Books I've Been Reading ~ I Liked The Name "Kvothe," Though

[bloodyrosemccoy]

What This Book Is About: A frame story in which Kvothe, the man, the legend, reflects upon his life, dictating it to a chronicler who is awed to be in the very presence of such a remarkable individual.

What This Book Is Really About: It is about 700 pages long.

I tried to think of something catchier than that, but to be honest, there isn’t much else I can say about Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind. It is long. It is wordy. It is, more or less, completely unnecessary—its length a product of both author and narrator being fabulously impressed by their own prose/voice. The memoir itself starts on page 82, for crying out loud.

The Rest of the Breakdown, Replete With What I Guess You Could Call Spoilers, Just So You Know:

- Kvothe is told by a traveling tinker/salesman that he is extraordinarily clever. He learns some rudimentary magic while the tinker travels with Kvothe’s caravan and family. (46 pages)
- Mythical demonic assholes slaughter everyone in the caravan but Kvothe. He swears revenge. (11 pages*)
- Immediately forgetting his revenge, Kvothe wanders the streets of a city for years in a grief-induced stupor (75 pages)**
- Kvothe suddenly remembers the whole revenge thing and decides that in order to get information on the asshole demons, he needs to go to Hipster Hogwarts University. He applies, and they let him in because they know he’s the protagonist. (47 pages)
- Kvothe spends years at HHU being an arrogant self-inflated tool, squabbling with the rich dick rival he was issued on his first day, cozying up to Rothfuss’s failed attempt at an intriguing and eccentric female character, and hubrising his way into a bunch of incredibly stupid problems. He also spends a lot of time detailing the logistics of finding an apartment. (270 pages)
- Kvothe and his ladyfriend go all Nancy Drew and investigate some weird shenanigans and goings-on in another town. In an actually interesting twist, they wind up battling a dragon hopped up on PCP or something. It’s not as cool as it might sound, but still, more interesting than anything else so far. (137 pages)
- The rest is all foreshadowing for Book 2. (42 pages)

If You Did Like It, You’re Not Alone: A whole lot of my friends have recommended this book. A few tell me it picks up a bit in Book 2. But even though Rothfuss foreshadowed the goddamn hell out of it, I don’t think I’m going to read it. There’s just not enough return for the investment.

The Other Reason I’m Not Going To Read The Next One: Kvothe annoyed me beyond belief. I’m not gonna spend another 700 pages wanting to smack the protagonist with a shovel.


*Including one page devoted to Kvothe hoping his parents were having some good sex when they were killed.

**I was hoping he’d use his legendary cleverness to become King of Thieves or something, which would have justified the amount of time devoted to it. But he doesn’t, nor does he ever think to look up the tinker pal he spent all that time bonding with. I can even respect that as a a narrative decision, but devoting 75 pages to Kvothe wandering around stealing food and being dazed is a bit much.

Comments

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

You forgot to mention that it's 75 pages of Mary Sue Fantasy Dude with Stupidly Spelled Name wandering the streets while the author rips off Dickens, badly, and hits you over the head at least twice a paragraph with how you should be feeling sorry for his darling protagonist.

I didn't actually finish it. I got into his somethingth year at HHU, and when he blatantly condescended to a teacher one time too many, I flung it across the room never to be touched again.

Amongst other offenses, the teacher in me got pissed. Contrast this garbage with Harry Potter. Harry and his peers treat the teachers the way normal students treat teachers. Some with respect, some with fear, some with disrespect, etc. The obnoxious protagonist in "Name of the Wind" never treats his teachers with respect. I think there was one he wasn't as awful towards, but he was also only being polite so he could get at something he wanted. Even in his first year, he thinks he's better than his teachers and never acts like he respects the authority of their experience.

And he persists in doing horribly stupid things which get him into trouble and yet never learns from his errors, and rarely gets the treatment he actually deserves.

And it is such a relief to see that someone else feels the same way I do about this book! Everyone else I know who's read it praises it to the skies. And these are people whose tastes normally run pretty close to mine. I keep wondering what the heck it was they were reading, because the book I read by that name wasn't anything worthy of that kind of awe.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

OH THANK GOD I'm not the only one.

The Dickens point was included in his "wandering around in a daze" phase. I would be willing to believe that a kid completely shut down after a trauma like that, so that even Mr. Cleverness might forget how to, say, use sympathy to pick pockets, or that his pal Ben might help him out if he makes the journey. But it was the sort of thing you could cover in WAY less time.

I also had a problem trying to figure out if he was supposed to be an unreliable narrator. His grandiose claims of awesomeness do lend some support to the theory that he's just a self-aggrandizing tool, but the sad part is that even in that case his Mighty Deeds are pretty lame. So far he's scared some burglars, been a dick to his teachers, and set fire to a church to stop a dragon he coincidentally caused to attack the church in the first place. Also he can play the lute fairly well. THOSE ARE NOT MIGHTY DEEDS. WHY AM I READING THIS? I start to really sympathize with the teacher who "unreasonably" hates his ass.

His creepy "just friends" relationship with Denna doesn't endear me to him much, either. It gets a lot more blatantly weird at the end, when his internal monologue reads like a wordy version of this exact comic.

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

I liked his name at first, but after I wound up loathing the character, I even stopped liking the name.

I hate it when authors try to force sympathy. And the wandering around in a daze bit was so over the top and forced that I wound up not feeling sympathetic even though being in an extended state of shock is a fairly reasonable response for a kid after a trauma like that. Plus the fact that the change from traumatized kid to arrogant douche happened so abruptly.

I kept feeling more sympathetic with the teachers who didn't like him and even the rich rival than I did with the asinine protagonist. I kept hoping a real protagonist would turn up. Somebody who wasn't quite so despicable.

Why do people thing this book/series is so brilliant? Why do otherwise sane and intelligent people think this author is somehow something new and exciting and wonderful? I just don't understand it.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I dunno, maybe it's us. ;)

The forced sympathy thing sounded a lot like whining after a while, didn't it?

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

See, people keep wildly recommending this book, and then when they describe how it's all awesome and subversive and doing really interesting things with fantasy tropes it keeps sounding like...Mary Sue fanfic. So I'm feeling a lot better now about my decision to not actually read it.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I gotta say, "subversive" is the last descriptor I'd use for this story. Unless you count the 14-year-old fanfic writer's definition, which is "You just don't like it because it's subversive, and you're too square, man!"

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

Apparently it's supposed to be really awesome because it takes place after the epic stuff has already happened? And there's supposed to be...more subversion later? I don't know. It really does just sound like some kid writing about the Most Awesome Hero Ever.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

... Upon further consideration, I guess the smattering of weak attempts to parody other Magic School novels was meant to take a shot at being subversive, but he couldn't really commit to them because then we might not take his awesome character seriously if he follows through with it. Every so often you'd get a sense that he was tiptoeing toward some Pratchett-style, only to run away again before anyone could catch him.

[mel-redcap.livejournal.com]

*sporfle*

Lovely summary. Note to self: do not pick up this book, unless there is a bug that needs killin' in the bookshop.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Hell, you could probably kill a raccoon with this one.

[broken-moons.livejournal.com]

Eep. Sounds... draconic.

*Including one page devoted to Kvothe hoping his parents were having some good sex when they were killed.

...There is no emoticon for the face I made when I read that.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I think it was supposed to be in an "I hope they had a few moments of happiness before the end" way, but it came off really strange.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

I did spend most of the books saying to myself "Kvothe the raven: Eat my shorts", because I can't have enough stupid crossover references in my brain at once.

I did enjoy both books. Yes, he is an arrogant self-inflated tool, and worse. His "love interest" is easily the lamest part of the series. I'm reading because I want to see him fail. I want to know what happens that crashes his tower of arrogance down around him.

He spends 100 pages in book two having sex with a fairy. Maybe it's better than I just described it, but only because of the evil tree. Heh.

[ravenofdreams.livejournal.com]

Isn't better. Is worse. Only funny part was his fairy sidekick's "WHAT THE HELL" reaction to the evil tree revelation.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

In my mind, the movie adaptation has Alan Rickman being the voice of the Evil Tree. The movie is totally worth it for that alone. ;-)

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I'm reading because I want to see him fail.

*grin* I can respect that.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

Mildly revolted minds apparently want to know...is this 100 pages of sex in the book, or a 100 page sex scene?

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Ok, I wasn't exactly specific here. Over the course of about 100 pages, he ends up in a mythical realm with some ultrasexual fairy queen seductress type, and she teaches him all about sex. AAAAALLLLL ABOUT IT. Not graphically; it's just assumed in the pages. But pretty much he hangs out in this faerie realm for a long time having lots of sex. And getting a few other things done, but mostly the sexings.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

Read this one, then: http://www.amazon.com/Among-Thieves-Tale-Douglas-Hulick/dp/0451463900/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314371352&sr=1-1

It manifestly does not suck.

[gryphart.livejournal.com]

AGREED. Every few years, there's some new suuuuuper genius on the market, and about half the time, I end up saying, "Meh, don't get the hype." I kept expecting that Kvothe would eventually grow up in some way, or that the ladyfriend would finally tell him off, or... something. Nope.

It simultaneously borrowed the bits of YA I don't like, the bildungsroman plot I'm bored with, and the Long Epic Boredom of a bad GRRM novel.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

... I reacted to GRRM the same way I did to this book. "Okay, his prose isn't bad, but why is this such a big hairy deal?"

Rothfuss seems to have forgotten the essential point of a bildungsroman story is that there is some CHANGE in the protagonist. And I think he was trying to parody some tropes (such as the charges the university's always levelling against him), but it just came off a little forced and, well, hipster.

[gryphart.livejournal.com]

Heh.

I liked the first three Ice and Fire novels, but then, I liked the first few Wheel of Time novels, and then chucked both when their respective authors ran out of interesting stuff to do. I do think more plot happened in either of those than Name of the Wind, and whiners tend to get a smackdown, but I suspect neither is Literature For The Ages. (Even my favorite recent-ish books are more yay!adventure than memorable prose - Locke Lamora type stuff - because I increasingly just want a plot that GOES, not Idiot Ball Soccer, angst or endless boinking.)

[westrider.livejournal.com]

I thought they were both pretty fun, but I also don't get the "This is the Awesomest Thing in the History of Forever" reviews they seem to get from many people. My theory is that there's a certain set of personality types that this really clicks with, since I can almost feel that there's something powerful there, but can't quite touch it myself.

The second book is slightly better, but not enough so that it's worth picking up if you weren't at least on the borderline with how much you liked the first one.

The overall tone of this review really reminded me of my reaction to A Game of Thrones. Talk about too much slog for too little payoff...

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I was unimpressed with George RR Martin, too. I seem to be a bit out of sync with the popular fantasy of the day.

I think my overall problem may be the same with both of them: they're a little too impressed with their own cleverness and just how dang iconoclastic they are.

Alternatively, maybe they're insecure. I've always wondered about those grossly bloated volumes that seem the special forte of a certain kind of (usually male) fantasy author.

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

GRRM is somewhat different from a lot of other fantasy authors in that his books are harder to predict and he kills off way more characters. And not just at the end. But that makes me, at least, wind up not caring about the characters very much since it seems to be more of a "who would be most shocking to kill now?" kind of thing. In something more formulaic, you'd expect one or two major deaths along the way, to show that things are Very Serious, and then more in the climactic parts at the end of the saga.

It is interesting, at least to me, but I wish there was a cliff notes version.

Interesting theory about the certain kind of fantasy author, usually male. I'm thinking over fantasy saga type books, and the most bloated, even the ones that I do like, are male authors. Even something as completely formulaic as the Belgariad makes for a bunch of thick books, probably didn't need to be quite that long, and was written by a guy. Whereas even though the last couple of Harry Potter books got pretty thick, there was less bloating than the male authors do.

[ravenofdreams.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that though I Did Not Like These Books for much the same reasons you did not, I am going to have to read Book 3 now. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that he gets what's coming to him, and seeing as he's hiding in bumfuckmiddleofnowhere and has a bounty on his head, I think he does. I want to see it happen SOOOOOO BADLY.

On the downside, that did mean that I had to read Book 2, of which a major chunk consisted of Kvothe-the-Blithering-Virgin turning into such a massive Sex!God! that the culture's chief succubus fairy not only lets him live, but gives him all kinds of cool fairy magic's. Could seriously have done without that.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I'm REALLY glad I didn't pick up Book 2. I hate sex scenes.

[caprine.livejournal.com]

- Kvothe suddenly remembers the whole revenge thing and decides that in order to get information on the asshole demons, he needs to go to Hipster Hogwarts University. He applies, and they let him in because they know he’s the protagonist. (47 pages)

I am ded of ROFL.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I liked it when I read it, but then I met this one eighth-grade kid who was arrogant and knew everything and didn't respect me-- he told me so-- and second-guessed everything I told him and was generally... well, it turns out I still want to Show Them All.

The book is all about Showing Them All. I like that. I like having someone who Shows Them All that I can kind of pretend is me.

The problem is that I'm also the teacher, and it just doesn't work for me that all of them would react in exactly the way to make Kvothe Show Them All.

"I already know everything in this class and really shouldn't be taking it, especially since my funds are limited."
"Okay, meet me in my office after the first lecture. I'll give you the final exam and the practical. Everyone has a different perspective on this, though, and it might be useful for you to see what approaches your fellow students take to these problems."

Instead, everyone lines up to be sucktacular.

[cougarfang.livejournal.com]

As one who hated "Catcher in the Rye" and could not finish the damn thing, this sounds a little like an overinflated "Catcher in the Rye". I'd like to know - how off is that assessment? ^^;;