呃。啊。失语了。
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: P) e, }5 s8 q3 S* J这是BBC NEWS报导：
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7 w# [2 {$ k' l% [0 QAuthor Pratchett has Alzheimer's* r2 r. P' ^7 r6 _! m; K* P7 E
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Author Terry Pratchett is suffering from a rare form of early Alzheimer's disease, it has been revealed.
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: B: v' P4 N2 [5 [3 ^" cIn a letter published on the website of artist Paul Kidby, the writer said the condition was behind a "phantom stroke" he had earlier this year.
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Pratchett said his statement should be interpreted as "I am not dead" and that he had taken the news "philosophically" and "possibly with a mild optimism".
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0 O; J- Q" {! C7 P5 ?; dThe Discworld author, 59, has sold more than 55 million books worldwide.
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4 g* x! j2 I) e: J- Y"I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while," he wrote in a letter headed 'An Embuggerance'.
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8 k) j4 [8 o# Q# `Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept . w2 a9 p- k$ X! l" p6 H
things cheerful - I think there's time for at 8 H5 r' l9 D0 {, _
least a few more books yet
$ |6 U( N$ w C2 S" D. h2 H9 lTerry Pratchett
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"But because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news."
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The author said work was continuing on his latest works, Nation and Unseen Academicals, and that there was "time for at least a few more books yet".
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8 O1 |7 ]& g. t' {: s"All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments."
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"Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful," he continued, saying it was "too soon to tell" if the condition was immediately life-threatening.
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/ B8 F6 r0 o9 Q) l }Parallel universe
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"I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think.
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"I know it's a very human thing to say 'Is there anything I can do?' but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry."
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Pratchett, whose work has been translated into 27 languages, was made an OBE in 1998 for services to British literature.
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# ^4 c) e3 K" p3 W" SThe Discworld series is set in a parallel universe supported on the backs of four elephants that stand on the shell of a turtle.
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Making Money, the 36th novel in the sequence, was published earlier this year.
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Story from BBC NEWS:
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+ a: D L4 E9 J+ _( Q9 @% T/ [Published: 2007/12/13 09:19:42 GMT
