That was a fun book. Moist von Lipwig is a con artist that gets caught, condemned, hanged - but not killed - then is offered the job as Postmaster of the city of Ankh-Morpork. This is not a good gig because the last several postmasters have gone insane due to the mountains of undelivered mail that are stuffed into every corner of the post office. They WANT to be delivered.. and they drive you mad.
The other characters are plucky, but not terribly involved. This is a one man story. Just Moist.
Yep, Moist. He knows it is a weird name but since he spent most of his life a s a con man up till the hanging, he rarely used it. He had every grift in the book; from forgeries to 3 card Monty to passing off a cheap 1$ ring as a 1000$ ring and getting someone to think they are swindling him by selling it for 100$. He got away with it for so long because he know what people wanted to see. He made sure everyone remembered the suit he was wearing - not the man in the suit. He was a real people-person.. in a sense. He could really work a crowd.
He uses this to get the post office up and running again. The forgery experience comes in great when designing (inventing) stamps. His promotional and crowd working skills get people quickly very interested in the post office and they thankfully will not notice him outside of his golden winged hat and gold suit. See the suit, forget the man.
The other main communication network of the world notices him too, and are not too keen on having competition. The "clacks" - a network of semaphore towers - is the only game in town for local and long distance communication. That lack of competition has made them inefficient and corrupt, but people have just gotten used to poor service. Pratcehtt is going for some socio-political commentary her I am sure, but it is subtle enough to be able to take it as-it-comes. He does not bludgeon you with it as so many other authors do. I found that refreshing.
The other denizens of the post office are interesting, but ultimately just in the background. His would-be girlfriend is rather forgettable too, but I did like Mr Pump. Mr Pump is a golem. He is both Moist's assistant and his parole officer. Oddly, the un-fleshed character seemed the most fleshed out. Maybe it just seems that way because he is so simple. He was created to be a tool, but his is a liberated and possesses a sense of "personhood". People didn't like the thought of golems being like salves, so they gave them rights.. but they were designed to be "living" tools.. so all they do is work. Again, a social commentary that is at a take-it-or-leave-it level. Nice.
p313
Neverthless, he picked up a piece of smashed chair. It had splintered nicely, and the thing about a stake thru the heart was that it also worked on non-vampires.
p378
Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation will also be the crowd that applauds you behading.
p458
"But I'm going to have my hands more than full with the Post Office!" Moist protested.
"I hope you are. But, in mu experience, the best way to get something done it to give it to someone who is busy." said Vetinari.
