Courage

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

I tried to put this under "adjectives" but the comment got eaten.

Eugenides, despite his denial of it, is brave.  

I like to contrast his and Attolia's courage in QoA.  When she thinks he will kill her, she raises her chin defiantly, outwardly brave.  When he thinks she will kill or torture him, he's willing to beg and grovel.  The outward show of bravery doesn't interest him.  But what kind of courage does it take to get yourself deliberately thrown into prison for months, on a wild chance that you'll get out again?  To try to kidnap someone who would slowly torture you if you fail?  To reach for a naked swordblade with your only remaining hand, when your hands are your most precious resource?

Comments

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

You have the most beautiful wording. I love the last question. Wonderfully done.

Anyway, this is a good point. I don't know if Attolia's action can be called "brave"--I don't know if I would call her brave, but perhaps more pragmatic. Willing to face her death because she accepts the facts as pointing to the inevitability of it. (I would call her brave for marrying Gen, but that's another matter entirely.)

I think the first instance you raised isn't necessarily bravery, because his motives for doing so were to secure his queen but also to prove himself; he wasn't ever really afraid, because he had backup plans and everything. I'll agree with the idea of bravery in the kidnapping, but especially with the grabbing the sword thing.

*pauses for brief mental image of Attolia examining the wound on Gen's hand with a mixture of "wow" and "YOU DID WHAT??"*

*adds a snarky comeback from Gen*

a good point. ^_^

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

I don't know -- I think that most of us would not have the guts to prove ourselves by doing something that involved months of suffering, starvation and quite possibly death by illness long before our plans could be implemented. And remember, that was before he had any inkling that the gods might be looking out for him.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like the expression on Attolia's face there.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Those things Gen did--some would say not brave but stupid or reckless. The move with the sword saved his life, though. Twice.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

The prison bit in Thief was not a thought out plan of action (he admits that, at some point) so I would call reckless rather than brave, but the sword maneuver was well practiced and very deliberate.

I think it is very brave to look death in the face and keep your composure. Appearance is very important to Attolia.

I agree Gen does not value the opinion of (most) others, so "putting on a brave face" is of little importance to him.

Attolia comments (in QoA) he is not trained in masking his feelings.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

That last point is very profound; I never put the fact that he was sacrificing his hand for the fight with the reality of his only having one.

Definitely worth it's own post, instead of a buried comment. ^_^

[estarria.livejournal.com]

I'd say Attolia is brave as well...poisoning your husband with your own wine definitely takes some nerve. (Especially in the scenario she was in, with very few allies.)

In QoA, when Attolia thinks Gen is dead, she calls him brave and loyal. (well, she thinks it, but doesn't say it out loud)

[jyms.livejournal.com]

on reading i just feel: i love you Gen! <3 <3 <3

[arts-inferno.livejournal.com]

Here, here!

My library just got The King of Attolia, so I finished it yesterday.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Which is your favorite of the books?

[arts-inferno.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Actually, I've been trying to decide that myself. The Thief was good-I always love an ending where I had absolutely no idea it was going to happen-but I like 'em with more complex emotions. It definitely set up Eugenides as his person for us.

For me, though, I wished that we had just a little more time to see what Eugenides was before Attolia cut off his hand in QoA-but that may have been the author's intent. Other than that, this book quickly became one of my favorites. I especially love any interchange between Gen and Attolia, and, again, I had no idea the proposal was coming, but after Gen explained it, I loved it.

King of Attolia. Wow. What was there not to love? My absolute favorite part, though, was where Gen threw a temper tantrum about not being able to kill Nahuseresh because he only has one hand-and he didn't want to upset the Queen by it. The novel was wonderful because it had all of these intricacies of plot and emotion.

So I guess it's a tie between the last two. Sorry for my super long comment. I was just trying to briefly put my feelings into words, but brevity never has been my strong point.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Ah, but we LOVE super long comments!

I love each book for different reasons, too, but I think Queen remains my favorite. I read it first, and it just blew me away. I love the angsty emotions in it, and I love every one of Gen's flaws.

[alpestars.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm missing the pont (or skipped over a part in the books where he emphatically denied his bravery), but my first reaction upon reading the post was "*of course*" he's brave!

I got the sense that his whining and his groveling were almost always done on purpose, because he enjoyed the attention of acting like a spoiled brat wanted other people to underestimate him -- to think that he was weak. Gen certainly had fun doing it in The Thief, and as for The King of Attolia... there was one memorable scene when he screamed and complained when he was getting stitches, but as soon as the queen fainted he lost all pretense of weakness and his own pain and bolted to see to her wellbeing. I mean, here Gen is, biting his lips and turning blue when his hand was cut off; the constant complaints of being tired/hungry/wounded were obviously acts, and as hilarious to the reader as they were to the attendants who were laughing at him.