I do love the Ivan here (and as I think I said in my rec, it does a really good job at portraying the Miles-and-Ivan relationship).
it's a really good portrayal of him as both incredibly sharp and competent in his own areas and also really both clueless and not caring outside of them yes! And, mmm, when he's not sharp I think there's a sense in which it's because he doesn't care for the results of sharpness--he definitely has an excellent understanding of his cousin Miles, for example, and as you say, if he'd been in command he'd have ended up exactly where he wanted. And--even his interview with the examiner, in a weird way, I think? He's not trying to control the interview in the same way Miles is, but it does seem that he avoids questions/spends time not being interrogated by going on a bunch of tangents--which is funnily enough a lot more subtle than Miles' way of doing things, since 'distracted accidental tangents' is very in-character for him. I don't think he came up with the strategy specifically for this interview, I think he uses it Ina lot of places (see also: his conversation with Miles when he finally finds him in TWA), but I do suspect that it's at least partway deliberate.
And Jesek! Yes, he was a great character. (Though I'm not sure that I'd describe Kostolitz as trying to be Vor, exactly. Though certainly, if subconsciously, trying to be part of the Vorish system, instead of the newer way of doing things.) And note also the bit where he thinks that it's easier for Kostolitz to share the blame since he didn't actually do anything wrong! He reminds me of Baz, actually, I think--better at systems than people. (& I'd definitely love to know where he is the years down the line too, although if the answer is 'friends with Miles' that's going to make Miles' wedding even more interesting.)
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I do love the Ivan here (and as I think I said in my rec, it does a really good job at portraying the Miles-and-Ivan relationship).
it's a really good portrayal of him as both incredibly sharp and competent in his own areas and also really both clueless and not caring outside of them yes! And, mmm, when he's not sharp I think there's a sense in which it's because he doesn't care for the results of sharpness--he definitely has an excellent understanding of his cousin Miles, for example, and as you say, if he'd been in command he'd have ended up exactly where he wanted. And--even his interview with the examiner, in a weird way, I think? He's not trying to control the interview in the same way Miles is, but it does seem that he avoids questions/spends time not being interrogated by going on a bunch of tangents--which is funnily enough a lot more subtle than Miles' way of doing things, since 'distracted accidental tangents' is very in-character for him. I don't think he came up with the strategy specifically for this interview, I think he uses it Ina lot of places (see also: his conversation with Miles when he finally finds him in TWA), but I do suspect that it's at least partway deliberate.
And Jesek! Yes, he was a great character. (Though I'm not sure that I'd describe Kostolitz as trying to be Vor, exactly. Though certainly, if subconsciously, trying to be part of the Vorish system, instead of the newer way of doing things.) And note also the bit where he thinks that it's easier for Kostolitz to share the blame since he didn't actually do anything wrong! He reminds me of Baz, actually, I think--better at systems than people. (& I'd definitely love to know where he is the years down the line too, although if the answer is 'friends with Miles' that's going to make Miles' wedding even more interesting.)