final draft

The Name of the Wind

Suhail Alzaabi

Phil 253-009

Mr.Christopher

April 17th,2019

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. For instance, it won the Quill Award and top as the best book of the year in the Publisher Weekly. 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. Again, 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). Further, the author uses a unique structure to tell the story and apparently he is having his own characters narrating the story to the readers. The fourth wall is drawn as broken to show that Chronicler is actually writing everything said by Kvothe into a book.

Moreover, during an interview, 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). Much of his personal growth and effort went into the crafting The Name of the Wind. He explained that art has no scale to measure the hotness of that mess and his main idea was to develop something that was different and new (Childs 2). However, he was also seeking for recognition and interesting in various ways and it becomes a challenge for him as he was completing the first draft, he realized that struggling for a balance shaped a story which seems to be detached from it.

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). Again, Denna is one of the personnel that Kvothe can opine on in an objective manner (Crockford 260). Rothfuss claims that his inability to do with Denna could be one of the genuine disappointments in his literary work. 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.

Furthermore, the reason why there was Devi in the original draft was basically that he had no idea about structuring a story. The scientific underpinnings made it stable for the sympathetic magic system despite the constant shift and dramatic change experienced by the author (Childs 3). Rothfuss explains that he had to do the math to come up with a framework that readers could appreciate differently. There is much emphasis put on the naming just like in sympathy which reveals a secondary magic system in the series (Schnelbach 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. He adds that sympathy is incredible and is among the many things one has to consider in a story besides what magic has to offer in a literary piece of work, that is the sense of wonder and delight. That is what Rothfuss has to take for him to make an interesting story.

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. However, it changes because it becomes difficult to continue writing about a character he really likes (Schnelbach 3). For instance, it is harder for him to like Kvothe both as the author and the reader since it is better to be infatuated with somebody than to be in a long-term relationship with them. He also explains how his life as an author diverges from the mythology of what it is to be a writer (Childs 3). He stresses on the hard work it takes, bad behavior and idleness, for one to stay focused on their work. 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. Kvothe is a high fantasy mirror to reality’s own greats (Crockford 301). At the first encounter in the novel’s framing device, as an appallingly vivid portrait of exhausted and post-traumatic disturbance disorder and a self-described disaster whose prominence of mind may have exceeded his spirit. Again, 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). Kvothe tells his story as a hero but goes wrong in his own words and his talent in storyteller displays his faultless memory and anxious disturbing state. Rothfuss’ sensitively textured take on various genre staples which is an emergence of an intelligent mentor shape introducing the hero to magic.

Moreover, the story is cut short after Chandrian, a mass of demons murders Kvothe's parents. 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). Periodically, Kvothe is seen to come up so as to chat with Bast and Chronicler. Rothfuss takes this chance to fill in Kvothe's own cognition gap. For instance, when Kvothe insists on making peace with his parent's death, but the third person omniscient narrator in the framing device reveals to the audience his grief. Equally, Bast is well described in these intermissions as not just the President of the Kvothe fan club but also as the Fair Folk (Rothfuss 213). 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. Kvothe ends day one peacefully for the benefit of Bast and Chronicler as well as to offer himself the strength to continue the Day Two.

Consequently, the themes of love and education are vividly portrayed in The Name of the Wind (Rothfuss). Throughout the storyline, Kvothe assertively downplays his significance. The reader understands that Kvothe is a vaunted figure as Bast and Chronicler as well as the student does (Rothfuss 66). Symbolically, Kvothe struggled so much to be capable to attend University which reveals that he valued education. Again, much of his efforts were put into trying to earn money that could have made him attend the University in the long run. 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.

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.