Subject: Gene Wolfe's _Peace_

From: Kieran Mullen <kieran at phyast.nhn.ou.edu>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 07:23:44 +0000

Since I don't see much discussion of Gene Wolfe (other than "when will the
fourth book in the Long Sun series come out?")  I thought I'd start the
ball rolling.

   First, Wolfe is one the best damn writers alive, IMO.  He's one of the
few I'll buy in hardcover :-).  When I understand (in part) what he's
doing, I am amazed by his work.  However, I often have the feeling that I
really don't quite grasp what he's trying to say.  I found _Pandora_ and
_Castleview_ to be very frustrating, because I *know* that he's trying to
do something, but I don't understand what.  I felt better about _Free, Live
Free.  But I am currently perplexed by his novel _Peace_.

   _Peace_ is about 10 years old, and recently reprinted.  I thought I'd
try to get some discussion started amongst those of us who have read it.
Here are a few questions to kick it off:

(1) What is the significance of the title?  The only "obvious" mentioning
of peace is in the silly quote from _The Lusty Lawyer_.  On the other hand,
there is little mention of war in the book.

(2) Did the author die in the opening paragraph?  Why is he seemingly
"unstuck" in time?  (Actually, he seems to create virtual worlds of his
past, where he can talk to others.) What does this mean?

(3) Where is the author at the start of the story?  Where is the rest of
the world?

(4) This book is (as many of Wolfe's novels) filled with people telling
stories.  Why are there so many ghost stories?

(5) What is the significance of the name "Alden Dennis Weer"?  If I grasp
at straws, it's "All then, then is, we are."  (Wolfe is not beyond bad
punning, as with "Alladin Blue" in _Pandora_.)

(6) It's clear that the bookseller Gold has made a fake Necronomicon.  Part
of this substory is about books, and the reality they create.  By creating
a fake Necronomicon, Gold can sell it to a library that already has it
listed (as a joke) in its card catalog.

   Finally, Wolfe often writes novels that incorporate themes or ideas from
other classic works.  The New Sun series is pretty clearly (to me!) an
ascending Christology.  The Long Sun is closer (though *not* a trivial
retelling) to the story of Abraham or perhaps Paul.  _Castleview_ has a lot
of Arthurian images and themes.  The Soldier books draw clearly on Greek
and Roman myths and history. So what is going on in _Peace_?  Is there a
similar subtext?  If not, what do you think are the essential themes of the
piece?

Kieran Mullen

---

From: MegaLiz <1ol01o at radix.net>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 12:47:43 +0000

Kieran Mullen <kieran at phyast.nhn.ou.edu> wrote:
>When I understand (in part) what he's doing, I am amazed by his work.
>However, I often have the feeling that I really don't quite grasp what
>he's trying to say.  I found _Pandora_ and _Castleview_ to be very
>frustrating, because I *know* that he's trying to do something, but I
>don't understand what.

Personally, I think _Pandora_ was mostly for fun and exercise, and it can
be enjoyed readily in just that way. I had to admire how believeably he
spoke from a young girl's point of view. I don't think any secret decoder
ring is necessary.

_Castleview_ continues to be a favorite of mine. Now that I've read it
several times, I still have the feeling that I'd have to read a lot more
about King Arthur to "catch" all the references; but it has such a lovely,
dreamy quality to it that I can savor the setting and the confusing
characters and LOVE it while still being lazy.

>I felt better about _Free, Live Free.  But I am currently perplexed by his
>novel _Peace_.

I was amazed to find a hate review of _Free, Live Free_ on the web.  What's
to hate? It was one of the first of his books I read, and I thought it was
very satisfying.

>_Peace_ is about 10 years old, and recently reprinted.  I thought I'd try
>to get some discussion started amongst those of us who have read it.  Here
>are a few questions to kick it off:

>of peace is in the silly quote from _The Lusty Lawyer_.  On the other
>hand, there is little mention of war in the book.

I haven't read it yet, but perhaps it refers to "peace of mind."

---

From: James Williams <concern at novagate.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 17:14:08 +0000

> I haven't read it yet, but perhaps it refers to "peace of mind."

   Well, "Peace" is a translation of "Requiem", which is what funeral
masses are usually called. (From their traditional first line "Requiem
aeterman dona eis, Domine." Grant them, Lord, peace eternal.)  Since there
is some evidence in the novel that the narrator is a ghost flitting about a
haunted house, this seems to fit. (Also, my edition of the novel has a
bunch of rather motley-looking ghosts peering out from behind the title.)
   I think that this is Wolfe's best work, although _The Fifth Head of
Cerberus_ comes close, as does the _New Sun_ books. I remember Wolfe
stating (either in an essay or an interview) that he feels that America is
something of a mythical land, and that we will become the Hy Brasil or
Atlantis of subsequent ages - an impossible land populated by magicians and
wonder-workers, who fly to distant worlds and carve mountains as
monuments. One of the characters in the novel invents a process that "gins
gold from the earth" (a chemical process that converts potatoes into
synthetic orange juice). The large amount of ghosts in the novel could be
attributed to America's charmed life.
   Wolfe also seems to feel that the characters in books lead a sort of
ghostly existence, coming to life only when a living reader disturbs their
rest (such as the revenant in _The Book of the Names of the Dead_ in the
novel.)
   I will have to read _Peace_ again - it's been quite a few years.

---

From: revjack at radix.net <revjack at radix.net>
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 02:35:06 +0000

James Williams wrote:
>(Also, my edition of the novel has a bunch of rather motley-looking ghosts
>peering out from behind the title.)

Drawn by Gahghan Wilson, no less! Who'da thunk?

>I will have to read _Peace_ again- it's been quite a few years.

It's certaily one of his best. I almost missed it forever, but someone
spotted it along with the "Aries" book at a used book sale for a buck each,
and picked them up for me, knowing that I was a big fan.

One of the things that makes a book "good" for me is if it *haunts* me
afterward - a good one will have me daydreaming about it and making
involuntary associations with the people and things around me in the world,
days and weeks after having read it. Almost everything Wolfe has written
does this to me. He is wonderful, a magician.

RJ