And this review from "Patrick" was brilliant, and a shock to realize who "Patrick" was...
November 22, 2013
I read this years ago, I think it was back around 2005 or so.
I remember liking the book fairly well, even though I'd never read Jane Eyre, and a modest part of the book's plot touches on that story.
But I also remember being irritated at the book. Something made me bristle when I read it. Some elements of the storytelling rubbed me the wrong way.
I remember talking to the person who recommended the book to me. I held it book up and said, rather disdainfully. "This is probably really popular, isn't it?"
My friend, who worked in a bookstore, said that no, actually, it wasn't all that popular.
And as soon as she said that, I liked the book more.
Thinking back, this memory disturbs me. And not only because it revealed a disturbing tendency towards the bullshit hipster I-only-like-things-nobody-else-likes mindset.
Worse than that, I think it shows that I was getting a bit twisted up inside because of my inability to get my book published.
You see, by the time 2005 rolled around, I'd been working on The Name of the Wind for about 11 years. 3 of those years I'd had an agent, and had been really *really* trying to get published. And it wasn't going so well.
Well... actually that's not true. It was going well because I was on the road to being the published author I am today. But I didn't know that in 2005. Back then, all I knew is that I wasn't published *yet* and because of that, I was getting a little bitter.
Well... to be fair, I was probably more than a little bitter. I was twisted up enough inside that even the perceived success of a book was enough to make it unpalatable to me.
Which is a real shame, because jump forward to now, and I've been listening to the series as an audiobook and enjoying it immensely.
It's well written and quickly paced. There's both humor and wit in ample supply. And the world is a delightfully tounge-in-cheek wish fulfillment alternate earth where the entire populace is passionately engaged in literature. There are museums dedicated to authors, political parties court the Chaucer block of voters, and Baconians go door to door, trying to convert people to their philosophy: namely, that Fredrick Bacon is the man who *actually* penned the plays credited to Shakespeare.
Short version: If you're a recovering English major, or if you're just well read, odds are you're going to enjoy this book. Ditto if you're a writer... provided you're not the sort of twisted up bitter type of writer I was back in 2005.
kirtland.zoom.us
I look forward to seeing you to discuss Matt's book choice!
