Lies of Locke LamorrarheasilviaJuly 23 2014, 12:25:41 UTC
It's very interesting to me that you didn't like "Lies of Locke Lamora" for scam artist reasons... I didn't really get far enough into the book for that to be a major factor, but I didn't like the character either.
It's been a while, but as far as I remember, every character (plus the narrator) seemed to have excessive admiration for Locke - an admiration that there seemed no reason for in the actual person. This annoyed me and made me contrary, as did the (meant to be intriguing) allusions to how amazing some missing woman had been with Locke and how mysteriously that had all gone down, infesting his one-of-a-kind soul with horrible silent suffering.
I could not be interested in this mysterious woman because she wasn't there, and I was entirely unwilling to admire Locke along with every other character and the narrative at large. When the only character I found interesting (a brash mob lord's daughter) was killed in a very demeaning way, I had no motivation to read on.
Re: Lies of Locke LamorrarivkatJuly 23 2014, 12:33:39 UTC
Yeah, the missing woman does not count as a female character, and fridging the daughter (except that she wasn't mourned by anyone we cared about) was a problem. Some women get a little bit of development later, consistent with the limited focus on anyone but Locke; men don't fare better. I accepted the admiration for Locke by fellow thieves recognizing a master, after spotting the author Locke's improbable talent. I did eventually get sucked in enough to want to know what happened, but not enough to want to read the next volume.
Books like this cast Patrick Rothfuss in a better light; he's doing something very ambitious with the supercompetent (anti)hero even though I lack confidence he'll stick the landing.
Re: Lies of Locke LamorrarheasilviaJuly 23 2014, 13:02:01 UTC
Excessive admiration of the main character is one of my anti-buttons in fiction - I am aware that most other readers have a far higher tolerance for this than I, but... ack. (The 80s were a tough time for me to go to the movies, let me tell you. I always sympathized with the villain by default, simply because I could not stand the hero.)
Anti-heroes, on the other hand, are entirely my cup of tea. I will definitely have to read Rothfuss one of these days! I've heard a lot abnout him, but have yet to read one of his books myself.
Re: Lies of Locke LamorrarivkatJuly 23 2014, 13:20:25 UTC
It's possible that Rothfuss will hit your anti-button very hard. His hero Kvothe, at one level of the narrative, is exactly That Guy You Hate. At another, he's questioning and deconstructing the trope (primarily by having the real incidents differ from the myths that arise around them). However, the series is far from finished, and one reason I'm dubious is that Rothfuss so far is having his cake and eating it too--everyone does love Kvothe, except for the designated obstacles, even in Kvothe's own telling. But ... it's cranked up to eleven. Like, at age eleven he is pulling off things grown people who've studied for years can't do. It's hard for me not to read this as deliberate parody. The real question is whether there will be sufficient payoff.
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It's been a while, but as far as I remember, every character (plus the narrator) seemed to have excessive admiration for Locke - an admiration that there seemed no reason for in the actual person. This annoyed me and made me contrary, as did the (meant to be intriguing) allusions to how amazing some missing woman had been with Locke and how mysteriously that had all gone down, infesting his one-of-a-kind soul with horrible silent suffering.
I could not be interested in this mysterious woman because she wasn't there, and I was entirely unwilling to admire Locke along with every other character and the narrative at large. When the only character I found interesting (a brash mob lord's daughter) was killed in a very demeaning way, I had no motivation to read on.
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Books like this cast Patrick Rothfuss in a better light; he's doing something very ambitious with the supercompetent (anti)hero even though I lack confidence he'll stick the landing.
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Anti-heroes, on the other hand, are entirely my cup of tea. I will definitely have to read Rothfuss one of these days! I've heard a lot abnout him, but have yet to read one of his books myself.
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