2015: The Slow Regard of Silent Things – Patrick Rothfuss

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is quite frankly an odd little book. I called my friend Byron to talk about it since he had read it previously and was the one to tell me about it. We not only discussed the book’s oddity, but Rothfuss’s defense of the book in an author’s note. Byron’s take on that was, “He’s basically saying if you don’t get it you’re not enlightened.” And I can certainly see that. What I got from the author’s note was, “I know this book doesn’t follow conventions, but I like for some reason…and so do a lot of my writer friends.” And that should tell you what type of book this is; this is the type of book where you start off talking about an author’s note about the book instead of the primary text itself. This is that kind of book.

So, beyond that, what type of book is this; where does it fit in my current reading? Let me start by saying this book concerns one of the characters from the Kingkiller Chronicles, but it really doesn’t have much of anything to do with the importance of the story (at least as far as I can tell…and I think it would be a stretch for Rothfuss to make this an important part of the storyline). This book is about Auri. She is the odd lady who lives under the university, not the warrior from book two (that is Tempi). She has a special relationship with Kvothe, and as Slow Regard reveals, she really is this odd little creature of a woman. She has problems, but she know she has problems. She does thinks in odd ways, but those ways are nonetheless orderly. And she above all understands and controls her world.

One of the reasons I connect with this book, is because it regards the relationships of inanimate objects. (Wait…you connect with that? Yes! Yes, I do.) As a kid I was always making sure my toys were with the right toys and that they had a good time. I name my musical instruments and cars and apologize to my current car when I do something stupid. I think there are lots of us who do those things. Sure, I know that this thing has no soul and no emotions, but sometimes when things like bad oil or gas affect the way my car runs, it seems like it has emotions. I’ve seen certain cars that seem to be temperamental. They only start a certain way, or do some other such thing.

That is Auri’s world. She is organizing the Underthing and has to make sure that everything has its place. She moves things from room-to-room and understands the relationships of that candle to that gear, and that piece of moss to the carpet. But the thing is she is also incredibly intelligent. She can do things like make her own candles, provide food for herself, make soap and basically understand how to keep things as they should be. So in that sense it was quite an interesting book, even if it is really odd and unconventional.