Subject: (urth) Re: Digest urth.v028.n060 Original Forms

From: Patri10629 <patri10629 at aol.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 23:51:18 +0000

Rave on Lupes!

The discourse has trickled right up my alley.

To put Alga's point a bit more crudely: I love the fact that Wolfe has taken 
the base materials of given/cliched genre forms and transformed them. The 
most decadent and  successful form of recent popular literature: the extended 
sf/fantasy sequence, becomes, in his hands, something (I would argue) 
original. Form isn't everything. Unless you think three chords can't make a 
great original pop song. (Robert Johnson, "Gloria")

Heck he even plays with the forms: 2:the failed trilogy (the soldier books), 
5: a quatrian (right word?) and a coda (New Sun), 4: the incomplete (or sall 
we say "dangling") quatrain (Long Sun) and, 3: a trilogy (short sun). 12 
books in the Sun series. Hmmm. A trilogy in 12 parts. What do you call that?

Wouldn't it be funny if, years from now, someone postulates that the Sun 
books are really One book?

Incidently, the extended series form allows him an income spread over 
years--not a little matter, buds. 

Apologies for being redundant and obvious. And, Alga, I Like it when you get 
pompous.

best,

Patrick O'Leary

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/