This is stuff most of you know already, but since I wrote in the margins this time around, here are my notes (all page numbers are from the paperback with the Gift on the front):
1. p 153 Gen tells the Magus that when someone's clever, they're told they're clever enough to steal Hamiathes's Gift and also what happens when someone gets caught. "He [the magus} wasn't surprised that I knew. I suppose crime and punishment are things that most thieves keep track of." But that's NOT how he knows.
2. p 193 Gen shows the magus the Gift and the magus says, "You are a wonder, Gen. I will carve your name on a stele outside the basilica, I promise." And Gen laughs. Heh, so did I. Since Gen knows there's no way that's going to happen.
3. p 195 "He offered me two pieces of leather thongm one longer than the other. I tied up the end of my braid with the long one and kept the short one to use later." Gee, what for? p 197 "I brushed shoulders with the magus for just a moment...." Heh, I so caught this the first time I read it and I thought I had the big plot twist in the bag. Little did I know there was so much more to come! p 199 "I stared at him with my mouth hanging open like a horrified gargoyle." Nice act, Gen. p 200 "I very carefully rebraided my hair and watched." Heh. p 220 "When he didn't notice the bump under my hair at the base of my skull, I gave up protesting."
4. p 205 Gen's little act of deferring to people (and it WAS an act) is now over. We really get a taste of true Gen in a rage, snarling at everyone--even the magus--and generally acting like he's superior. Different than we (or the other characters) have seen him before.
5. p 216 "I'd sworn to the gods from the king's prison that I wasn't going to embroil myself in any more stupid plans." Heh.
6. p 233 "I have no particular loyalty to the king of Sounis, your majesty." Truth!
7. p 235 The god Eugenides says "His wife died in winter. His three children live with their aunt in Eia." He's talking about the magus, right?
8. p 240 Gen displays extensive knowledge of Attolia "This is a ledge that runs around the entire castle." And p 249 "There's a bridge."
9. Cross-reference pp 245 and 262. Gen's bedroom!
10. Cross-reference pp 262 and 143. Gen feels safer with mountains rising up around him.
11. p 223 "Something unpleasant had happened." pp 226-227 "That was the muddled and awful part. I'd felt my life dragged out with the sword, but in the end my life wouldn't go. It had stretched between me and the sword. I think that only the power of the gods could have kept me alive, but my living was at the same time an offence to them. I should have died, but instead the pain went on and on. Dying would have been so much easier." p 273 "There is something horrible and frightening and, I'd discovered, very, very painful about being trapped in this life when it is time to move on." The effects of Hamiathes's Gift, which didn't completely register the first time I read the book. And when he says something unpleasant happened, he's not just referring to having killed someone.
12. The last page where Gen reveals why he's telling the story. I realized Gen isn't necessarily being misleading when he leaves out certain facts in his narrative. After all, he's writing it down for Eddis, and is thinking of sending a copy to the magus. Both people already know the pertinent gaps in the narrative, just not all the details.
13. Also, I really loved and highlighted any little snippets about Gen's parents. SO fascinating!
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Date: 1/29/10 09:13 pm (UTC)1. p 153 Gen tells the Magus that when someone's clever, they're told they're clever enough to steal Hamiathes's Gift and also what happens when someone gets caught. "He [the magus} wasn't surprised that I knew. I suppose crime and punishment are things that most thieves keep track of." But that's NOT how he knows.
2. p 193 Gen shows the magus the Gift and the magus says, "You are a wonder, Gen. I will carve your name on a stele outside the basilica, I promise." And Gen laughs. Heh, so did I. Since Gen knows there's no way that's going to happen.
3. p 195 "He offered me two pieces of leather thongm one longer than the other. I tied up the end of my braid with the long one and kept the short one to use later." Gee, what for?
p 197 "I brushed shoulders with the magus for just a moment...." Heh, I so caught this the first time I read it and I thought I had the big plot twist in the bag. Little did I know there was so much more to come!
p 199 "I stared at him with my mouth hanging open like a horrified gargoyle." Nice act, Gen.
p 200 "I very carefully rebraided my hair and watched." Heh.
p 220 "When he didn't notice the bump under my hair at the base of my skull, I gave up protesting."
4. p 205 Gen's little act of deferring to people (and it WAS an act) is now over. We really get a taste of true Gen in a rage, snarling at everyone--even the magus--and generally acting like he's superior. Different than we (or the other characters) have seen him before.
5. p 216 "I'd sworn to the gods from the king's prison that I wasn't going to embroil myself in any more stupid plans." Heh.
6. p 233 "I have no particular loyalty to the king of Sounis, your majesty." Truth!
7. p 235 The god Eugenides says "His wife died in winter. His three children live with their aunt in Eia." He's talking about the magus, right?
8. p 240 Gen displays extensive knowledge of Attolia "This is a ledge that runs around the entire castle." And p 249 "There's a bridge."
9. Cross-reference pp 245 and 262. Gen's bedroom!
10. Cross-reference pp 262 and 143. Gen feels safer with mountains rising up around him.
11. p 223 "Something unpleasant had happened." pp 226-227 "That was the muddled and awful part. I'd felt my life dragged out with the sword, but in the end my life wouldn't go. It had stretched between me and the sword. I think that only the power of the gods could have kept me alive, but my living was at the same time an offence to them. I should have died, but instead the pain went on and on. Dying would have been so much easier." p 273 "There is something horrible and frightening and, I'd discovered, very, very painful about being trapped in this life when it is time to move on." The effects of Hamiathes's Gift, which didn't completely register the first time I read the book. And when he says something unpleasant happened, he's not just referring to having killed someone.
12. The last page where Gen reveals why he's telling the story. I realized Gen isn't necessarily being misleading when he leaves out certain facts in his narrative. After all, he's writing it down for Eddis, and is thinking of sending a copy to the magus. Both people already know the pertinent gaps in the narrative, just not all the details.
13. Also, I really loved and highlighted any little snippets about Gen's parents. SO fascinating!