rereading The Magicians and hyperfocusing this time on any scene involving anyone’s parents
Conversation
i said just today that i’ve never really identified with any fictional character but quentin coldwater comes very uncomfortably close
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the first time i read The Magicians the fact that every character hates their parents was an unremarkable background fact i completely ignored but this time i think it holds the key to understanding all their motivations
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> “He knew the rules here instinctively, what it meant to have parents who ignored you. The only difference was that his parents did it because they loved each other, Alice’s because they hated each other.”
😬😩🤬🤢
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Replying to
I always understood it as underlining the importance of a raison d'etre in the pursuit of something and the dangers of pursuit of something with the expectation that at the end of it lies raison d'etre. Most clearly articulated in the Prince Caspianesque journey in the 2nd? book.
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I think magic is a metaphor of whatever is being pursued be that looks, knowledge, money, whatever and the realisation in attaining that ideal/goal doesn't bring purpose.
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