BGGWW Books discussion

I read this book about a year ago on Ben's recommendation and wasn't wild about it, but I liked it enough to want to read the sequel. And that means rereading the first book, since I've forgotten most of what happened beyond the basic plot.

Right now I'm just a few pages in and I'm remembering one of the things I especially liked about it the first time through: the role of the oral tradition. There's a spot in the first chapter where the characters throw around some competing axioms ("A tinker pays for kindness twice" vs "A tinker's advice pays kindness twice") and are corrected by someone who quotes the original source, a folk rhyme.

As someone who is interested in the way language and idioms change over time, this tickled my interest.

And now I am remembering the things I didn't like. I'm up to about chapter 10 right now, so this is maybe in the wrong place, but there's no other thread right now and I think that chapter 7 might be a little to soon to cut off anyway.

(minor story spoilers follow)


What I don't like is how easily Kvothe just picks up new abilities like they're nothing. He learns a technique called Heart of Stone, which allows one to "set aside your emotions and prejudices and let you think clearly about what-ever you wished". That seems like a very important thing, and a big source of character development--but the change takes place over all of two sentences and doesn't change Kvothe's personality at all. He might as well be writing "Dear Diary, today I learned to whistle."

Wes wrote: "Right now I'm just a few pages in and I'm remembering one of the things I especially liked about it the first time through: the role of the oral tradition. There's a spot in the first chapter where the characters throw around some competing axioms ("A tinker pays for kindness twice" vs "A tinker's advice pays kindness twice") and are corrected by someone who quotes the original source, a folk rhyme."

I loved this aspect of the books as well. In my dreams Kvothe winds up as a pale, nerdy linguist in his old age.