Bakker and Sympathy?

The White Luck Warrior, no, R. Scott Bakker's fantasy writing in general, is just like the The Silmarillion. Except Bakker's characters are more compelling, and more fleshed out than those that appear in Tolkien's world lore text.

Still, the comparison stands because both books are primarily concerned with world-building to the point where its neck-and-neck with plot development. So much so that at times, the world building overtakes the plot. Both books also give very little foothold to those unfamiliar with fantasy and its propensity for strangeness, especially with characters who are supposedly deities (or demi-gods).

Still, well, my older brother's been over for the last few days, and he's getting over a virus - coughing to the point where "hacking up a lung" almost literally applies. While reading The White-Luck Warrior, I was listening to this hacking, and could hardly help but feel the need to cough in sympathy. How does this relate to The White-Luck Warrior?

Well, the part where Kelmomas and Inrilatis (two sons of Kellhus, the Aspect Emperor) are talking about madness and Inrilatis continues to read Kelmomas to the point where he loses control of his facade they mention the idea that people are simply what they appear.

On the face of it, you might take issue with this assertion. Surely, the depth of human feeling and thought are not etched onto people's faces, expressions, and actions - you could say. But, the idea in Bakker's book, I think, is that even these things betray people because they aren't minutely controlled.

So, if someone were to master the meaning of every bit of minutiae the human face and body produce, they could, possibly, have what appears to be some form of telepathy. So much of what we do while thinking and feeling is, after all, subconscious. Including, I argue, sympathetic reactions such as my urge to cough.