final draft
The Name of the Wind
Suhail ALzaabi
The Name of the Wind is the first novel to be written by Patrick Rothfuss and he is alleged to be the bestselling author of The Kingkiller Chronicle.
There are various reasons that led to Rothfuss becoming a fantasy author when growing up and despite him achieving his dream, there are still debate surrounding his work.
Patrick Rothfuss has framed heroism in his fantasy book in a unique and interesting way that makes readers like the book. It also took the author fifteen-years to write the book and there are some reasons behind it.
Further, I will be describing the setting of the book and some of the major themes employed in the novel by Patrick Rothfuss.
Accordingly, the time period of the novel is set in the middle age era of fantasy, in a rural town known as Newarre, inside of an inn. Chronicler is a wondering scribe who makes his own way to town seeking information on a man known as Kvothe (Rothfuss 13).
Chronicler wishes to write an autobiography of Kvothe following his numerous accomplishments and legendary actions such as assassinating a king. He meets Kote who acts as an innkeeper after asking severally around the town and it finally reveals that he was actually Kvothe the man he has been looking for (Rothfuss 15).
The fourth wall is drawn as broken to show that Chronicler is actually writing everything said by Kvothe into a book.
Patrick Rothfuss was asked about his script process, the supernatural systems and the basis of which he deemed his opening draft as “hot mess.” The most inspiring part of the interview was about how he shaped the first novel in a period of 15 years from an original draft into the addictive magical gambol (Childs 1).
Similarly, the early strives of understanding to inject more tension into the book made him take 15 years of writing and the more he worked, he learned to write beyond his own experience (Childs 2).
To demonstrate, to be specific about character Denna, Rothfuss asserted that she has been always the hardest character to bring into his book. The personal life behind this is that he started writing when he was nearly a 20-year-old boy and he could not understand women at the time, much of which he does now (Schnelbach, 1).
Over the course of those 15 years, The Name of the Wind underwent such an essential reworking, making the main story threads fundamental to the novel including the mystery of the school archives, Auri, and Devi which were scarcely present in the original draft.
The scientific underpinnings made it stable for the sympathetic magic system despite the constant shift and dramatic change experienced by the author (Childs 3).
To demonstrate, the author explains that it is difficult to have an interconnected system which bears up under the analysis of intellectual readers, with mere calculations.
In addition, responding to a question about who makes into the desirable Author’s Favorite character spot, Rothfuss said Auri and Elodin would always be very close to his heart.
He also explains how his life as an author diverges from the mythology of what it is to be a writer (Childs 3).
The consistency in his writings gave him new ideas of how he was supposed to craft a new draft.
Correspondingly, there have been comments on Rothfuss becoming the next fantasy’s superstar.
Despite many comparisons have been made comparing him to George R.R. Martin as both having embarked on fantasy series they have yet to accomplish, they have bent the tropes of the genre in very different ways (Crockford 267).
To illustrate, Martin is like a sociologist who documents the disputes of the martial families of Westeros in scholarly while Rothfuss is much into lyricist, developing lovely sentences that confine the tone of his protagonist’s inner life.
However, both their work tends to draw in readers who are comparatively new to the dominion of magic and dragons (Crockford 277).
One of the critics about the work of Rothfuss is that its unconventional structure making the plot summary difficult but makes fans to develop numerous theories explaining the intricate mysteries at its heart.
Correspondingly, The Name of the Wind serves as an appropriate counterpoint to other sorcery tales that might stimulate or hold the public’s growing cynicism towards the high fantasy genre.
Framing heroism, we must consider Kvothe, understand his fall from grace and the story’s framing device. The word, “waiting to die” image ends the novel’s opening view, a meager chapter featuring the disturbed Kvothe living as a small town innkeeper under the unspoken name Kote (Tikkanen 12).
Rothfuss’ sensitively textured take on various genre staples which is an emergence of an intelligent mentor shape introducing the hero to magic.
Kvothe describes the life in the mean streets of the settings of a major urban center, the university days, the cue friends and rivals and the tentative inroads towards solving the Chandrian mystery (Tikkanen 12).
Nevertheless, the first-day narrative ends a triumph note, Kvothe humiliates his rival, slain the dragon, reaffirmed peace with the university and made moves in his romantic hunt.
The themes of love and education are vividly portrayed in The Name of the Wind (Rothfuss).
Symbolically, Kvothe struggled so much to be capable to attend University which reveals that he valued education.
Lack of funds to pay for university fees reveals how education is more expensive to afford it.
On the other hand, when Kvothe lost his parents, he spent nearly three years in the streets totally distressed about the whole event (Rothfuss 267).
It reveals how important they were to him and how much he missed being with them caused a lot of stress.
Conclusion
Overall, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss has various ideas that need to be considered in the literature.
The book is amazing and has helped me understand the literature that is beyond my level.
It has also shown the importance of taking time to review a piece of art so as to generate new ideas and formulate the best draft for readers to enjoy.
Further, the novel shows the importance of having education, especially for the young generation as it leads to success and prepares them for a better life in the future.
Bibliography
Childs, Ethan H. "Writing Fantasy." (2016): 1-3.
Crockford, Nicola J. Literature Review of The Name of the Wind. No. JNCC--27. Literature Review Committee, 2013: 255-300.
Rothfuss, Patrick. The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle. Vol. 1. Hachette UK, (2010): 1-649.
Schnelbach, Leah. Patrick Rothfuss on why it took 15 years to write The Name of the Wind. (2016): 1-3. Retrieved from https://www.tor.com/2016/08/15/patrick-rothfuss-name-of- the-wind-writing-process/
Tikkanen, Tapio." You may have heard of me": An Archetypal Analysis of the Protagonist of Patrick Rothfuss The Name of the Wind." (2016): 12.