May 2011 - The Name of the Wind

[Carrie]

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

[Carrie]

So there are 92 chapters in this book with a prologue and an epilogue. If I break that down into the 4 weeks of May that would be 23 chapters a week.

That will be our rough goal:

May 1-7 chapters 1-23
May 8-14 chapters 24-46
May 15-21 chapters 47-69
May 22-31 chapters 70-92

Then we can discuss each section on the weekends, or if you finish early feel free to post early.

I was thinking at the end of the month we could use our comments from each section to write up a book review. What do you think?

[Kilgallen]

I will see what I can do about getting ahold of a copy in time for the read.

[Kilgallen]

I was able to get a copy on my e-reader so it looks like the may read is a go!

[Carrie]

woohoo!

[Carrie]

I’m excited to learn that Patrick Rothfuss’s “The Name of the Wind” is this author’s first published book. He worked on this story for seven years, while going through college. 2 more years going through Grad school and doesn’t get published til 2007. I’m inspired by his persistence. Even though he had all three books complete earlier, book 2 just came out in March this year and the third is still in the works. I wonder if they are just building on the suspense factor or trying to milk everything they can out of it. On his website the Author mentions that the publishing was scheduled for a one a year basis. What happened that put such a big gap between book 1 and book 2.

[Carrie]

I am the type of person who likes to submerse myself into a book and totally ignore what’s going on outside the book. I can do that with this book but there are some sequences that bring me out of the story.

First is the story in a story. It starts out with an older Kvothe telling the story of his youth to a chronicler. I’m fine with this but every time it comes out of the telling and back to the older Kvothe, I lose the image and go back to the first. I will probably get used to this as the story progresses but I think the author would have been fine telling it from the boy Kvothe’s point of view and would not lose anything in the telling. Of course the author may have something in store that requires this approach that I have yet to reach. So it’s not too big of a thing.

The next is the foreshadowing. Most notably at the end of chapter 14 “Little did I know our time was quickly drawing to an end”. To me the sentence right before that in the previous paragraph would have been plenty foreshadowing without being so obvious about it “We were family, and I knew that any trouble between us would eventually be smoothed over. All I needed was time”. It was almost like the author was saying “did you catch that last part?” I think the chapter would have been just fine without that last sentence.

I have never read anything by this author before and it is taking me a bit to get used to his writing style. It started out slow but that might just be the unfamiliarity, after the first few chapters I was able to submerse myself for the most part and the morning went by fast as I was able to lose myself in the story.

[Kilgallen]

I found the first couple of chapters to be hard to read. They were not terribly engaging and I found it difficult to keep focused on the story line.

However I am finding myself very much liking the story Kvothe is sharing of his rather difficult childhood. I am also somewhat surprised that I am enjoying the first person narrative. I usually dislike first person as so much becomes telling rather then showing...but not so much in this story.

As for the foreshadowing I think that you need to keep in mind the spirit in which the story is being shared. I imagine that the author sees the readers of the story to be as much an audience as his "student" and the "chronicler". If you read the story with the understanding that it is being shared verbally then the less then subtle foreshadowing etc...seems less out of place.

[Kilgallen]

I have to agree that the jumping from present to past is a bit distracting. I find that I am really getting into the story and suddenly I am yanked out and I do not see the point. I certainly don't feel like there is a lot of forward plot movement in the "present" part of the narrative. Maybe the intent will become more obvious as the book continues.

[Carrie]

I feel like the author watched "Princess Bride" movie too many times. In the movie the boy interrupted the story teller a few times, which is ok for the movie but in this story it is more distracting. There isn't a lot of information being passed in these "present" moments and I find them unnecessary, except to reinforce the "I'm a character in a book telling a story" feeling instead of just telling us the story. So far I don't see a reason for the author to choose this format instead of just telling us the story through the younger Kvothe.

[Carrie]

Well I got distracted and finished the book before I realized what I was doing. I'm not used to pacing myself.

overall I think it is a good book. I still found the "present' scenes distracting and the forshadowing was a bit heavy but I enjoyed it. I wont go into the details until I know that you've finished. Don't want to give any spoilers before you're ready.

[Kilgallen]

lol....I have finished it as well.

I have never been good at reading slowly!

I did like the ending "present" sequence much better then most of the others. Finally I felt as if the switch to the present was used to move the plot forward.

Did you think that the scene in which Bast confronts the chronicler was a bit of an info dump? I mean how many times did he say not to ask Kvothe about magicand music....gee I wonder if the Chronicler will ask him about magic or music lol (You may have already guessed this but I hate info. dumps. Show don't tell!)

[Carrie]

I was rather frusterated at the flip flop between the pat and present in one part of the book. I read through a "present" section then I settle in to get back into the story only to be back in the "present" a chapter later. I think I even growled to myself. when I get into a book I hate being interrupted. The world in my head dissapates and I have to build it up again. I loose the immersion into the story.

I'm on the fence about reading book two. I'm interested in the story but I hate the interruptions. the first and last "present" sequences being the only ones where I truly felt they were moving the story.

[Kilgallen]

I do have to add that I really did enjoy the world that Rothfuss weaves. While in the past I was very much immersed in the world that Kvothe was struggling to survive in. There are many characters that I am curious about and how they further play into the story. I think I will be moving on to book two.