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A review by aceinit
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
3.0
On one hand, ye gods, this novella is beautifully written. Beautifully. Masterfully. Mesmerisingly. A lot of other fancy and flighty and wistful and often alliterative words that Auri is much better at finding and arranging than I am.
On the other hand, the bulk of the story is nothing more than Auri finding and rearranging things, assigning them quirks and personality traits, and then rearranging them again to ensure everything is in its proper place. And then doing it again. And again.
And though Auri and her journeys are written with the kind of superb eloquence and characterization most writers would sacrifice body parts for, the truth of the matter is that, after the first 90 minutes or so of listening to the audio version, it started to sound like the universe’s most well-written account of OCD.
Though it is obvious that Auri holds all of her treasures dear to her heart and considers it her duty to ensure their happiness, watching her go back and forth, back and forth, doing her daily chores (which are admittedly much more interesting than “I got up, I took a shower, I brushed my teeth, I got in my car, I went to work, I played solitaire, I worked on the word processor, etc etc until the entire day is recounted), what we are getting here is a 100+ page chronicle of Auri’s daily routine that grows repetitive and frustrating as the pages keep turning. After a while, even her own reminders that she must not force her will on things, and that something is willful or stubborn or happy or restless have a ring of “been there done that... at least twice already now.”
So, in truth, I’m at a bit of a loss for how to rate it. Rothfuss is a master with words, yes, but a masterfully-written step-by-step recount of someone’s day is still a step-by-step recount of someone’s day, and what the story has in characterization and imagination, it loses due to the repetitive feel of its content.
On the other hand, the bulk of the story is nothing more than Auri finding and rearranging things, assigning them quirks and personality traits, and then rearranging them again to ensure everything is in its proper place. And then doing it again. And again.
And though Auri and her journeys are written with the kind of superb eloquence and characterization most writers would sacrifice body parts for, the truth of the matter is that, after the first 90 minutes or so of listening to the audio version, it started to sound like the universe’s most well-written account of OCD.
Though it is obvious that Auri holds all of her treasures dear to her heart and considers it her duty to ensure their happiness, watching her go back and forth, back and forth, doing her daily chores (which are admittedly much more interesting than “I got up, I took a shower, I brushed my teeth, I got in my car, I went to work, I played solitaire, I worked on the word processor, etc etc until the entire day is recounted), what we are getting here is a 100+ page chronicle of Auri’s daily routine that grows repetitive and frustrating as the pages keep turning. After a while, even her own reminders that she must not force her will on things, and that something is willful or stubborn or happy or restless have a ring of “been there done that... at least twice already now.”
So, in truth, I’m at a bit of a loss for how to rate it. Rothfuss is a master with words, yes, but a masterfully-written step-by-step recount of someone’s day is still a step-by-step recount of someone’s day, and what the story has in characterization and imagination, it loses due to the repetitive feel of its content.