An Imaginary Conversation with Patrick Rothfuss

Every spring for the last few years, the UofA has hosted the Tucson Festival of Books, a gathering, as you might have guessed, of book people.  Being one of those book people myself and interested in scratching the writing itch I seem to have to developed in the last few months, I decided to check it out.

The panel I ended up at, Worldbuilding, featured some really great authors, the most famous of which (at least to me) was Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind.  I hadn't read The Name of the Wind when I went to the panel, but I'd heard of it from other fantasy aficionados, so I was particularly excited to hear what he had to say. And I wasn't disappointed.  He was funny and articulate, and confident without being a total douchebag (which could not be said of other authors on that panel). 

Because of that encounter, really, I decided to read The Name of the Wind. And I came away disappointed.  Not because the writing was bad or the characters were thin, but because of something much more worrisome to me: There wasn't any story.  Or, there was the beginning of a story, with a hint of much much more to come. But the whole thing seemed like one introduction.  After I finished it, I fell into a half-sleep, and in that state, Patrick Rothfuss and I had the following discussion:

(HERE BE SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

Me: Look, its a well-written book. I love the way you describe music and the way you describe Kvothe's childhood.  But he doesn't really do anything.  You just set him up to do things.

Patrick Rothfuss: Well, yeah. Its the start of a trilogy.

Me: But stuff still has to, you know, happen.

Patrick Rothfuss:  Stuff does happen.

Me:  But its boring everyday stuff. Not boring stuff. Sorry. Its just interesting, unrelated stuff.  So he goes to the University. That's great.  And he makes an enemy there. That's also great. And he falls in love. Awesome! And maybe he finds a teacher. Kickin! But none of that carries any significance.  You tell us all about that (or Kvothe does), but then the climax of the book is about an encounter with a dragon! That doesn't have anything to do with Kvothe's quest for information about the Chandrian, which also doesn't go ANYWHERE in this book.  But then neither do any of the aforementioned plot points. What is that??

Patrick Rothfuss:  Look, you want this to be some sort of fairy tale and its not.  Its Kvothe telling the story of his life as it happens and sometimes life is like that: something seems significant at the time but ends up being just another bump in the road. He knows that.

Me: I get that. I do, really. I think its an interesting meta-commentary on narrative structure.  Like, lets make our stories more real and shit. That doesn't mean its satisfying as a story. Especially since Kvothe knows the value of story-telling! Its frustrating! There's a reason, even after thousands of years that fairy tales still get told.  They resonate. Just because we want our stories a little bit more nuanced doesn't mean we want that familiar structure to go away completely. 

And what the heck is up with end? That's not an end! Its just a set up for the next book! This was my problem with Suzanne Collins too. Get your shit together and write a goddamn ending.

Patrick Rothfuss: You're getting a little belligerent, you know.

Me: Well, I'm sick of authors messing with narrative structure so much that they can't even write a goddamn first book.  If I wanted to read 300 pages of goddamn exposition, I would read Tolkien.  If you're going to write one big story divided into three books, at least have the decency not to call it a trilogy. Tolkien didn't and neither should you or Suzanne Collins. Say what you want about JK Rowling (and, as I recall you did...something about sloppy world-building), at least each of her books is a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.  Yours is just a whole bunch of beginning with the hint of a middle! You are a goddamn story tease!

Patrick Rothfuss:  You know, I think we should probably continue this conversation when I'm actually present, rather than just a figment of your sleep-addled brain.

Me: Fine. But if A Wise Man's Fear doesn't have an actual ending, I will be back, post-nap, to give you an even bigger piece of my mind than the subconscious chunk you already have.