Subject: Gene Wolfe

From: Sara Beck <becks at taunivm.tau.ac.il>
Date: Sun, 05 Apr 1992 06:14:35 +0000

I admire Wolfe's style, but his books definitely put me off.  I think I
know why and I wonder if other people have thought the same or if it's only
me.

Here follows an attempt to discuss an inherently loaded question
thoughtfully and without either using or exciting flames.  For my next
trick I will check the gas tank with a lit match.

Anyway, I think that Wolfe's (or his characters) consistently have a weird
attitude towards women.  Women in Wolfe's books seem to be a somewhat alien
species.  They are assumed to have their own agenda which is completely
hidden from men, and to be more or less dangerous to men.  "There are
Doors" is exhibit A, of course.  Also check out the references to sexual
activity in the Torturer books (honesty compells me to admit I only read
the first 2); the atmosphere is like a soldier reporting on an encounter
with the enemy.  Yes he has a right to feel that way, yes it may be part of
his character's psyches, and yes it is infinitely preferable to the violent
misogyny of so much modern writing (have I deflected all the incoming
flames?), but it puts me off.

S. Beck

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From: millerl <millerl at wilma.wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1992 21:42:01 +0000

BECKS at TAUNIVM.TAU.AC.IL (Sara Beck) writes:
> Anyway, I think that Wolfe's (or his characters) consistently have a
> weird attitude towards women.  Women in Wolfe's books seem to be a
> somewhat alien species.  They are assumed to have their own agenda which
> is completely hidden from men, and to be more or less dangerous to men.
> "There are Doors" is exhibit A, of course.  Also check out the references
> to sexual activity in the Torturer books (honesty compells me to admit I
> only read the first 2); the atmosphere is like a soldier reporting on an
> encounter with the enemy.  Yes he

I think that Severian's misogyny (if indeed he was misogynous; he did give
up his guild for a woman whom he didn't really know, and he risked his life
to save a stranger woman from a stranger man, almost getting himself killed
in the avern duel) is a part of his character, and not traceable to Wolfe.
If you read Wolfe's short stories, or the Soldier novels, you will find
what I believe to be to be a deep understanding of female psychology (but
then, what do I know? I'm a bloke).

Severian was a character in over his head from the beginning, as is
revealed in the rest of the torturer books. That's why he was suspicious of
all the women who tried to use him (after the first one), and that's why he
was also suspicious of the men who tried to use him.

I haven't read There are Doors yet, so I can't address your rather cryptic
comment regarding that book.

Loren Miller

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From: K R Maxson <maxson at cerl.uiuc.edu>
Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1992 00:41:11 +0000

> encounter with the enemy.  Yes he

I think you are mistaking Wolfe's fascination with "The Other" for his
perception of women.  You are right that in _There Are Doors_ women are
alien, but I don't think that is representative.  Rather, in most of Gene
Wolfe's stories, there is a shadowy, elusive-but-familiar alien presence:
the abos of _Fifth Head_, the doctor in _The Death of Doctor Island_.
Wolfe writes a great deal about identity, and makes many ordinary things
appear uncertain, illusory, deceptive; or even dangerous, malevolent.

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From: Klaus Ole Kristiansen <klaus at diku.dk>
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1992 08:09:05 +0000

I have read these books by Wolfe: TheBook of the New Sun, The Urth (sp?) of
the New Sun, Endangered Species.

Wolfe is a great language wizard. I love the language of TBotNS. It gives
the fantasy world a unique, alien feel.

The stories in ES are very different (from each other). They are not all to
my liking, but they are all well written. Three are really great stories.
Those three are also very, very different.

Klaus O K

PS. I bought ES because someone said on the net that it contains 3 really
great stories. I agree, but I wonder if we agree on which they are. For me
it's War beneath the Tree, When I Was Ming the Merciless, and In the House
of Gingerbread.

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From: Dieter Britz <britz at kemi.aau.dk>
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 06:51:53 +0000

To me, Gene Wolfe is one of those writers (among them Ursula Le Guin and
Anthony Burgess), whom I read in large part because of their marvelous
language. With other writers, contents are the thing; content is certainly
not lacking with Wolfe, but his dignified and thought-provoking phrasing
is, for me, unbeaten by other sf writers. I am baffled at the diversity of
opinions about Gene Wolfe, on this net.
 Another thing he is good at, and obviously has his heart in, is his
portrayal of children. This comes across strongly in the collection "Island
of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories", especially in the one
about the blind boy (I forget the title). There is a short episode in one
of the Torturer books, again with a smallish boy, lovingly written. Wolfe
then does kill him, but instantly and presumably painlessly.
 One of the qualities that "make" some sf is a sense of mystery; I read all
those computer-comes-alive stories of Van Vogt as a boy, and although I
never quite understood what was going on, I had this fascinating sense of
mystery, and was sure there was a lot more to know, if only I could find
out. Wolfe has this in just about every sentence. He is one of the great
writers of the present, and I wait for his next book.

Dieter Britz
britz at kemi.aau.dk