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A review by frankincredible
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
2.0
I love Patrick Rothfuss. I have read both "The Name of the Wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear" countless times. I travelled from Orlando, FL to Silver Spring, MD to see Rothfuss give a Q&A on his book tour. I listen to any podcast (his or someone else's) he is on just to hear what he has to say. I'll even watch him play a game I have NO interest in on Twitch. I share this, because my thoughts on this book fill me with a lot of cognitive dissonance.
I don't like this book. My core values tell me that's not possible. I like EVERYTHING Rothfuss touches. How could I not like this book? I mean, sure, the book is about Auri, who is an odd character, but I knew that going in. So what's not to like about the story?
Well, the juxt of my complaint is that reading an entire story of Auri's thoughts fill me with anxiety. Auri thinks much differently than "normal" people do (those who've read Rothfuss's other stories understand). In fact, you could say she suffers from mental/cognitive disabilities or personality disorders in the most strict view of the character. It's really hard to explain to those who have not read his previous books, but basically her understanding about everything in the world around her is less about how the nouns look, what a verb is doing, and what and adjective describes. Instead, she thinks and communicates in terms of how these things make her FEEL, what emotion they evoke. Over the course of an entire story, as opposed to a few intermittent chapters, this really drummed up a sense of anxiety in me.
I recognize this is a "me problem" and not everyone will feel this way... and for that reason, I boosted my score to two stars, but if I'm being honest, the story made me so uncomfortable that in a vacuum where my score wouldn't affect the aggregate score on GoodReads, I would give it one star.
I sincerely hope others pick this story up and enjoy it. It's just not for me.
I don't like this book. My core values tell me that's not possible. I like EVERYTHING Rothfuss touches. How could I not like this book? I mean, sure, the book is about Auri, who is an odd character, but I knew that going in. So what's not to like about the story?
Well, the juxt of my complaint is that reading an entire story of Auri's thoughts fill me with anxiety. Auri thinks much differently than "normal" people do (those who've read Rothfuss's other stories understand). In fact, you could say she suffers from mental/cognitive disabilities or personality disorders in the most strict view of the character. It's really hard to explain to those who have not read his previous books, but basically her understanding about everything in the world around her is less about how the nouns look, what a verb is doing, and what and adjective describes. Instead, she thinks and communicates in terms of how these things make her FEEL, what emotion they evoke. Over the course of an entire story, as opposed to a few intermittent chapters, this really drummed up a sense of anxiety in me.
I recognize this is a "me problem" and not everyone will feel this way... and for that reason, I boosted my score to two stars, but if I'm being honest, the story made me so uncomfortable that in a vacuum where my score wouldn't affect the aggregate score on GoodReads, I would give it one star.
I sincerely hope others pick this story up and enjoy it. It's just not for me.