Upon Re-Reading The Thief

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Anybody want to play a game of "Ooooh, sneaky Gen!" with me?

As I'm rereading The Thief for the first time in a while, I keep coming across statements that, when you know the whole story, don't mean what they seem to mean. And then when you're re-reading, you're going, "Aha!!!!"

So, for example: "Even if he [the king of Sounis] didn't remember my name or whether I was common as dirt..." (p. 2) Reading it the first time, you'd think, "Oh, yeah, he's in jail and he's common as dirt." It's only on re-reading that you think, "Wait a minute - he said *whether*. Which would imply the possibility that he's not!"

And "He [the Magus] wanted to know my name. I said, 'Gen.' He wasn't interested in the rest." (p. 7) So there's more to his name, hmmmm?

Wonder how many of these devious little clues we can find.

Comments

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is always fun!

My favorite is the line, some chapters into the book, where he says that when the magus asked him if he could stop chewing with his mouth open, as he had been doing "assiduously" since the beginning of their journey together, he complied "with visible effort."

(The coolest part is, I looked up assiduously the first time I reread Thief and learned a new word. Prior to that, I'd just been defining it by context. "With careful attention to detail," hmm... Imagine my surprise!)

[rosalui.livejournal.com]

And of course, how he "swore to myself I'd never do anything so stupid again," which becomes much clearer when you know the whole story. >:3

[amolegere.livejournal.com]

Early on in his cell he says "By the time I ended up there, most people in the city had forgotten the prison was ever anything but a holding pen for those who failed to pay their taxes and other criminals." Yet he clearly remembers and displays an educated knowledge of history that a petty thief in those days would not have. He's not "most people."

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

nice catch!

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I liked the part in chapter 6 when he says...

I didn't want them to think I liked being clean.

The initial interpretation is, Oh... he's one of those dorky macho boys who thinks being clean is for sissies. Of course, he says this because he doesn't want them to suspect him of not being common, and the common usually don't like baths, which is also part of the reason why he fights Pol when he gives Gen one. XD

[hapaxnym.livejournal.com]

Which now makes me wonder... given his opinion of "common people" when he tries to act the part, is Gen really such a snob*? Or does he assume that Magus & co. are?

*he is, we know, very finicky and touchy and fond of fine things. And somehow, if tossed in with a barracks of slaves, I simply can't imagine him fitting in and making friends as well as Certain Other People.

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Oh, he's definitely a snob. But his snobbery is beyond class. He holds a low opinion of most people at court, too. Really, it's hard to think of any situation where Gen would easily fit in and make friends, unless it was their world's version of a book club. ;)

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Hmmm - he might not fit in and make friends, but I'd bet money that inside a week and a half he'd be in charge of the barracks, and within not long after that he'd've taken over the entire estate and would've been well on his way to taking over Sounis!

[turtle-51.livejournal.com]

sorry, i don't have my book with me, so i can't quote it, but there's the line where gen mentions that his uncle has that much money and counts it every night.
and my personal favorite is the one mentioned above about gen liking to be clean.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love that one! His father was the king's younger brother, so I'm sure the uncle he is talking about is the late-king of Eddis, Helen's father. The Magus has no idea!

It's so funny because it sounds as if he is fibbing, but he is actually telling the truth. I've been unable to find a point at which his dialog is completely untrue.

[generalblossom.livejournal.com]

There is one where they talk of his accent, and later he thinks

""Attolian gutter is indistinguishable from Sounisian gutter," he said, and I laughed with the others. I was very content with my slang and my half-swallowed words."

rather obvious. In hindsight only!

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

I loved that line!

[(Anonymous)]

One of my favorites is where they have to do a lot of climbing in the mountains, and Gen is way ahead of anyone else, despite the fact that he's supposed to be a city-street boy who's never been to the mountains.

And of course, how Gen knows so much about swordplay, and probably could have beaten Ambiades if he wanted to. :)

~toastisyummy

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

The bump on the back of Gen's head, that he hopes nobody notices. I thought it was an injury of some kind (one of many) and Gen simply wanted Magus & Co not to fuss over it. I was kind of concerned. Second reading, I realized the bump was the Gift, hidden in his hair. =D

[timeisinfinite.livejournal.com]

I like all of the ones you guys have already posted! Also, when Gen tells Pol to be "blessed in your endeavours", which we later on learn (I learned it in CoK but it might've been in QoA or KoA but I happened to have skipped over the detail) that it is what Eddisians say.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

Also, every argument Gen has with the Magus about the proper pronunciation of "Eddis", etc...

[twelfthfantasy.livejournal.com]

I also like how at the end of the scene where Pol forcibly washes Gen, Gen mentions something like that Pol looked like he was concealing a smile. And then Gen jutted out his jaw to conceal his own expression. Which at first you think is anger/annoyance, but which I now believe to be a smirk of his own. You can just tell how much fun he had putting up a fuss like that.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I didn't notice that until this re-reading, but I think you're right! And it makes me smirk and giggle.

[magicsandwiches.livejournal.com]

I am convinced the shout out to Philonikes was a ruse. The guy on the street was not named that at all, but Gen wanted the Magus to assume he had friends in the city so he gave a call out to his buddy Philonikes.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I never thought of that!

[magicsandwiches.livejournal.com]

Also, when he recounts the history of the architecture in the city and the history of invasions and other political matters. How does a gutter rat know that? Oh, and what gutter rat has boots made special?

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

And there is a mention as they leave the city of a jewelry shop with nice earrings or some such...

[mortalasabee.livejournal.com]

One of my favorites, and the one I just can't believe I didn't notice is when, after stealing the gift, he pulls himself up into the tree "with my free hand," the carefully rebraids his hair. I mean really, what else could this mean? So obvious, and yet I never realized.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I need to buy another paperback so I can mark all these lines. What's really needed is "The Thief: The Annotated Edition" with footnotes on every page, so people can read it after they've finished the regular book and realize how very clueless they were the first time...

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I'm working on that in my copies, but it takes alot of re-reading and underlining. *sighs* Oh, well, press on then...

[teenareena.livejournal.com]

There's a scene when Gen first washed his hair and contemplated cutting the tangle mess off. Then he said he like it long coz it's useful, sometime he hide small item in the top of his braid.

Yep, he surely did!

[deirdrej.livejournal.com]

The one that I love is when they're leaving the palace and they go through the gate with the ancient stone lions. And Gen says they are supposed to roar if an enemy of the king passes. But they kept silent when he went by. (Not an exact quote-- I don't have the book with me right now!)

[daemonluna.livejournal.com]

There's a bit in the first chapter that jumped out at me, where the Magus has brought Gen out of prison:

"We may someday attain a relationship of mutual respect," he [the Magus] said softly. First, I thought, I will see gods walking the earth.

Also, Gen says loftily at one point on the journey that he's more important than anyone else there. Then I think he falls asleep...

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Yes, the "First I will see gods walking" is literally true: He does see them, and they do attain a relationship of mutual respect.

Rereading is so wonderful!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I was pleased that I knew straight away that Gen had hidden the stone in his hair and rebraided it--after all, he'd already told us he did that sort of thing--but I did miss most of the other clues. I thought he was poor, though well-read, till the end. Actually I was disappointed he turned out to be an aristocrat as that's one trope I dislike in fantasy and MWT did so well subverting and twisting the others.

I'm going to enjoy rereading.

[filkferengi]

I am, too. I'm holding off on getting book 4, so my hunky honey has something to get me for our anniversary next month. Then I'll reread all 4 at once, hopefully slowly enough to notice all these fun lines. Though, mwt tends to be like Bujold that way; I always plan to notice subtleties & wind up off on the roller-coaster ride!

[liereicarine.livejournal.com]

"Crossing the dystopia, I again felt like a bug caught out in the open. My upbringing was making itself felt, and I longed to have more of the sky shut out. The mountains did rise in sheer cliffs on my left, but their steepness shut me out instead of enclosing me." Pg 143, paperback version of the Thief.

:)

[sunshinebutter.livejournal.com]

(Can't remember the words exactly but its ok, because this is an old thread)

"If it hadn't been for them (cousins) I wouldn't have landed myself in the Kings Prison" - my favourite