On being unobservant

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Hi, *pokes head around corner, with sheepish grin* Newbie butting in again  -

So I lent my copy of The Thief to my middle little brother last week, and he just came into my room after finishing, all punch-drunk from its sheer awesomeness to talk about it with me. (Another obsessed fan on the horizon!) So we were nattering on and on about it and I mentioned something about the part in Thief where Gen does NOT die under the cliffs. And immediately, MLB goes, 'yeah, because he's got the thing in his hair that keeps him alive.'
Which made me feel, I don't know, really, REEEEALLY incredibly slow? Because I've been reading the first two books at least twice a year for at least seven years now and only realised the significance of Gen not dying after reading about it on Sounis? Also, MLB is TEN YEARS OLD and picked it up right away???

So... my question, or discussion, or whatever, is this:
1. What parts of the books took everyone a long time to 'get'? Or that you think you should have got sooner? I'm really, really hoping I'm not the only one who was this phenomenally slow, but the books are so intricate and rely such a lot on subtext as well there must have been things that other people missed...

2. Conversely, some subtext you did pick up, and remembered? (For me, realising Gen was in the room when Attolia is 'being silent' after she sentences Relius was a very, very exciting moment XD)

Thoughts?

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I was trawling throught the archives and found some references to a letter with questions sent to MWT and answered. Is there any way I can find out what was in the letter and reply?

-Te Aroha

(edited for being even more unobservant than usual: There was a lot of talk about not noticing Gen's gift-bump in Thief a few entries down which I totally missed. Gah. Other things XD?)

Comments

[coyul.livejournal.com]

I am in need of a re-read, so I can't think of anything I've noticed or missed the first time around. But kids are very observant without really trying. My six year old brother can recite commercials after hearing them once or twice and he notices things I totally wouldn't.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

The first time through QoA I probably missed most of the hints that Gen was in love with the Queen, as well as the hints about her feelings. After the proposal scene, I immediately went back and had to re-interpret everything I'd read before. One of the things that made QoA such a fabulous book!

[kayinay.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if it fits the not "getting" it you asked, but the ENTIRE second book I spent waiting for some god to swoop down and give Eugenides his hand back. The part with the unnamed goddess was particularly killer (goodbye all hopes!).

The re-reading went better. KoA remains my favorite of the three and I wouldn't want anything different.

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I feel like there is some significance to Heiro that I'm just not getting. Anyone want to enlighten me?

[stlyn.livejournal.com]

I can't think of anything specific I missed, but I tend to forget a lot of small details, so that every time I reread them, something jumps out at me that I think I didn't really notice before. It's one of the reasons I love the books so much. It's not that common to have the sudden comprehension moments in other books, once you've read them once you've pretty much got it.

[flyingcastles.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about Heiro too. For some reason she gives Eugenides names...?

Personally I'm fond of Eugenides talking to the Magus in QoA when he's talking about Sounis causing a lot of bloodshed wanting a woman he can't have and Eugenides says, "I should be more sympathetic, but I'm going to bed" (or something along those lines).
My favorite thing about this series is that it gets better every time I read it. It's so detailed that there's always something new that I didn't notice the time before.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I'll have to think more about this, but it did take me awhile to figure out just what had happened in KoA when Eugenides went to visit the temple, and what the message he received meant. Same with the coin toss, I had to think about it for a bit.

Like Philia, the first time I read Queen I missed all the double meanings of things Attolia said about Gen in the first half of the book.

Each time I read the books I come up with something I didn't notice before. Such as, in QoA at the beginning it says Attolia "knew he wouldn't escape again" and that she wished she'd caught him inside the palace walls. All because Moira had *told* her she'd catch him this time--if she nailed up the boards--outside the palace. So she knew all this, but didn't like that it happened just the way Moira said and that she couldn't catch him without the gods' help.

Or am I making too much of all this?

[jesusphreaq.livejournal.com]

I never figured out that the coin landing lilies was the gods until reading it at Sounis comm. -_-"

MWT is so brilliant.

[9mil.livejournal.com]

I think it took me a second read through (one that I totally thought I had done sooner than um... two weeks ago) of KOA to sort of just understand everything about Costis and Gen and everybody.

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I totally never picked up on that. Don't feel bad. :\

[(Anonymous)]

The parallels between the story told to Gen in the third book and what was going on in the book took me a long pickin' time to tease out, and I'm still not sure I have it solidly together.
Also, that snippet of conversation from QoA: "Eugenides" - "My Queen?" "Only for that." "My Queen." I didn't understand that at _all_ until I read the explanation here. It's most definitely one of my favorite bits, now.

Eugenides cut himself

[suvekyynal.livejournal.com]

Read "King of Attolia" again and this time I got really strong impression, that the belly wound was not from the assassins, but Eugenides himself did it, to hide his arm wound (he stop the sword with his hand, he tell it in the bath at the end on book). When Costis saw the blood and wanted to call the doctor, Gen said No, but it was too late.

I think he did it just when Costis "stepped around behind the king to the other side (to king to put his arm over his sholder)."

And then there is this description: "For the first time, he (Costis) could see its (the hook's) knife-edge. There was a smear of blood on it, and one corner of the cuff of the king's coat was soaked."

Before that the king hold his hand only in his hip, you wouldnt do that, if your belly are cut from near the navel and all across the belly?