(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

Have just been listening to "On the Ropes" on BBC R 4, with Terry Pratchett talking about his Alzheimers diagnosis, and am now feeling decidedly sniffly, not just because it's terribly sad, but because I am so filled with admiration for the way he's taking it - with humour, courage, refusal to be made helplessly miserable, and a good deal of gumption (you can tell he's Granny Weatherwax's creator).

JH: And yet you must have bad moments - dark nights of the soul.
TP: Yes, of course I do. But we all have those, anyway. And then you get up in the morning.

I'm slightly in awe of him, actually - I wish I had half his guts and hopefulness.

Comments

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

He really is amazing. God grant that if I ever get diagnosed with something awful, I take it like he's taking it.

[tree_and_leaf]

It's pretty astonishing (and makes me somewhat ashamed of what an Eeyore-like coward I often am, when I claim to be a Christian...)

[fpb.livejournal.com]

A member of my f-list, whom I love dearly, is going through the same horror. I ended up in tears for her, and SHE ended up comforting ME. After this and other things I have seen in my life, don't let anyone tell me that there is no such thing as heroism - unselfconscious, unbreakable, towering.

[shoebox2.livejournal.com]

Agreed with both of you. This sort of gut-level determination impresses me even more than the most splendid battle valour.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yeah. There's not the benefit of adrenaline, and it goes on and on and never stops.

... not that I think I'm even remotely capable of doing anything VC-worthy, mind. But I do think the other's of a higher order of courage.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

You take the Anglican Church seriously. That shows moral courage of a very high order. And I do not mean this altogether in jest. If you cared a damn about commonplace views, you would have it as either a joke or a bunch of corrupt paedophiles. (The stereotype of the paedophile priest attached to the CofE long before it was stuck to the Catholics, and Alan Moore, to his disgrace, used it in the original V for Vendetta.)

[tree_and_leaf]

Oh come. When I have to worry about my church being burned down by a screaming mob (as actually happened to an acquaintance of mine who is an RC priest in rural Pakistan), then we can talk about moral courage!

a bunch of corrupt paedophiles

Curious - I thought that stereotype had just about sunk without trace,give or take the odd choirboy joke. The high camp Anglo-Catholic ("sodomites with unpleasant accents..."), yes, but that's obviously not at all the same thing.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, it was old. V for Vendetta came out in 1978, IIRC, and even then someone lambasted Moore for stereotype abuse. I guess it is one of those things that tend to recur.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

BTW, allow me to inform you that screaming mobs are common in cyberspace (cf fandom_wank and similar rabble sites). And Christians are not the least of their targets.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, that's real courage. And I hope your friend - well, stays as well as possible as long as possible. It's difficult to know what else to say....

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Her online name is rfachir. She has recently gone public with her condition, which I had known about for a while, so I think it's OK to mention her name.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I only heard a bit of the programme, but I completely agree with you.

[tree_and_leaf]

I don't normally listen to 'On the Ropes', because I find it depressing, but that was a very good interview.