Samuel Swenson-Reinhold --- The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss is the author of one of my favorite books of all time, a fantasy novel titled The Name of the Wind. The story is formatted as the retelling of the main character's story by the main character himself, named Kvothe. An innkeeper later in life, he lays low, trying not to attract attention to himself; he wants nothing more than a simple, quiet life. But when the Chronicler finds him, Kvothe decides that it might be time to tell his story, as there are so many stories about him (it is worth noting that Kvothe goes by Kote when he's the innkeeper). So he tells his story, bringing life to many of the legends and titles about him. One thing becomes apparent: he is everything that the stories say he is, but they might not be totally truthful. 

Before losing his family, Kvothe was a member of a travelling troupe, telling stories and performing for villages. His father was quite steadfast in his belief that all myths have some element of truth in them; Kvothe then hunts down stories about his parent's killers, the mythical Chandrian, but finds that he cannot find anyone who tells their stories (as they always end up dead). 

Still hunting for information and stories that relate to what his father was working on before he was killed, Kvothe goes to a bar and finds a storyteller named Skarpi who retells the story of Lanre. After finishing the story, the two characters converse and Skarpi says this: 

"All stories are true," Skarpi said. "But this one really happened, if that's what you mean." He took another slow drink, then smiled again, his bright eyes dancing. "More or less. You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way. Too much truth confuses the facts. Too much honesty makes you sound insincere." (Rothfuss 203)

There are two takeaways here: first, is this just an implicit understanding of fiction and storytelling among all fiction writers out there? Are works of fantasy always some riff on a myth? Is it always a retelling? My second point is actually a statement of agreement with what Skarpi claims here. While I think that I should reflect more on what Skarpi means by being insincere. Is the masking of the truth as a story what makes it insincere? 

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