So I found a Terry Pratchett novel left over from the previous tenant of my house. Since English-language books are rare in Japan, I eagerly began reading it!
Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett, for the few of you who haven't read it, takes place in the infamous Discworld universe (of which I've only read one other book...). It stars an ex-con-artist who gets conned/threatened by a larger, better con-artist (the governor! Oooh, BURN~, Mr. Pratchett!) into becoming the CEO of the decrepit postal service which has been put out of business by a fantasy version of the internet, the Clacks Towers.
The book features a lot of really well-told humorous moments, and a really likable main character. In fact, he's so likable that he borders on a wish-fulfillment-type character at times. But since I like having fun, I'm perfectly okay with his ability to get through life on good luck and charm - he acknowledges this himself to the reader several times, so the whole thing feels like a big in-joke between you and good ol' Mr. Pratchett.
The usual creativity of Discworld seems to still be in full effect with magical physics that are more like pranks than laws, and more personified concepts than are really necessary in any one universe - but hey! It's fun!
Rounding out the humorous story of getting 50 years worth of backlogged mail delivered, Terry Pratchett has this odd tendency of trying to make jabs at serious subjects like government, religion, and economy throughout this fantasy novel which always had a jarring effect on me - I'd be engrossed in his story, reading along at a fast clip when BAM! a clumsy stab at capitalism comes out and suddenly my attention is swerving to get out of the way. While I could appreciate the separate points he was making, these loaded comments were still really distracting to me. It might just be me, though - he DID have the courtesy to make sure his comments could at least also pertain to the situation at hand in the story (See the aforementioned bigger-con-artist-as-governor joke for another example). Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that if I had heard some of these jokes on a British variety show, I would have hurled sharp objects at the TV to keep from hearing the inevitable canned 'Oooooooooh!' from the fake studio audience.
All in all, well-written, fun, and strangely pertinent to current events.
Oh, and the main character's name is Moist Lipswitch. ....? I'm guessing this is a Terry Pratchett thing.
-Djinn
