When I was reading the book something was irritating me but I couldn’t tell what. I finished the book and looked at other people’s reviews and realised the thing that was irritating me was how the main character was perfect at everything especially how cringe it was that he could pick up a musical instrument after many years and play it so perfectly it brings people to tears.
Yeah. The main character is just unnaturally talented at everything. Music and magic and so on. And not just talented, masterfully talented. Except then he also sometimes just makes tremendously stupid decisions for some reason? Which felt like plot contrivances to generate conflict.
And on the other side, the antagonists also felt very flat to me. They are bad because they oppose the protagonist, and therefore they do bad things and are unlikable.
I have heard people talk about the story being narrated by Kvothe himself, and so there are likely “liberties” taken. He does say he may exaggerate. But how much book does one have to slog through before the payoff of the unreliable narrator lands?
It also has quite some misogyny if you think that he is friend with the girl he “loves” just because he wants her to fall in love with him but, somehow, it’s not the right time yet. But if he keeps being there for her, she is going to fall for him! So sleazy.
I know it’s a love-it-or-hate-it type of book, but Name of the Wind. Beautiful prose. But just the most uninteresting lead characters and antagonists.
When I was reading the book something was irritating me but I couldn’t tell what. I finished the book and looked at other people’s reviews and realised the thing that was irritating me was how the main character was perfect at everything especially how cringe it was that he could pick up a musical instrument after many years and play it so perfectly it brings people to tears.
Yeah. The main character is just unnaturally talented at everything. Music and magic and so on. And not just talented, masterfully talented. Except then he also sometimes just makes tremendously stupid decisions for some reason? Which felt like plot contrivances to generate conflict.
And on the other side, the antagonists also felt very flat to me. They are bad because they oppose the protagonist, and therefore they do bad things and are unlikable.
I have heard people talk about the story being narrated by Kvothe himself, and so there are likely “liberties” taken. He does say he may exaggerate. But how much book does one have to slog through before the payoff of the unreliable narrator lands?
It also has quite some misogyny if you think that he is friend with the girl he “loves” just because he wants her to fall in love with him but, somehow, it’s not the right time yet. But if he keeps being there for her, she is going to fall for him! So sleazy.