part 2 (of 3)hamsterwomanAugust 30 2012, 17:32:24 UTC
I still think that, given that it's Kvothe who's telling the story, a lot of it is in his head, which makes perfect sense, because he's got a HUGE ego boost and is essentially a lovelorn teenager. That's not necessarily to be liked, but I find it bearable.
Hmm, I hadn't thought of it like that... I guess I can sort of see that as an explanation for some part (in the depth of my Dragaera obsession, I'm happy to ascribe pretty much anything to unreliable narrator, heh), and while I'm still not sure what this would imply about present-day-Kvothe-the-narrator (and he is pretty open about holding his younger self up for ridicule in other cases, so, maybe that), I could sort of see it? Except the conversation with Fela and Sim at the end, because, unless Kvothe-the-narrator just made that up, or is misremembering it through the haze of an ego boost... Heh, maybe that was that. Maybe the actual conversation went like, Fela: "[What's her name, the Modegan girl] really wishes you'd make a pass at her, Kvothe", and he filled in all the rest on his own... I dunno.
Maybe I'll take it a step further and just conclude that Kvothe is making up ALL of his successes with women out of whole cloth, because he never did get anywhere with Denna and at least wants to be remembered as a suave lover of women without ever having been one in truth. And also he remembers nothing of his time with Felurian except going after her, the after-flash of her Name, and his conversation with the Cthaeh (and flashes of her comforting him), so he had to make up stories to fill that whole interlude because he didn't want to admit it, and that's the explanation for the rhyming lines and the lack of concrete feeling in those scenes and why his ruse to get away from her (the song) feels unrealistic. Maybe he's even intentionally making the whole thing kind of ridiculous, for the lulz. Or maybe Kvothe is just not as good a fabulist as Rothfuss is :P (LOL, the more I proceed down this path, the more I like this idea XP).
agree it's ambiguous, but I think it's a way of highlighting Kvothe's childhood trauma, essentially. he is not rational at all about Edema Ruh, very defensive; he never told anybody about how his troupe was exterminated,
Yeah, I could understand his actions with the false troupers, given Kvothe's past trauma. Edema Ruh are definitely his big button -- I think in just about every case, that's what gets him to forget about self-preservation and mouth off to people he would normally be trying to impress / behave prudently with. I don't think his actions with the troupe make him a good person, but I also don't think they're supposed to necessarily. Like, it could be part of the darkness Vashet, Shehyn et al see in him. He certianly thinks he did the right thing, but, well, he would.
I'm still not really sure what Rothfuss is doing setting up Kvothe as defender of womenfolk or whatever. There was that bit when he was drugged and de-inhibited when a lot of attention was drawn to the fact that he could not even consider ravishing Fela (and this was when he was not even entirely sure that one could not eat a stone), and I don't really know what that's supposed to be about or why it needed highlighting. And of course the thing with the kidnapped girls, and his repeated rescues or would-be-rescues of Denna (which, of course, are partly driven by love) and incidental rescues of other women. I am totally willing to believe that Kvothe sees himself as a romantic hero (or would really like to). I'm just wondering how Rothfuss sees him...
Hmm, I hadn't thought of it like that... I guess I can sort of see that as an explanation for some part (in the depth of my Dragaera obsession, I'm happy to ascribe pretty much anything to unreliable narrator, heh), and while I'm still not sure what this would imply about present-day-Kvothe-the-narrator (and he is pretty open about holding his younger self up for ridicule in other cases, so, maybe that), I could sort of see it? Except the conversation with Fela and Sim at the end, because, unless Kvothe-the-narrator just made that up, or is misremembering it through the haze of an ego boost... Heh, maybe that was that. Maybe the actual conversation went like, Fela: "[What's her name, the Modegan girl] really wishes you'd make a pass at her, Kvothe", and he filled in all the rest on his own... I dunno.
Maybe I'll take it a step further and just conclude that Kvothe is making up ALL of his successes with women out of whole cloth, because he never did get anywhere with Denna and at least wants to be remembered as a suave lover of women without ever having been one in truth. And also he remembers nothing of his time with Felurian except going after her, the after-flash of her Name, and his conversation with the Cthaeh (and flashes of her comforting him), so he had to make up stories to fill that whole interlude because he didn't want to admit it, and that's the explanation for the rhyming lines and the lack of concrete feeling in those scenes and why his ruse to get away from her (the song) feels unrealistic. Maybe he's even intentionally making the whole thing kind of ridiculous, for the lulz. Or maybe Kvothe is just not as good a fabulist as Rothfuss is :P (LOL, the more I proceed down this path, the more I like this idea XP).
agree it's ambiguous, but I think it's a way of highlighting Kvothe's childhood trauma, essentially. he is not rational at all about Edema Ruh, very defensive; he never told anybody about how his troupe was exterminated,
Yeah, I could understand his actions with the false troupers, given Kvothe's past trauma. Edema Ruh are definitely his big button -- I think in just about every case, that's what gets him to forget about self-preservation and mouth off to people he would normally be trying to impress / behave prudently with. I don't think his actions with the troupe make him a good person, but I also don't think they're supposed to necessarily. Like, it could be part of the darkness Vashet, Shehyn et al see in him. He certianly thinks he did the right thing, but, well, he would.
I'm still not really sure what Rothfuss is doing setting up Kvothe as defender of womenfolk or whatever. There was that bit when he was drugged and de-inhibited when a lot of attention was drawn to the fact that he could not even consider ravishing Fela (and this was when he was not even entirely sure that one could not eat a stone), and I don't really know what that's supposed to be about or why it needed highlighting. And of course the thing with the kidnapped girls, and his repeated rescues or would-be-rescues of Denna (which, of course, are partly driven by love) and incidental rescues of other women. I am totally willing to believe that Kvothe sees himself as a romantic hero (or would really like to). I'm just wondering how Rothfuss sees him...
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