For the record, I view the movies exactly as you do - can't get enough of them, don't think they're accurate in the nth degree
Yep. I'll happily watch ten movies worth of The Hobbit if they were to make them, basking in the Middle-Earth sets and gleaning the bits I like while ignoring anything else. I can sort of understand why people are upset if/when the adaptations are not more faithful, but unless it's an outright perversion of the story, gimme more! (I watched the Bakshi LotR, too, and even liked it in bits.)
Maybe it's the fans of 'classic' fantasy/sci-fi? It's really hard but very fascinating trying to determine the kind of readership an author gets.
That's a very plausible point! I could see NotW attracting both the oldschool LotR crowd (due to the depth of worldbuilding) and the weaned-on-GRRM's-fic-hatin'-ways crowd (due to sheer heft... and masochism of the "when is the next book coming out?" variety, I suppose), which might account for the "ew, fanfic!" thing. Not just in his blog's comments, either. I was poking around on FFN, and there are a couple of Kvothe/Bast stories there, and like half the comments are "it was a good story except for the icky slash! I will read more if you take out the slash next time". I dunno, maybe this is common for FFN, I don't go there very often, but bit of a cultural shock, that.
I am of the Chronicler's opinion; I have a hard time believing in any sort of butterfly effect scheme when presented as such a black-and-white notion
I admit, I lol'd at "butterfly effect" in relation to the Cthaeh :D
I agree with you (and the Chronicler) that it feels silly to accept Bast's superstitions at face value (also, Kvothe is plenty capable of screwing up his own life, tyvm). Besides which, as the Chronicler illustrates, even if somehow true, it's not in any way a useful belief, so why would one worry about it.
especially in connection with Rothfuss potential Nice Guy-ness
I meant to say on the subject of that that while Kvothe avoids being a Nice Guy, it reads almost like someone (older!Kvothe or Rothfuss) feels like he ought to get a medal for it, and that's the part that I find the most disconcerting.
"She confuses me like no other thing in the world, <> I hate not understanding a thing", -
Yes -- I'm not sure it would've stood out to me as it did if I hadn't read your review before I got to that part, but I noticed that, too; it really seems like artificial tension being injected into the Kvothe-and-Denna story -- and it wouldn't surprise me if, as you say, Rothfuss didn't know what to do with them. Kvothe's libido being ~awoken is a good in-universe explanation, though!
The scene where Denna is consoling that other girl in a tavern and Kvothe is following her was rather good. Denna was the right kinds of cruel there
Yes, I liked that scene also. Or, at least, I liked Denna in that scene. The scene itself still felt a bit weirdly inserted. As far as character arc infodumps go, it was a pretty elegant one? But still felt kind of infodumpy. There are limitations to a first-person narrator, of course, but it still feels awkward when you have to have a scene of a character overhearing another character talking to a bit player who never appears again in order to learn something about their past. But I did like Denna in that scene.
Yep. I'll happily watch ten movies worth of The Hobbit if they were to make them, basking in the Middle-Earth sets and gleaning the bits I like while ignoring anything else. I can sort of understand why people are upset if/when the adaptations are not more faithful, but unless it's an outright perversion of the story, gimme more! (I watched the Bakshi LotR, too, and even liked it in bits.)
Maybe it's the fans of 'classic' fantasy/sci-fi? It's really hard but very fascinating trying to determine the kind of readership an author gets.
That's a very plausible point! I could see NotW attracting both the oldschool LotR crowd (due to the depth of worldbuilding) and the weaned-on-GRRM's-fic-hatin'-ways crowd (due to sheer heft... and masochism of the "when is the next book coming out?" variety, I suppose), which might account for the "ew, fanfic!" thing. Not just in his blog's comments, either. I was poking around on FFN, and there are a couple of Kvothe/Bast stories there, and like half the comments are "it was a good story except for the icky slash! I will read more if you take out the slash next time". I dunno, maybe this is common for FFN, I don't go there very often, but bit of a cultural shock, that.
I am of the Chronicler's opinion; I have a hard time believing in any sort of butterfly effect scheme when presented as such a black-and-white notion
I admit, I lol'd at "butterfly effect" in relation to the Cthaeh :D
I agree with you (and the Chronicler) that it feels silly to accept Bast's superstitions at face value (also, Kvothe is plenty capable of screwing up his own life, tyvm). Besides which, as the Chronicler illustrates, even if somehow true, it's not in any way a useful belief, so why would one worry about it.
especially in connection with Rothfuss potential Nice Guy-ness
I meant to say on the subject of that that while Kvothe avoids being a Nice Guy, it reads almost like someone (older!Kvothe or Rothfuss) feels like he ought to get a medal for it, and that's the part that I find the most disconcerting.
"She confuses me like no other thing in the world, <> I hate not understanding a thing", -
Yes -- I'm not sure it would've stood out to me as it did if I hadn't read your review before I got to that part, but I noticed that, too; it really seems like artificial tension being injected into the Kvothe-and-Denna story -- and it wouldn't surprise me if, as you say, Rothfuss didn't know what to do with them. Kvothe's libido being ~awoken is a good in-universe explanation, though!
The scene where Denna is consoling that other girl in a tavern and Kvothe is following her was rather good. Denna was the right kinds of cruel there
Yes, I liked that scene also. Or, at least, I liked Denna in that scene. The scene itself still felt a bit weirdly inserted. As far as character arc infodumps go, it was a pretty elegant one? But still felt kind of infodumpy. There are limitations to a first-person narrator, of course, but it still feels awkward when you have to have a scene of a character overhearing another character talking to a bit player who never appears again in order to learn something about their past. But I did like Denna in that scene.
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