The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick RothfussMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well. I read this . . . slowly, and thought about how I liked it the whole time. When I read the reviews, I was glad I'd made up my own mind, because, MAN! People are *intense* about this book and Rothfuss himself! Whew!
So: I thought it was annoying, interesting, inventive, and a bit too sweet in spots. Auri's size is emphasized constantly. She washes herself ALL. THE. TIME: I began to feel like I was watching uncontrolled OCD, even though he was aiming for ritual (I think). I also disliked how one minute Auri would be happy/fine/in balance, and then suddenly something would come loose and she'd come unraveled. Overall, I found her immensely sad: she has to keep the world in balance? She's so preoccupied with that task that she forgets to feed herself (but never to wash herself)? I think her hyper-domesticity coupled (ha!) with the fact that her final gift to the expected guest is herself set my hackles up. I also got fed up with the hints about her power, the worlds, the rooms, what she finds, etc. etc. I wanted someone to say, "Okay, here's her story:. . ." but of course, that was part of the whole point.
HOWEVER, overall, it was an intriguing read, and Rothfuss did some interesting things with words, with the idea of home, with the idea of a plot ("Waiting for Godot," anyone?), with narration and point of view. It's short, so even if you read it and hate it, you've only lost a little bit of your life compared with the amount we spend on Facebook. My advice would be to try it--check it out from your local library if you're dubious.
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