Problem is, a lot of people have pointed out this passage regarding the yet-to-be-published final volume:
Today, the third and final volume remains unpublished, and everywhere Rothfuss goes, fans ask when it will be ready. “They don’t realize this is so wearying,” he said with a sigh when we spoke a few weeks ago. “It’s like asking, ‘When are you going to get married? When are you going to go to law school?’ It’s like, just fuck off. Just die. I don’t need any more of that in my life.”
I've had the pleasure of meeting Rothfuss in person and I've been interacting with him since before The Name of the Wind was published. He's always been a class act.
Given how long it's been since The Wise Man's Fear was released, I can understand how frustrating it must be to have countless readers ask about the third installment incessantly. And yet, to refer to your fans in such a fashion (thus putting the minority of angry nutjobs AND the majority comprised of respectful readers who understand that writing novels takes time into the same category) seems to be a little thoughtless and insensitive. Especially when you're supposed to be trying to appeal to the mainstream masses that will either make or break the TV show. . . :/
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11 commentaires:
The rockstars all seem to have books that seem to be taking a very long time to get finished
Seriously though, it great for Pat! :)
If Ragnar Lothbrook and his kids can be protagonists on TV then Jorg Ancrath can be a protagonist on TV. I'd rather see this happen.
Not the most professional comment by any means BUT isn't he literally staying pretty close to his dad these final days ? The third book at this time may not be that urgent
Name this wind...
(__|__) - *toot*
Big fan of the first book (most of it, anyway).
Second book was underwhelming (read it twice to be sure). Ridiculously long-winded in places, in other places rushed. Badly needed a fearless editor with a sharp pen.
Holding out less and less hope that the third will be any good, if it ever sees the light of day.
Too many other great authors to consume to worry much about Pat anymore. Which is a shame, since I was a big fan, initially...
Given what I've seen and read from Pat, I'd like to think that this was meant to be funnier and less hostile than it came off. I think he was just trying to get across the feeling of constantly being hounded by Book 3, and the quote makes it seem a lot darker than it really was.
Then again, Pat has commented on this many times, so it probably is starting to wear on him.
"it’s like, just fuck off. Just die."
A class act indeed.
/sarcasm off
To paraphrase Neil Gaiman about George R.R. Martin, I am perfectly willing to concede that Patrick Rothfuss is nobody's b***h. What I think doesn't get enough acknowledgement is the corollary fact: We're not his, either.
Mr. R. is certainly under obligation to no one (except possibly his publishers) to finish his book anytime soon, but conversely nobody is under any obligation to him to maintain their emotional investment in the series indefinitely. If pestering him is counterproductive to his process, no problem; but after a certain point, ignoring one's audience market base is going to be just as counterproductive. And the point of being a professional is living up to your commitments -- I'm married to a professional published author, and one of her biggest touchstone mottoes is, "Deadlines are your friend." When you're telling your story for the sake of its art, you can take as long as you like. When you're selling your story as a product, it's a transaction -- and transactions are time-sensitive.
For myself, I'm not part of this equation because I lost interest in the series following THE WISE MAN'S FEAR, which was the best-written example I've read of a plot going nowhere since A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. (I've described both books by saying, "I've never read a book in which so much happens and yet so little happens.") So I don't really care when THE DOORS OF STONE comes out. But I have very little sympathy for authors who seem to expect their fans to forgive them for falling out of love with the story before finishing it; no offense, Mr. R., but to paraphrase James Ellroy, "Ya signed the contract and ya took the money, didn't ya?"
You left out the part where he was quoted as saying that the trilogy was completed before the second book even came out. IMO he has way too many other things that he does like constant facebook spam and streaming vidya games to believe plausibly that he can be bothered (or intends to) finish his trilogy.
Being asked to finish your work is not the same as a 'when are you going to get married" question, because one is work that an adult takes responsibility for and the other is optional.
The book I'm most looking forward to is the final volume of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy which is unlikely to appear before 2019. Seven years after Vol 2. I know its not fantasy but even so..... Ian
Looks like he wants to follow in the footsteps of GRRM, who adopted this attitude towards his readers that they should just fuck off and die. What's ironic is that sad old man is going to do just that and without completing his series. Whats even worse is that GRRM's example is going to be a big warning to readers to think well before investing themselves into long interminable series' no matter how good individual volumes are. Because in the end whats the point if writers can't deliver closure even after more than a couple of decades.
Rothfuss is a great guy, but he seems to have decided that readers are assholes and he needs to enjoy himself and everything including fundraisers and conventions upon conventions and interviews and being a media guy is much more beneficial/ fun than actually putting in the effort to complete the books.
I also have a message for Rothfuss:
I say "Rothfuss, you fuck, nobody would ask when the third book was coming out had you not misguided readers by telling them that the trilogy was complete pre-publication. Also, you could very well imagine how popular you would be right now if you had actually disclosed the truth that it would take atleast 1 -2 decades for you to complete the series. I hope you get to your senses."
Yeah Mr. Rothfuss it is indeed like someone keeps incessantly asking when your are going to get married; only, the person asking this is your fiance who you got engaged to 10 years ago. Oops! I think your fiance is gonna dump you, you insensitive piece of S**T.
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