The Doors of Stone

I'm coming close to dropping Rothfuss and his Kingkiller series from my list of series I'll automatically pick up soon after publication.

Why?

Well, the recent Jezebel post "Bestselling Fantasy Author Writes Icky Sexist Blog Posts" gets at some of it. The post is a bit overblown and take some of Rothfuss' stuff out of context. However, no one who is paying any attention at all will miss the fact that Rothfuss writes female characters like a bit of a douchebag. That is to say, he markets himself as a sensitive feminist man, but in reality he's an ass like the rest of us. (This is I road I've also traveled myself.) Anyway, Rothfuss reminds me of John Mayer: a dude who writes sensitive sounding songs, but treats real women like trash, show more probably because he just doesn't know any better. His prose tends toward mansplaining, his character is always right (his only flaw is an inexplicable excess of humility), and the female lead would be ever so much happier if she'd just realize that thinking for herself makes her suffer. The man knows best. Really, he does.

Apart from all this, there is a huge seed of talent inside Rothfuss' work. I enjoy reading his stuff. It is just that afterwards, when I think about it, I'm disappointed. Honestly, I think if he was more upfront w/ the mansplaining and misogyny, it would be easier to take. There are many talented misogynists who I read (Phillip Roth, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Robert Heinlein). It's the sensitive mask covering up the same old shit underneath that bugs me. show less

I'm coming close to dropping Rothfuss and his Kingkiller series from my list of series I'll automatically pick up soon after publication.

Why?

Well, the recent Jezebel post "Bestselling Fantasy Author Writes Icky Sexist Blog Posts" gets at some of it. The post is a bit overblown and take some of Rothfuss' stuff out of context. However, no one who is paying any attention at all will miss the fact that Rothfuss writes female characters like a bit of a douchebag. That is to say, he markets himself as a sensitive feminist man, but in reality he's an ass like the rest of us. (This is I road I've also traveled myself.) Anyway, Rothfuss reminds me of John Mayer: a dude who writes sensitive sounding songs, but treats real women like trash, show more probably because he just doesn't know any better. His prose tends toward mansplaining, his character is always right (his only flaw is an inexplicable excess of humility), and the female lead would be ever so much happier if she'd just realize that thinking for herself makes her suffer. The man knows best. Really, he does.

Apart from all this, there is a huge seed of talent inside Rothfuss' work. I enjoy reading his stuff. It is just that afterwards, when I think about it, I'm disappointed. Honestly, I think if he was more upfront w/ the mansplaining and misogyny, it would be easier to take. There are many talented misogynists who I read (Phillip Roth, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Robert Heinlein). It's the sensitive mask covering up the same old shit underneath that bugs me. show less

Have waited three years for this... still hyped after reading the original books like 3 times each!