⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
“Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating ... but there are other ways to understanding.”
Oh. Goodness. Me! Well, I finally read this beast of a book in its entirety after attempting a few years ago. I'm so glad I gave this a second chance! I'm not going to go into too much detail on the synopsis of this book because:
1. It's too complex and I would butcher it!
2. It's best to go in fairly blind.
3. I'm sure you've seen this book around and don't need another explanation.
However, I would like to say that this book is plain and simple a story of a life; I kind of love that! It's a story told from an innkeeper. A traveling player. An orphan. A wizard. His name is Kvothe. It's told with Rothfuss' poetic voice and love of stories and storytelling. I saw an interview with Rothfuss where he states that, "The Name of the Wind is a backstage pass to the myth of a hero." What a perfect image!
So what makes a hero? I'm kind of new to this high fantasy genre, but I think we all can come to the same conclusion as to what people categorize as a hero (in the fairytale/fantasy sense). One probably thinks of a dashing prince saving a princess in a tower or one that defeats evil and slays dragons. Even though all three are present in, "The Name of the Wind", it's not what is prominent. It truly is a character driven story and our main character, Kvothe has lived a life of hardship, love, and dabbled in magic!
What makes this book different? The world building is so realistic, at times I didn't even feel like I was reading a fantasy. It gave me, "Les Miserables" vibes, which comparing this to Victor Hugo may be far fetched for some, but I think it's pretty accurate. I also loved all the side characters! I've recently just read all of the, "The Lord of the Rings" books and though I did enjoy them, I can tell you that I think this book is so much better! It's told with the answer to the question: What connects us all? Answer: stories. You can't have a story without a storyteller. I completely see Rothfuss as Kvothe in fictional form.
Okay, so why not 5 stars?
It's taken me about three days to even formulate my thoughts on this book as a whole and to even write a what I'm hoping will be an understandable review. This book really excels in many many areas, but it felt at times like an account of every detail the main character decided to do that day or in a certain moment. What is suppose to be ironically a story about storyteller, didn't give off that vibe at times. I wanted more of an atmospheric telling, instead of just showing us what happened, play by play. I also think Kvothe was a little too flawless and even though he sometimes didn't make the best choices he always ended up succeeding. What? Really?
Overall, despite the few things that bugged me I thoroughly enjoyed this!
If you are reading this line then you got through all my babbling. haha
Now onto book 2!
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