The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
As of May 2013, The Name of the Wind has a rating of 4.56 on Goodreads and since its release in 2007, over 105,000 people have rated this book. The book I borrowed from the library is 662 pages, which means more readers than not read this massive book in its entirety and loved it.
Needless to say, I had high expectations. It saddens me that I'm in the minority and did not like this one at all.
Something that really annoys me is when books are plagued with similes and metaphors. To me, it signifies the author is trying too hard to be clever. I like a good simile, but it is hard to write one that doesn't sound cheesy or cliched. What's even worse is when there are 3 or more similes on one page or in a single paragraph. Here's a small sampling from this book:
Page 115: "I felt a stab of feeling penetrate the confusion I clutched around me like a thick protective blanket."
Page 116: "Though the sky was still bright with sunset and nothing stood between the fire and where he sat, shadow pooled around him like thick oil."
Page 116: "I could catch a glimpse of a deep cowl like some priests wear, but underneath the shadows were so deep it was like looking down a well at midnight."
Page 116: "Cinder's arrogance left him in a second like water poured from a bucket."
Page 117: "He fell forward onto his hands and beads of sweat fell from his face to patter on the ground like rain."
Page 122: "As he continued to load the barrow, he moved slower and slower, like a machine winding down."
I'm not saying these similes are all bad, but they are numerous and there were quite a few that caused excessive eye-rolling and sighing.
I stopped reading at page 122.
The story drags on and on and there are many pages where nothing happens. I couldn't subject myself to this mind-numbingly dull story any longer. The only thing I learned during the first seventeen chapters is that Kvothe is the smartest young man in existence and he excels at everything he does. His reputation demonstrates that everyone is either enamored by him or fears him. I know enough about this book to come to the conclusion that I don't want to waste any more of my time reading it.
