Kevin's Watch

I hated him--the first read through Lord Foul's Bane was like eating sand. The only reason I kept going because it's basically impossible to have a discussion with my philosophy professor without reading the book.

The third time around, though, I understood him a lot better. And since the book obviously didn't change in those few months, I must have. I think my change of opinion stemmed from having a greater understanding of myself... not really an "I'd be effing this up a lot worse than he would" but a "that sort of lonliness would be pretty unbearable" or "yeah, that was a despicable thing to do, but don't we all do despicable things sometimes?"

It also helped that Lord Mhoram, this great figure, was overwhelmingly understanding and respectful.

The moment I hated Covenant, I remember it vividly, I was sitting in my guitar class near the end and I read the rape of Lena.

I set down the book...no, I threw the book to the ground...and then I left the classroom to "go to the bathroom."

I forced myself to come back after I had got it in my head that I might have read it wrong, so I returned immediately and read the sequence over again. It only reaffirmed my hatred. Yup, I really hated him then, but at the same time I was sad for him and I was conflicted. I wanted to see justice, but at the same time I wanted Covenant to find some sort of redemption, so the scene with Triock attacking him for justice and Atiaran defending him was a sort of a personal climactic scene for me.

I was ultimately satisfied with how SRD handled the book and I couldn't stop reading then.

I never hated Covenant. Was upset with him many times, yes, could've smacked him many times, yes, but hate, no.
He was a selfish bastard, but he had good cause. And he got from Kevin's Watch to Andelain on foot when I couldn't endure from here to Ely, and that is some 10 miles:)

I did not even hate him for the rape. That rape had nothing to do with sex (no rape has probably), just frustration. Sure, Donaldson could've chosen some other form of violence to depict Covenant's rage and pain but rape has a symbolic role here, and of course if there is no rape there is no Elena and all the warped consequences of that one act.

Angus was an even bigger bastard and I like Angus, too.

I agree! Good to see you back on the Watch ami!!!

Yeah, Welcome back.

--A

Thanks, guys:) I never really left, honest, I was just too immersed in my other passion, Tolkien's languages and my website on that.

But the smell of fresh prey (i.e. the Revenant) brought me back, yeah.

So we can expect to see you twice more huh?

--A

I have already doubled my 1 post/half year average:)

The truth is you can go only so far without a dose of Covenant or Gap. Time has come to perform my ritual yearly re-read again.

Haha, well, we're here when you can't resist anymore. (Group read of the Gap starting soon btw.)

--A

I never actually disliked Covenant. The Lena thing disgusted me, but I was astounded that SRD was willing to allow his readers to witness a rape perpetuated by his main character within the first 80 pages of the book. It was the first of his books that I read, and I was impressed by the risk he took when he did that.

Also, the genius of making the main character a leper is that it makes it more difficult for me to judge him. Characters like Linden are much easier to judge because most people know someone who had a horribly screwed-up childhood, and the majority of these people don't end up killing their mother. It's natural (and more comfortable) to assume that I would have acted differently in Linden's position, but it's almost impossible to imagine what kind of person I would turn into if I found out I had leprosy. I don't know any lepers, which means I don't have a frame of reference. I think that's part of the reason I cut him so much slack.

"I killed five Cavewights! Covenant cried in bereft fury."

I think he simply lashes out there because he cannot cope with what he's done, especially when it appears to have been for nothing. Most people struggle after killing someone, even in self-defence or accidentally. He is also struggling against inner darkness.

I liked the way the character was written. I never felt the need to like Covenant, because he isn't that kind of hero. I often felt frustrated by him, and sometimes I pitied him.

Rivenrock wrote:"I killed five Cavewights! Covenant cried in bereft fury."

I think he simply lashes out there because he cannot cope with what he's done, especially when it appears to have been for nothing. Most people struggle after killing someone, even in self-defence or accidentally. He is also struggling against inner darkness.

I liked the way the character was written. I never felt the need to like Covenant, because he isn't that kind of hero. I often felt frustrated by him, and sometimes I pitied him.

Yeah. He's not one of those likeable people. Were he a real person, it might be possible to come to like him, but very unlikely, atleast in Real Life. However, he is respectable, atleast, later on.

Also, the genius of making the main character a leper is that it makes it more difficult for me to judge him.

precisely Stormrider; I never disliked TC for that very reason; the guy had suffered greatly prior to the commencement of LFB. Whilst I, like just about everyone else, feel I have suffered from time to time, it just didnt feel right to point a judgemental finger at a character who'd endured amputations, impotence and bereavement whilst living with a potentially fatal condition ...

Never hated Covenant. From the first word, I was reading it from his pov, putting myself in his shoes, imagining what it would be like to be him, go through the same things, suffer the same losses, deal with the same issues of finality and isolation. The fact that he lost control with Lena didn't shock me a bit. He had something unwillingly taken from him, too, remember? It seemed kind of symbolic to me. Kind of like Dante's "Inferno." If you haven't read "Inferno," it would be good to do so while waiting for October 9th. The translation by John Ciardi is my recommendation. Thirteenth century Italian is pretty difficult otherwise.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:I always pretty much liked Thomas Covenant.
Sure he was a total bastard initially but........so am I.
So there!

I latched onto his bitterness and what he needed to do to survive.
Maybe coming down with type1 diabeties myself at the same time I started reading tCoTC helped me greatly in that regard.
You do what you have to do sometimes just to survive.

Hi, guys. Been awhile.



Last year, I had to deal with a scare about colon cancer (fortunately I didn't have it), and in June 2007 I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes myself.

Now that I think about it, I'm doing a VSE myself every morning as I check my feet out to make sure that they haven't had any damage that might lead to their amputation. (Neuropathy is a possible complication of diabetes and can lead to a loss of feeling in the hands and legs and other portions of the body as well, I believe.)

I have to get my eyes checked every year now to be on the look out for glaucoma or retinopathy.

It does tend to make you very self-involved at first. It was hard for me to htink about much else when I was struggling to get my blood sugar into reasonable readings ...

I think that I'd have a whole different experience in the Land now than I would have before I found out I was diabetic.

But while I do have a more personal identification now, I do have to say that Covenant did some pretty horrible things ... especially to Lena and Elena.

I didn't really start to like him until the Second Chronicles.