:?: I'm really interested to know the average age of Terry Pratchett readers ! Are there many people my age out there ? I visit the message boards regularly but unforuanetly don't find many discussions very interesting to get involved in. (Honesty can sometimes be brutal, but thats the way it is..)
Interesting question. There is such a broad range of readers of PTerry's books, so it would be hard to have a precise age bracket; but I've heard he's big with female readers in their 20s & above
There does seem to be alot of ladies on the message boards, I know I could ramble on for hours if given the chance !! I wish I'd set up a poll to surmise the age and sex of people on-line..
[quote:84e2e75449="Sarbar"]There does seem to be alot of ladies on the message boards, I know I could ramble on for hours if given the chance !! I wish I'd set up a poll to surmise the age and sex of people on-line..[/quote:84e2e75449] Yeah, good idea; set up a poll if you want
I'm 23. Interesting thing about the sexes, though. My partner never reads books at all, whereas I always have at least one lying around. Our friends are used to this. However, a couple of days ago, a regular visitor to our house came in, saw a Terry Pratchett book lying open on the table (mine, of course), and said "My goodness, Alastair, are you reading a book??" So, the apparent assumption there was that TP's books are for men!
[quote:05c82aa457="Sarbar"]There does seem to be alot of ladies on the message boards, I know I could ramble on for hours if given the chance !! I wish I'd set up a poll to surmise the age and sex of people on-line..[/quote:05c82aa457]If you edit your first post in this thread you can make it into a poll.
[quote:0369777367="TheJackal"]Interesting question. There is such a broad range of readers of PTerry's books, so it would be hard to have a precise age bracket; but I've heard he's big with female readers in their 20s & above[/quote:0369777367] I think that except for IT/techie related sites, women are just generally more likely to post on message boards than men. So that may explain the prevalence of female posters. I'm 40, by the way.
I edited my first post, but don't know how to attatch it and get it running. Thanks you guys for helping me out. :roll:
[quote:e267905d0f="Sarbar"]Hmmmm..... you're obviously a man / woman of many words.[/quote:e267905d0f] Well, that is actually true. Its just that this time, I accidentaly hit the "[i:e267905d0f]reply[/i:e267905d0f]"- button while being in deep thought and working on an epic reply to this thread in which I was going to answer a few of mankinds most important questions as well, then was distracted by a bat hitting my window, and then forgot about it all.
Curse those bats! Always impairing humanity's quest for higher purpose. And I'm 18, in case you were wondering. Another young one.
I'm 27... Consider this! I actually REMEMBER asking my Mom how old she was, and she replying "27". I've officially turned into my Mum!
[quote:a4bbfd068a="mowgli"]I'm 27... Consider this! I actually REMEMBER asking my Mom how old she was, and she replying "27". I've officially turned into my Mum![/quote:a4bbfd068a] Snap !! 27 too (and female for those what don't know) but I don't think my mum was ever 27
16 for now... we seem to have a nice range of ages here which makes the site so much more interesting. It means us little tots act a tad more maturely while the older end of the scale act like little tots and we stand by and laugh.....see, makes things interesting. I don't really think there is a majority age-wise.
I'm 56 - reading the posts in this thread so far I'm beginning to feel quite ancient! Oh, and for the benefit of any newbits who get confused by my screen-name - I'm male!
I like your thoughts fairyliquid, its good to have a mix of ages. Like Pixel said, I was beginning to feel I was ancient. Difference and diversity is a good thing. Being 25 and realising that your parents had you at that age is scary but, imagine when you get to the age where like me, you could be someone elses mother or father !!!!!!! :shock:
What [i:d2f2747932]really[/i:d2f2747932] made me feel ancient recently was our local production of the musical "Oliver!". I have been involved in the English language amateur theatre in Brussels for about 28 years, and I had come to terms with the idea of working with the children of the people I first acted with here, not just as kiddy chorus fillers but in adult parts, but this time there was a cast member in an adult part who was the [i:d2f2747932]grand-daughter[/i:d2f2747932] of someone I used to act with! Pass me the walking-frame, somebody!
I'm 21 and I have to say it's over-rated. Ever hear stuff about how great it is to be 21- tis nothing but crap. When I'm 31 I may wish I was still 21, but that is another story for another decade. I'm male, by the way. I've had 2 people on this board (so far) think otherwise!
I personally know three females who read Pterry, and......about ten guys i guess. Mayhap with the new covers (the simpler black ones, not Kidby's) more girls/women will try discworld out, i always got the impression they were put off by Kidby's (mayherestinpeace) rather vigorous, 'fantasy' style - that might be me being stereotypical. I'm 17 and female myself. (already been mistaken as otherwise, lol. Maybe we should swap avatars, Jackal )
[quote:ebade1d95f="drunkymonkey"]I'm 15, I think I'm one of the youngest here.[/quote:ebade1d95f] Ha, younger than you, drunky! I'm thirteen, but will be fourteen next month. And female. I know what it's like to mistake genders. More embarrassing to mistake than be mistaken, really. I asked Sampanna (a hetero guy) what his future husband's name was. :roll: Admittedly, I wasn't alone in the mistake... Personally I know four girls (Including myself) that read Pterry and one guy.
From research that the publisher did most readers of Discworld are female 20-30s, tending to be readers anyway and discover the fantasy genre through Discworld... The total opposite of anti-social teenage boys named Kev...
What do antisocial teenage boys named Kev have to do with anything? Am I going to kick myself for asking that once I'm awake? And I know no one who fits the surveyor’s description. All female, all outside the 20-30 age bracket, and all into fantasy beforehand.
I'm 22. My parents were married by the time my mum was my age. :shock: And most of the people I know who also read pratchett are also female. Then again, most of my male friends don't read a lot.
[quote:679d4b5d7d="Delphine"]I'm 22. My parents were married by the time my mum was my age. :shock: [/quote:679d4b5d7d] My mum was married with 4 kids by my age... Definitely scary. Of those kids theres been no marriages and one kid so its not genetic at least. Edit: to add I'm 27
I'm 28. I just got 3 of my collegues at work reading PTerry and they are all guys. I only know one other female and she got me into the discworld last year. Just to compare with others, i was married at 19. 9 years this August. I would have done less time for murder! :lol:
First off, Congrats Miss Whiplash on your upcoming wedding anniversery. Been with my hubby 9 years this past Feb 11th, only been married for 2 (In October) so I know how you feel. :lol: I'll be 27 next month and I have been reading TP for about 5 years. I guess that puts me smack dab in the middle of the bracket. I have been able to convert my mother (With Wee Free Men) and my sister (With Gaurds! Gaurds!) But no guys, yet. I'm working on my friend Art though. He got me hooked on the Wheel of Time Series, so I think its only fair to get him sucked into the Discworld. :supz:
Somethingclever, I am a year behind you in all of those things: Eight years together with my husband this summer, one year married this summer, and four years reading PTerry after having been alerted by a friend to the entertaining interpretation of gender issues in "Feet of Clay"! I'm two years older though...
Hsing, I started with Feet of Clay too! I just picked it at random, though, and have been hooked on the Watch Books ever since. I have loaned out that book and re-bought it more times than I can count. Heck, I dont mind. It comes with supporting one of my favorite living authors.. "entertaining interpretation of gender issues" :lol: I have not heard it described like that before, but very appropriate!! Congrats for your upcoming wedding anniversery too! They were totally worth the wait, dont you think?
Absolutely. Plus, we're both the cautious type - we tried if we could cope with everything else before we married. Sharing a flat, times of joblessnes, raising a child together... When it all worked out somehow, we decided we could risk marriage even though we both will probably never be able to afford a lawyer, let alone one for each of us.
I think thats great! (Well not the affording lawyer part, hopefully you wont ever need one or two) I think thats the best way to do things now a days. With divorce rates as high as they are here, not sure about Germany) it makes sense to try things out before making the big plunge into marriage. I'm glad I did. You guys have a little one together? Awww. I love kids. Hubby has said we need to wait to have any of our own until we buy a house. Sensible, I suppose. :roll: :lol: Question, did you find things have changed since you got married? Also is this considered a hijacking of the thread? (Dont want to step on any toes)
Probably. But I'll try to close the loop. No, what really changed things were the things we did before - moving in together, and above all, the kid. And I seem to remember an awful lot of readers who told about their private life are, well, not necessarily married, but in long term relationships. Erm. Thus, we're back to the orignal question, sort of and... does anyone want to make a poll?
As a sort of random sampling... Two girls - Mid to late twenties don't read - It's boring (These two will discuss soaps for hours!) Two ladies - One, 31, has tried a couple of times, but only read Harry Potter. The other, 35, reads almost anything including Pterry 5 Blokes:- 33, 34, 35 and 41 - All readers of Pterry, one 37 who thinks it is full of student humour and won't discuss it further I fit into the latter section of that poll, but obviously not the 37 year old! Be very careful before guessing my age :evil:
Er.... You sound rather than one of the younger colleagues. (And one can never go too wrong with saying something like that.)
24 and counting...as for the average reader, I only know of two other Pratchett fans in my circle of acquaintances...The one who got me started on Pratchett, who was probably in her early 30s, and a female teacher closer to 50. When I was reading at work, one guy stopped and talked to me about them, and he was probably closer to fifty as well. And I encountered Discworld when I had just about given up on the fantasy genre. These books were a wonderful breath of fresh air.
[quote:5343c7e541="Sir_Gawain"][quote:5343c7e541="drunkymonkey"]I'm 15, I think I'm one of the youngest here.[/quote:5343c7e541] Ha, younger than you, drunky! I'm thirteen, but will be fourteen next month. And female. I know what it's like to mistake genders. More embarrassing to mistake than be mistaken, really. I asked Sampanna (a hetero guy) what his future husband's name was. :roll: Admittedly, I wasn't alone in the mistake... Personally I know four girls (Including myself) that read Pterry and one guy.[/quote:5343c7e541]Funnily enough, everyone automatically thinks I'm a bloke. I am, but that's not the point. People stereotyping because of my name!
[quote:3a2ee0a98c="Electric_Man"]I guess.................................................... 67[/quote:3a2ee0a98c] Bugger - You have met me and probably remembered! Chronologically a little less, in terms of cynicism probably a whole lot more [quote:3a2ee0a98c="Hsing"]Er.... You sound rather than one of the younger colleagues. (And one can never go too wrong with saying something like that.)[/quote:3a2ee0a98c] A little evasive there, or is it diplomacy? One year and five months and I'll be middle aged That translates to a shade over a third of a century, so yes I am the youngest of the five blokes...
[quote:c180c07cdb="Somethingclever"] I love kids. Hubby has said we need to wait to have any of our own until we buy a house. Sensible, I suppose.[/quote:c180c07cdb] Yes, that's what my fiance said. Ahem. Anyway... [quote:c180c07cdb="Darth_Bemblebee"]Mayhap with the new covers (the simpler black ones, not Kidby's) more girls/women will try discworld out, i always got the impression they were put off by Kidby's (mayherestinpeace) rather vigorous, 'fantasy' style - that might be me being stereotypical.[/quote:c180c07cdb] I would have said the opposite, actually. I personally like the more active covers. Also, when my mum was publishing her book, all us girls chose a very similar style of cover, but the male publisher finally got his way with a very dark, simplistic cover. Edit: to correct the tags
I'll have to go with hermia on that one, I loved the Kidby covers, they were great, the new ones are depressingly boring... But then I like cartoons, comics, graphics in general, so maybe I'm not "the average" female when graphic tastes apply... but then maybe those average females wouldn't dig Pterry's writing either... humm...
I'm 26, female. I started reading DW by chance. I was browsing through a bookstore and stumbled upon a very lively cover, and after reading a sample page I was hooked. I probably wouldn't have picked the book out if it had the new covers. And, none of the people I lent DW liked it, which baffels me. It could have something to do with the fact that many pepole dislike reading books in foreign languages if they don't feel they are good at them. And maybe something with the fact that the books are the best if you get the cultural background.. many people have no idea about all the myths and beliefs that exist out there. Shame, really. At least CoM has been translated a year ago, and I hear it's quite a hit among the kids, but I'm afraid it may get labeled as a children's book and many adults will miss the magic of DW. Another book is supposed to be translated sometime soon, I don't know which one. Personally, I prefear to read any book in the language it's been written in, if I can.
I live in an semi english-speaking country (USA) and no one I lent the books to likes them either. I think they both tried to look at them from a classic literature standpoint, which relly doesn't work. And Jingo, the first book a friend read, doesn't stand on its own well. But how she could say there was no character development... Maybe I should try shoving them at a male friend.
I'm 46, female, married 18 years, no kids, been reading Pratchett about 17 years with a 12 year hiatus after I found Equal Rites way back when. The public library in this town is almost hopeless.
I"m 27, been reading DW novels for seven years, and am the oldest single guy for the last three generations in my family. It's fun to be unique in the family. :evil: I've tried getting friends to read PTerry, but very few of them ever give him a chance. Most of them don't get the humour. Only one of my friends has denied trying them out of fear. He has two kids and is afraid to start a massive series like this at this time. He's read Good Omens and loved it. I'm still trying to persuade him to give them a try and he's slowly coming around.
:roll: I think there is alot of book 'snobbery' out there. I speak from experience, as when I first came across a TP book myself I thought it was too childish ! My husband laughing out loud whilst reading changed my mind for me and I gave them another go.. I'm now reading 'Soul Music' and loving it. So my point is - people should not judge, they need to just read and enjoy, its not brain science. What do you guys think ? :?:
I'm 23 and on PTerry since 19, so far so good. I live in bloody-no- English-speakin-country-at-all, but people (teens and youth) like Pratchett in Russian translation here. P.S. No Ukrainian translation yet, though Harry POThead's Ukrainian version is much better than the Russian one.
[quote:0dba70ab74="Sarbar"]So my point is - people should not judge, they need to just read and enjoy, its not brain science. What do you guys think ? :?:[/quote:0dba70ab74] I agree! A good story is a good story and I try not to judge just based on Author or Genres. If someone recommends a book to me, lets me borrow it or whatever then I'll give it a go. How else is a person supposed to expand their horizons? I would have never found some of my most favorite books if not for having an open mind. [i:0dba70ab74]*edited for spelling*[/i:0dba70ab74]
I'm 21. That's that, really. As for the book covers, I prefer Kidby's. The new ones look like covers for lonely-housewife novels.
