Confused Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 At a recent book signing, Brandon mentioned that the two most influential authors he’s read are Robert Jordan (to which everyone laughed) and Victor Hugo. I’m glad that Brandon so far has avoided hundreds of pages detailing the history of the Paris sewers and the Battle of Waterloo (or their Rosharian equivalents), but I did notice what might be a few allusions to other sources: In the Prologue, Gavilar says to Jasnah, “Is it terribly difficult for you?...Living with the rest of us, suffering our average wits and simple thoughts? Is it lonely to be so singular in your brilliance, Jasnah?” This reminded me of the scene in the 1987 movie Broadcast News, where the station manager says to the hyper-obsessive Jane, played by Holly Hunter, something to the following effect: “It must be terrible always thinking you’re the smartest person in the room, that you’re always right and the rest of us are always wrong…” [Jane, in a very quiet voice, answers “It is.”] Then on page 217 of the hardcover book, Pattern tells Shallan she cannot be other than who she is: “I will not stop vibrating. The wind will not stop blowing. You will not stop drawing.” This line reminds me of the similar expression from T.S. Eliot’s 1927 essay, “Shakespeare and the Stoicism of Seneca”: “The poet makes poetry, the metaphysician makes metaphysics, the bee makes honey, the spider secretes a filament…[each] merely does.” I also thought I read some comment by Shallan about how “amiable” Adolin is, but I couldn’t find it. The line seemed very Austenesque to me. Are there other references buried in WoR that you may have noticed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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