« on: May 07, 2013, 02:03:20 pm »
Mostly my quick thoughts and the most basic summary you could imagine of the reading done by Bakker. There were only about a dozen people there and I didn't see any video cameras so this might be the best you can get. The words that I remembered, for I am yet whole.
Chapter 3 - Ishterebinth
Late summer (no year given)
From Sorweel's POV the whole time
Starts out right were it ended, Sorweel bitches about Serwa being super hot and lamenting about how he doesnt get to plow those fields. Something about "milking his roots" (had to stick in a masturbation reference right in the beginning).
They (Sorweel, Moe, Serwa) are still jumping to Ishtere.
Sorweel thinks much about himself being a narindari (sp) for Yatwer.
A small confrontation between Sor and Moe about who is damned: The son and daughter of a god, or the practitioners of incests. (Guess its all a mater of perspective, but the idea behind that is basically how can they be in the wrong since they are the spawn of god)
Sor's face is still hidden
Serwa insists he still loves, and cannot figure out why. This absolutely conflicts with Sor's own thoughts.
The group ends up at some nameless ruins, that Moe affectionately dubs "Nameless".
They wonder around, talk about how the "ghouls" (i.e the Nonmen. I didn't realize this was a pseudonym) have been around for ages.
Something is briefly mentioned by Serwa that some of the stones have strange bruises. (The Mark I guess) She says though that its so faint she can barely see it. Different than any she has seen before.
There is a scene were Serwa freaks out on Sor. She grabs him and starts screaming at him, asking him WHY DO YOU LOVE US. (It seems like she can almost recognize that he can hide/is hiding something but she can't tell what/how)
So then she casts some flashy spell thingy. He whines some more about being in pain then he suddenly starts having flashbacks and from the day his father was killed to now. Several scenes are recounted and he mentions the various scenes with his now dead slave and Yatwer.
Through all this Serwa still cannot see his true feelings.
Sor then nearly blacks out and lays dazed on the ground. He has a vision of Yatwer talking to him, saything something about how he knows not who he truely is, and that "a power indistinguishable from" ... (sorry couldnt get down that whole quote. Ended with something like "from what will happen" or at least to that effect. Sounded a lot like the WLW stuff)
The company moves off on foot. They speak about the Nonmen and the various reasons the church has condemned them through the years. (Nothing jaw dropping)
"Sranc with Souls" (direct quote from some 'priest', though his name I cannot recall)
Serwa says they must travel the rest of the way on foot. This, because the teleporting "marks existence too profoundly". Wouldn't want to attract the Quya's attentions since "Quya are not to be trifled with"
(This whole bit sounded like they were marching to their death. Had a very gloomy attitude)
[At this point Bakker had to stop reading for a second as he corrected a mistake. He tried to move on and then says that its a first draft and he actually has to just skip a few sentence since he cant actually figure out what he wrote down]
Sorweel and Moe have a private conversation. Sorweel asks wtf did Serwa do to him back there. Moe dodges the question and again asks how/why do you still love us.
Moe says to Sorweel "You are not who you think you are"
Sor asks Why. Moe ignores the questions for a while, then says "You will know soon enough"
Sor "When?"
Moe "Before we die"
---
thus ends the reading. Sorry for the inevitable mistakes and the improper quoting of the text. That whole telephone effect thing im sure is at work here.
After he was done Bakker lamented a bit about the plight of the philosopher in this day and age, and how he created Earwa as kinda a philosophers dream. By that, he meant that it was a place much unlike our own, where people philosopher's (schoolmen) were powerful and wealthy, and people respected them
Anyways, he then let a few people ask a few questions
Some guy asked something about wanting to become a fantasy writer. Advice and whatnot.
I didnt pay enough attention to give Bakker's response due credit.
A guy somewhere behind me asked what sranc are supposed to look like.
(I almost fell out of my chair. Come on man, there are tons of descriptions of them laying around throughout the books.)
Bakker gave the standard description, pretty Nonmen faces whilst relaxing, horrible expressions whilst excited. 5 or 6 feet tall (thats like 2 meters right?).
Same fella asked what is the Nail of God.
(This guy is 0 for 2 at this point. He meant Nail of Heaven. Killing me)
After what he meant was cleared up, Bakker said that it "looks like a star". But then he kind of digresses and talked a bit about how we will all be in for some big surprises. (someone somewhere on this forum has suggested something about geostationary orbit like a ship or something. Perhaps)
A pretty cute girl asked were the philosophy comes from.
(She did mention she only started reading the books a few days ago)
His response was essentially that he cherry picks ideas that sound cool and then puts them in the book. Of course he knows and understands the background and meaning behind the philosophizing though. (Hilarious)
Some guy in a blue letterman jacket asked if the appendix at the end of TTT was supposed to be objective and truthful.
Bakker said that he wanted to create an appendix, a big one, that had bits and pieces (and whole sections)that were purposely misleading or simply wrong. He said that it was, just like everyting else, a fallible source of information.
Then he went on to say that he is working on a new appendix, and that it will not be included in TUC.
Currently TUC is 180,000+ words. (WLW was about 200,000)
The story has been written from start to finish, but this does not mean its done.
The publishers will likely want to cut sections out of the book and make it smaller.
A nice quote to end with:
"The whole series has been a strip tease ... and TUC is the g-string shooting across the room, finally leaving everything fully exposed" - R. Scott Bakker
I gotta brag a bit now. Feel free to skip this:
Afterwards me and my buddy got to sit down at the bar and have a beer with Bakker and the prof (and 2 chicks but I would guess they were just there to get a good grade, they didnt say much). Seriously amazing. Shot the shit with Bakker for about an hour before he had to leave. Did you guys know he is at least 6' 5'' if not taller? I felt rather small. He also signed a couple of my books.
One last thing, when the professor addressed Bakker, specifically when it was just them two talking and typically around the time of leaving, he called him Anasurimbor. Why?
Thats it for today. I'll be back tomorrow.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2015, 02:14:35 am by Wilshire »
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