange:

“Wouldnt wish meself on him, lad,” said Jackrum firmly.
“Wouldnt dare. My boys a wellrespected man in the town! Whatve I got to offer Hell not want some fat ol biddy banging on his back door and gobbing baccy juice all over the place and telling him shes his mother!”
Polly looked at the fire for a moment, and felt the idea creep into her mind.

“What about a distinguishedlooking sergeant major, shiny with braid, loaded with medals, arriving at the front door in a grand coach and telling him hes his father” she said.

Jackrum stared.
“Tides of war, and all that,” Polly went on, mind suddenly racing, “Young love. Duty calls. Families scattered. Hopeless searching. Decades pass. Fond memories. Thenoh, an overheard conversation in a bar, yeah, thatd work, Hope springs. A new search. Greasing palms. The recollections of old women, At last, an address”
“Whatre you saying, Perks”
“Youre a liar, Sarge,” said Polly, leaning forward, “Best Ive ever heard. One last lie pays for all! Why not You could show him the locket, You could tell him about the girl you left behind you”

This exchange, and especially Perks insistence that Jackrum is a liar and can continue to live that lie if it means being reunited with family highlights that enlisting in the military while passing as a man, in the world of this novel, is always an act, a lie, never an expression of trans identity.
And, again, I can see why Pratchett went this way, but it would have been nice to have at least one trans character.


The other character mentioned above is Captain Wrigglesworth, a schoolmate of Lieutenant Blouses who, as several characters mention was “Keen on, er” “Amateur dramatics,”.
Here, again, the novel nods to the tradition of drag in the Army, but there are also a few moments where Lt.
Blouse, for example, stops and seems to have second thoughts about whether “amateur dramatics” are the only explanation of Wrigglesworths talent at passing for a woman.
This is never elaborated further, so while one can read this as a hint at a possible trans character in this universe, it fell.
. a bit short.

TLDR I enjoyed this novel, but there are some things in terms of how gender identity is represented that I wish Pratchett had done differently.
Im not saying hes a bad person because he didnt, I can see why and how the novel turned out how it did.
This is probably mostly a “me thing” thing and not a “him thing”, Reading novels that are very close to ones main research area can be tricky in this way,
This is the second mostfrequently read of my favorite Terry Pratchett books, the first being Night Watch, which helped get me through the death of my mother.
My latest copy of Monstrous Regiment is so battered and dogeared that its falling apart, From sentence number one I was riveted and if you are wondering whether you should read this book, the short answer is yes, turn your cursor right now to a new tab and order it, or even better jog out to your local probably half an hour away bookstore theyre an endangered species and support them by buying it there.


Its that good, Sir Terry is that good a writer, Read the book before finishing this review youll thank me for the advice, and if you havent already devoured the Discworld series you are in for the rollercoaster ride and treat of your life.


By the way, Sir Terry is a personal hero of mine, When he died last March I cried for days, He went leaving the bravest selfwritten epitaph I have ever read: "Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

The End. "

I was so stricken and devastated when I read this that I wrote a short response to it, which I kept to myself because I realized that I had no right to besmirch Sir Terrys courage by imposing my own endoflife beliefs on his in public.
I get choked up just trying to write about this wonderful man and I ardently look forward to the day when we can cure Alzheimers disease and save the minds of other brilliant people like him.


And guess what Monstrous Regiment is a “genderbending” book, meaning that its about a girl who dresses up as a boy to get into the army of an extremely misogynistic and backward country so she can try to rescue her older brother Paul, whom she has taken care of since she was a child.
Thats not a spoiler, by the way: thats on the back cover, The entire story is about female and male roles, and whether or not they should change, Ahem. More about that later. But the point is, this is an extremely appropriate book for the first of my new reviews, Its also a book that will probably make you think a few new thoughts, especially if female equality isnt an obsession of yours, and therefore obviously worth reading.


Monstrous Regiment will also make you think about war, There is enough about realistic fighting in it to make you freeze in shock at points, Like Night Watch, like all of Sir Terrys best writing, it deals with a serious subject in a loopy way, and the loopiness in turn has a deadly serious razor edge to it.
Yes, yes, war is bad and grass is green except in droughtstricken California, where its dun but Monstrous Regiment will make you feel up close and personal what its like to be a soldier.
And heaven only knows they know what war is really like, If you dont feel some wheels turning in your head as you reevaluate your position on whether anybody should fight anybody with anything after reading this book you are either smarter than everyone else left here in the world and maybe a bodhisattva or dumber than a pigeon.

The third subject Monstrous Regiment takes on is religion, Yes, organized religion and heavenly religion, too, And, once again, the book will probably surprise you, It astounded and amazed me by its bravery in handling this particular hot potato, I wont go into the subject at length here because there are some spoilers that are pretty important to the discussion, but suffice it to say that new thoughts may well rocket back and forth in your head at the speed of a light clacks signals, which is to say at c for celeritas.
Sir Terry is a genius when it comes to turning established “truths” on their heads and then turning them back over again.
. . and back upsidedown just for good measure,

So definitely, without doubt, read the book, There are some terrific characters introduced here, The protagonist, Polly Oliver Ozzer Perks, is a very likeable girl, and the question of whether she is a lovable girla hero to adore and/or emulatedoesnt really even arise.
Id be entirely happy to have Polly on my team any day, and Id not hesitate to call on her in time of need.
Shes smart and solid. Thats high praise from me,

Overall: The action in the book is fast and furious, the humor is hilarious, the writing is fresh and vibrant, the ideas breathtaking, and there are even a few brief appearances by Samuel Vimes, who is my favorite of all Sir Terrys characters, male or female.
That is my conventional review of Monstrous Regiment, and I give it a

conventional five out of five,

See the comments below for the rest of my review,
.