Subject: (urth) Giving Wolfe to the inexperienced

From: Dan Rabin <danrabin at a.crl.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:45:57 +0000

Tony Ellis reports success in giving Wolfe books to both sf- and
non-sf-experienced readers.

I've had an odd mix of successes myself.  At least three of my close
friends, all of whom had at least a little sf experience, are now Wolfe
fans.  One even reads them all as they come out, as I do.

On the other hand, another close friend, who keeps current in the
"mainstream" genre, whose bookshelves are filled with books of the sort
that get reviewed in the New York Times Book Revies, who has a fine head
for the human experience as presented in literature, couldn't get past page
one of _Peace_.

I can't figure it out.

  -- Dan Rabin

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

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:44:30 +0000

I wonder if we could put together a list of the "easiest" or "most
accessible" Wolfe?  "Wolfe for Beginners"?  I recently saw someone
recommend "Fifth Head of Cerebrus" as a place to start with Wolfe, but
that seems to me to be one of his more obscure and difficult works (but
then I'm biased, because it's my least favorite, for some reason).  Here's
my list:

NOVELS
the Long Sun books
Peace (especially for non SF-readers)
maybe Devil in the Forest
maybe the Soldier books (especially for a fan of Mythology)

SHORT STORIES
War Beneath the Tree
The Last Thrilling Wonder Story
Forlesen
Westwind
A Cabin on the Coast
How I Lost the Second World War
When I Was Ming the Merciless

-Rostrum

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From: Peter Westlake <peter at harlequin.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 15:27:57 +0000

>then I'm biased, because it's my least favorite, for some reason).  Here's

NOVELS (in addition to Rostrum's list)

"Free Live Free" is fairly straightforward; maybe it's not typical?
I could be missing something, of course :-)

I'm not convinced that one shouldn't dive straight in with
"Shadow of the Torturer". It has the advantage of being
immensely readable, and rewarding even a superficial reading
with a ripping good yarn. Finding large chunks of it engraved
in one's brain almost verbatim years after reading it gave
me a pretty big clue to the quality of the writing, too.

SHORT STORIES

"Kevin Malone" is an excellent exercise for beginners.
It would be ideal for a tutorial: it's short enough that
you can say "read that" and offers great scope for hints,
as we saw on the thread about it.

"Morning Glory" is a particular favourite of mine;
it's also somewhat atypical in being both straightforward
and optimistic in outlook. Alex said a while back ("Mysteries
of Gene Wolfe/"The Science in Science-Fiction") that the
mysteriousness of Wolfe's work is responsible for a lot of
its lasting appeal, and I agree; Morning Glory doesn't leave
any outstanding mysteries to puzzle over, but touches the
emotions in a lasting way instead. In that respect it reminds
me a little of "Slow River" by Nicola Griffith.

An idle thought: a collaboration between Griffith and Wolfe
would be the ultimate virtual reality, an imaginative experience
so vividly real and meaningful that it would be impossible to
leave. Sorry, have I said that before?

Spectacled Bear

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From: Jason Voegele <jvoegele at carolla.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:51:56 +0000

>for the human experience as presented in literature, couldn't get past page

I've had the same unfortunate experience with PEACE.  I've a friend that
reads what I'd consider quality work within the genre (Dan Simmons, PK Dick,
to name a couple), and he's also a huge fan of James Joyce, Joseph Conrad,
and T.S. Eliot.  The last book I recommended to him (Mark Helprin's MEMOIR
FROM ANTPROOF CASE) he absolutely loved.  I recommended PEACE, which he
started and quickly set aside saying he wasn't in a "literary mood".  I went
back to Helprin, and recommended WINTER'S TALE.  He couldn't quite grok that
one and gave up on it as well.  I thought I'd give Wolfe one more shot and
told him to try TBOTNS.  He's reading it now, but progress is slow and I
don't think he's really getting into it.

Anyway, my point is, I guess, that there is no particular precondition for
which we can say "this person will become a Wolfe fan".  Genre fans find him
strange and difficult (in general), while those with more literary
aspirations dismiss him for his genre associations.  A sad case indeed, and
I found it particularly disheartening that PEACE hasn't been so well
received by those who apparently recognize good writing when they see it.

From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
>accessible" Wolfe?  "Wolfe for Beginners"?

OK, so here's my list:

To "non-genre" fans:
1)  Peace
2)  Storeys from the Old Hotel
3)  The Book of the New Sun
4)  The Soldier books
5)  The Fifth Head of Cerberus

To genre fans:
1)  The Fifth Head of Cerberus
2)  The Book of the Long Sun
3)  The Book of the New Sun
4)  The Soldier books
5)  The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories, and Other Stories

Jason Voegele

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 08:51:47 +0000

> leave. Sorry, have I said that before?

Me, I'm waiting for Wolfe and vizcacha to team up and produce the greatest
work of interactive fiction ever.

-Rostrum