Rothfussians discussion

I think was something discussed a couple years back. However, I really don't want to sift through 100s of archives.

I'm currently rereading/listening to TNOTW. I'm almost done and have lots of thoughts. But most importantly I've realized we are getting one side to the story and only one version. What are everyone's thoughts and opinions. It has made me read the story differently and I am even skeptical about Kvothe.

And that's where the book's merit really comes in. Pat has created a real-life entity around a fictional character: Kvothe. In the very least, he wants us to be skeptical of his protagonist. Is Kvothe even a good person / character? Who's to say? We don't have any other side of the story. For now, we'll have to trust him until the Chronicler meets Ambrose, Denna, or even Simmon, considering everyone from the story and Kvothe's life isn't dead.

Oh that would be fantastically brilliant, and potentially heartbreaking if Rothfuss later provided us future stories about those who are close to Kvothe. Perhaps the stories they have to tell are much different than what Kvothe tells us. Maybe Kvothe is a giant douche (that would be the heartbreaking part). Perhaps Kvothe really is the "bad guy"?

Very interesting thoughts indeed.

I've specifically thought this about Kvothe and Denna. It reminds me of the movie 500 Days of Summer. Great movie. The real story doesn't come together until you get the other side of the story. I feel like it's a plausible outcome for Kvothe as well.

Ok, this is so... annoying! I can't even emagine that Kvothe is the bad guy or a douche. I know it is possible, since we only know his side of the story, but really? Can it be? How would that be for all fans if Kvothe turned out to be a jerk?

How would Harry Potter fans react if Harry was a douche all the time but they just realized it in the last 50 pages? I'm not sure about this theory but it surewould suck.

I don't think it would make him a jerk...just human. To me it's just a part of everyday life. You hear someone tell their version of a story and pose an opinion. But that opinion of the outcome is sure to change when you hear the other side. Everyone one has a story to tell and a lot of times that story is changed with a simple perspective change. This evident in 500 Days of Summer.

As for Harry Potter, he was a jerk. Especially in the 5th and 6th book. He was a angsty teenager dealing with a shit ton of problems. The world was, for the most part, against him. It made him more human and a more believable character to dislike him every now and then. At least for me it did. And I never faulted him for being pissed at the world. I thought he was validated in his emotions.

Jessica wrote: "I don't think it would make him a jerk...just human. To me it's just a part of everyday life. You hear someone tell their version of a story and pose an opinion. But that opinion of the outcome is ..."

Well I'm not saying I don't wanna hear the other half of the story. It's important to hear that to. It would even clarify some parts of the story. What I don't want is to read the books all loving kvothe... just to read on the last 50 pages that all of it was in a good perspective because kvothe told it and he normally is a total jerk. Imagine him beeing at ambroses position? I mean that kind of jerk. Not beeing a jerk sometimes, because we all are.

It is safe to say; Kvothe, is an unreliable narrator. He explicitly tells the Chronicler this very near the start of his telling. But he also states that some things will be amended later. Basically, he is describing events as he viewed them to the best of his understanding at the time the events occurred. Considering all the blunders the reader witnesses him make...

Part of the beauty of this story is, it really makes you work for right or wrong. Can a "right" person be "evil"? Can an evil person do good deeds? This is a story of grey's.

I didn't really catch on to this in NotW, but it became ABUNDANTLY clear in WMF. There were moments in WMF that were really frustrating to me until I looked at it from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. Basically I didn't always agree with the parts of the story that Kvothe chose to tell....

Yes! Me too!

For example, his journey to the Maer. It was like a two month journey that involved pirates and a shipwreck, and he summarized in like 3 sentences and basically said 'I don't want to talk about that.'

But he was HAPPY to talk about Felurian for 100 pages.

He also didn't want to discuss his trial which bothers me

I hope it'll all come to conclusion once Pat releases the third book. I never really thought about the narrator like this. but after reading your comments. It makes much more sense.

Trent wrote: "For example, his journey to the Maer. It was like a two month journey that involved pirates and a shipwreck, and he summarized in like 3 sentences and basically said 'I don't want to talk about ..."

I do think Kvothe is an unreliable narrator, or at the very least a fallible one. And I can't argue against any person's subjective reaction to the story, so if part of it bugs you or doesn't work for you, that's valid. When I first read it, the journey to the Maer summary left me with the following impression: the story Kvothe is telling Chronicler is the story of how a young Edema Ruh boy became the legendary Kvothe. Both novels, almost every plot point that gets discussed in detail, it's all about Kvothe's personal journey of self-education. They're all pieces of the puzzle, how did he learn music, how did he learn street smarts, how did he learn alchemy, how did he learn ninja sword skills, etc. etc. etc.

So the sea voyage, while it might have been full of incident, was probably a stretch of time where he didn't really learn anything, or at the very least didn't learn anything that fed into the Legend of Kvothe. So it gets skipped over as a result. On the other hand, the section with Felurian might seem excessive or even self-indulgent but the fact is while he's in her realm Kvothe is learning so much, about the Fae, about the arts of love, and so on. So it gets dwelt on a bit more.

Kvothe is a legendary lover of women, so the Felurian section explains how that came to be. Kvothe has a shadow cloak, and ditto. But the logical inference is that there's nothing in the Legend of Kvothe that came directly out of his sea voyage to get to the Maer. So it gets the minimal possible mention to bridge the other parts of the story - being at University, being in service of the Maer - which do contribute to how the Legend came to be.

Just my personal theory, for what it's worth.

I agree with the above. I understand why he has made the choices he has in telling his story. Honestly most of it didn't enter my mind until I decided to reread them this year. It's his story to tell and I respect that. It still doesn't take away my feeling of skepticism as he tells it. He can set things right...he can also set things the way he wants people to perceive them/him. He is edema ruh after all. And I'm not saying he's bad. He's human. We all do it. Some are better at it than others. If anything it's added a whole new level of interest in the story for me. :)

I agree with the above. I understand why he has made the choices he has in telling his story. Honestly most of it didn't enter my mind until I decided to reread them this year. It's his story to tell and I respect that. It still doesn't take away my feeling of skepticism as he tells it. He can set things right...he can also set things the way he wants people to perceive them/him. He is edema ruh after all. And I'm not saying he's bad. He's human. We all do it. Some are better at it than others. If anything it's added a whole new level of interest in the story for me. :)