The Magicians was an interesting read, especially for someone who grew up reading the Harry Potter series. Grossman has brought a dose of realism to fantasy. The whole mood of his book betrays what I would expect from a normal Fantasy novel. There are no real triumphant moments, or ecstatic highs from their adventures. And though there are mysterious nothing in the magical world is quite so wondrous as is usually represented in the fables from our youth. Every new discovery only disappoints Quentin, failing to ever fill him up. A particularly brilliant part in the book, I felt, was their arrival to Fillory for the first time. Everything about the place - from the nude woman resting in freezing water to the overgrown talking animals who were anticipated to be adorable - was way too eerie to enjoy. What Quentin thought would be perfection is really just weird and kind of scary. In a new and bizarre world with its own foreign rules we should probably expect nothing less. Fillory is a bit like adulthood. As children we dream of the freedom adulthood offers, the magic carpet ride. But coming out of adolescences and seeing the world for what it is can be a let down, and our sense of wonder is replaced with anxieties.
There was also no mission, or “Greater Calling” if you will, that thrusts the protagonists into any necessary heroic action. It’s the boredom of their new adult lives that causes them to seek out thrills in the land of Fillory. Again, this is more true to life than traditional fantasies. None of us are “The Chosen Ones” with a simple black and white goal laid out in front of us. We have to make our own choices in life and risk facing the unknowns ahead of our decisions.
I suppose one could argue from an Existentialist point of view this aspect of freewill makes Quentin more heroic than Harry Potter. Still, Quentin was unable to rescue anyone himself, he cost a girl her life to Martin “The Beast” Chatwin due to a bit of carelessness, and it was his girlfriend, not he, who in the end made the ultimate sacrifice. Yet in the end he’s changed by his experiences, and while he may not be happier when it’s all over he is a more content, more mature person. As an edifying fairytale, The Magicians is a redemption story, not a tale of good versus evil or about how power corrupts.
Admittedly, I don’t read an awful lot of fantasy but the genre seems to have put itself in a rut since Tolkein. To see Grossman shake up the genre is exciting. I definitely want to read the sequel, The Magician King, although I wouldn’t expect it to be very similar to the first novel, if at all alike. Quentin’s time with the Centaur’s has ostensibly made him an infinitely more mature person, and that much more likeable. With everyone grown and out of Brakebills somehow Grossman will have to find a way to use the magic of Fillory to comment on adulthood instead of adolescence.
No comments:
Post a Comment