[Luffy]

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1)
by Patrick Rothfuss - 3/5

Giving a book 3 stars can reflect any one thing. It may mean that the book is a harmless, fun filled story that never reached any high point. It may mean a good book with a long slow beginning. It may mean a heavily flawed masterpiece, or a book that was never meant for you to appreciate. The Name Of The Wind is not a masterpiece, is not heavily flawed, though it might be both for some readers. I think the way I see it, it's the type of book that's either not meant for me, or it's a book that falls - slightly - short of all its aims.

Take the problem encountered with creating such a hero as Kvothe, or the world where he lives. Creating a character who is a genius means a lot of hassle for a writer who is at the beginning of his career. Now that we all know that the book is a bona fide success, we know the author has won his spurs. But consider the humor of the book. The direct speech of Kvothe against, say, Ambrose. Where is the humor? There is none to speak of. Sure, the repartee is sharp, but the thrust lacks riposte. Being funny is not the same thing as being smart. As an apprentice reader for fantasy I've yet to cover ground, but looking at the horizon I see authors who do not sound funny, and I see a genre lacking in true wit. Is it an acquired trait of the genre? Surely it's tough to make jokes in a fictional world. Where's the window of opportunity for puns, nods, references? There is scarce room.

Also some authors can write up a genius character without ruffling the readers' feathers. Kvothe is a problematic child. If he is so smart, then why does he do stupidly rash things? If he survived his poverty struck childhood living on the streets, where are those instincts when he needs them? Why does his understanding of the world leaves him naive, wandering deserted streets at night without a care? Speaking for myself, I had a period in my life where I had to cope with dangerous variables. The resulted reflexes and temporary wisdom I gained from my experience stayed with me for more than 2 years after which I shrunk, intellectually, to my usual boundaries. The time period for Kvothe's story betrays the false note coming from the author. Kvothe, in short, got too dumb too fast. The book is littered with the phrase " if you haven't known that or that, if you haven't experienced such and such, then I can't make you understand". Well, I think the author has never learned to live by his wits, or he bent the truth or alloyed it with falser metal. I won't harp on Kvothe's stupidity in keeping replying to Ambrose to keep their enmity fresh or not managing his finances rightly or being surprisingly hot headed and impatient. This is because this is clear for all to see and also, well, the plot demands it.

I do so wish Denna hadn't gotten such a big role. I wish Denna, and Dinnah/Dianne etc, were separate people. The author wanted the past to come back, and I understand, wanted to surprise us with a trick of movement, and produce a flutter from his readers. But what purpose does Denna's continued appearances serve? I think Kvothe should have been allowed to forget and never meet his love again. As a result of Denna's role in the present, Kvothe never learns the lesson that the first love of a life is never the last love, or never an ever lasting one. That's a missed golden opportunity to make Kvothe mature and grow up. Producing Denna out of his hat, the author has also introduced romance and its bastard child, serendipity, into his book. Was it worth it?

For my conclusion I think that the supporting characters didn't get fully drawn. I know that the writer has a limited number of brushstrokes but would it hurt him to give Wil and Sim different voices? You can substitute that with Lorren and Elodin. I did however, appreciate the language employed by Patrick Rothfuss. It was a relief to read about the tangent of the hero instead of the bricks and mortar of the fantasy tinged world of the book. This is the dominating positive that came from reading The Name Of The Wind. Fantasy is an unexplored genre for me. To survive reading further of it, I must recognize which books I'm going to tolerate and which I'll bodily reject. This particular one got three stars from me, and that's the end of the story!