The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Digamos que aunque el libro no me ha desagradado, no está escrito para mi. Aún así, es un libro que creo que hay que leer.

(I gave this book two stars because I forced myself to finish. I figure that something about it must have attracted my attention enough to complete it, besides its short page count).

Do you ever have those moments where you dislike a book that other people adore? And you wonder whether there's something wrong with you?

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is up for an award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2014 and I hated it. And I feel guilty for hating it, because, as Patrick Rothfuss said, other people have loved it. But...I couldn't get into it. I felt bad for Auri, although her insanity made it hard for me to slip into her frame of mind, and the book was interesting from a theoretical point of view.

Her narration was much different from Kvothe's. The repetition of word and sounds gave an interesting insight into how she thinks. And I understand the allure of the broken, but to me, there was not enough left of what she used to be to hold my attention. As the reader, we catch glimpses, but there's little else. For some people, that's enough. It wasn't for me.

This book had no real plot. Actually, that's giving it too much credit. This novella had

no plot. We spend eight pages with Auri making candles. I had to force myself through it and I didn't give up because I enjoy Patrick Rothfuss. I just...didn't enjoy this.

I feel like I need to apologize for disliking this book. I'm sorry. I'll try to do better next time.

More of a pastiche than a story, Rothfuss takes some time to flesh out the secondary character Auri from The Kingkiller Chronicles. Auri has been a steadfast friend to Kvothe, but we only see flashes of her in the main books. Here, we find there is much more to Auri - she feels she is broken, and spends her days arranging inanimate objects in the world of the Underthing. It turns out Auri is not a weird recluse with a bad case of OCD, but a onetime alchemist with an incredible sensitivity to the world around her....everything goes in a certain place at a certain time for a reason, and these arrangements lead Auri to new realizations about herself and Kvothe. I found myself tuning out a bit now and then as Auri flitted from room to room or washed her face hands and feet for the ninetieth time, but this strange little gem of a book is enjoyable overall. I think it provides a strong background to the series and it also an interesting experiment in storytelling on its own.

Dangit. I had written an entire review for this book last night, but it didn't save... So here I go again!

This was a strange book about a strange character. There's no other way to say it. The author did warn the readers beforehand that this story wouldn't be normal, so that takes away my excuse of "I wasn't warned!"

Auri has always interested me as a character in the previous books, so I thought reading an entire story in her POV would help me understand her a little better. Boy, was I wrong. If anything, this book further cemented the fact that it will be a loooong time (perhaps never) before I understand Auri.

I don't regret reading this book, but I also wouldn't read it again. I'm giving it two stars because, in Goodreads's rating system, that means "it was okay". That pretty much sums up my feelings for this book. It was okay. It was weird. It was different. I wouldn't recommend this book. Even people who are reading "The Kingkiller Chronicle" series (such as myself) shouldn't feel it is necessary to read "The Slow Regard of Silent Things". It won't answer your questions, and you'll finish it feeling more confused than before.

To end this on a more positive note, the title "The Slow Regard of Silent Things" is absolutely gorgeous. When I write a book in the future, I will strive to have a title as poetic and mysterious as this book.

Not for everyone but an incredible masterpiece without tru plot