The Magicians
Lev Grossman's The Magicians is an interesting book. It's
definitely good, and it explores some themes that I enjoyed. But I'm
honestly not sure whether I liked it or not. I don't think I'll be able
to fully form an opinion until after I've read the sequel.
Like The Name of the Wind, The Magicians has been described to me as "Harry Potter for adults" and, as with Rothfuss' book, I have to disagree about that label being applied to this book. While it does feature a bunch of kids at a magical school The Magicians is far from the happy, escapist fantasy that I think of when I think of Harry Potter. In fact, the book mostly serves as a subversion of that entire genre.
The characters of The Magicians are miserable over-achievers. They all ended up at Brakebills college for magicians because they were the top of the class at their very elite high schools. They're all also deeply unhappy; most of them have parents who range from disinterested to neglectful to completely absent. They also all read a series of books in their youth called Fillory and Further, a series that has more than a little in common with The Chronicles of Narnia.
The main character, Quentin, remains obsessed with this series long past the time many of his peers have grown past it. The obsession is linked to a belief that happiness is something you achieve once, and then have for the rest of your life. He bought in completely to the myth of happily ever after and is shown, time and again, that it isn't real.
And maybe that's why Quentin and his friends are so miserable. They keep hoping that this next thing will make them happy, will make everything work out once and for all. Getting into the cool college, being the best of your class, falling in love. None of it solves everything, because that's not how life works. Eventually, naturally, they turn to drugs and alcohol and parties. But that only creates more problems.
When the group finally discovers that Fillory is real, it's only natural that it turns out to be darker and more complicated than they've always believed. The magical quest they are sent on is actually a trap. The all-powerful god is dying. The evil Watcherwoman may actually be the hero of the piece. Or would, if this were the kind of book that had heroes.
So that's where my uncertainty about this book comes from. The characters appear to get a happy ending. They claim their crowns as kings and queens of Fillory and fly off into the sunset, all their problems solved. Given that there's a sequel, I doubt that this is actually the case. And I really hope it's not, for a couple of reasons:
Like The Name of the Wind, The Magicians has been described to me as "Harry Potter for adults" and, as with Rothfuss' book, I have to disagree about that label being applied to this book. While it does feature a bunch of kids at a magical school The Magicians is far from the happy, escapist fantasy that I think of when I think of Harry Potter. In fact, the book mostly serves as a subversion of that entire genre.
The characters of The Magicians are miserable over-achievers. They all ended up at Brakebills college for magicians because they were the top of the class at their very elite high schools. They're all also deeply unhappy; most of them have parents who range from disinterested to neglectful to completely absent. They also all read a series of books in their youth called Fillory and Further, a series that has more than a little in common with The Chronicles of Narnia.
The main character, Quentin, remains obsessed with this series long past the time many of his peers have grown past it. The obsession is linked to a belief that happiness is something you achieve once, and then have for the rest of your life. He bought in completely to the myth of happily ever after and is shown, time and again, that it isn't real.
And maybe that's why Quentin and his friends are so miserable. They keep hoping that this next thing will make them happy, will make everything work out once and for all. Getting into the cool college, being the best of your class, falling in love. None of it solves everything, because that's not how life works. Eventually, naturally, they turn to drugs and alcohol and parties. But that only creates more problems.
When the group finally discovers that Fillory is real, it's only natural that it turns out to be darker and more complicated than they've always believed. The magical quest they are sent on is actually a trap. The all-powerful god is dying. The evil Watcherwoman may actually be the hero of the piece. Or would, if this were the kind of book that had heroes.
So that's where my uncertainty about this book comes from. The characters appear to get a happy ending. They claim their crowns as kings and queens of Fillory and fly off into the sunset, all their problems solved. Given that there's a sequel, I doubt that this is actually the case. And I really hope it's not, for a couple of reasons:
- These characters are horrible, immature people who haven't earned and don't deserve a happy ending. In the next book they need to either all die or really grow up. And it's hard to imagine them doing much growing in a children's fantasy land.
- The book is an extended argument against the existence of happy endings. Now, I love a good happy ending. But not every story needs one, and this particular one would probably be ruined by one. Bittersweet is, I think, the best these characters can hope for. Disastrous is what they deserve.
So I'm reserving judgment until I finish the sequel, since the story isn't over yet. I really hope it has a satisfying ending.
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