Subject: (urth) Bridge of Birds

From: Darryl Swett <edorian at hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2002 18:54:18 +0000

>From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
>Reply-To: urth at urth.net
>To: urth at urth.net
>Subject: Re: Kai Lung (was Re: (urth) Major new Wolfe story online)
>Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 14:57:45 -0400 (EDT)
>
>On Thu, 9 May 2002, Adam Stephanides wrote:
>
> > The Kai Lung stories were an early-20th-century series of fantasy 
>stories
> > set in China, written by Ernest Bramah.  The characters in them always 
>talk
> > in the flowery, ultra-polite idiom of the Chinese princess in "Under 
>Hill,"
> > so I assumed that Wolfe was pastiching Kai Lung.  But he might have been
> > pastiching Vance, I suppose.
>
>When I read the story, I thought Wolfe might be pastiching Barry Hughart's
>_Bridge of Birds_ (which is possibly the most wonderful fantasy novel I've
>ever read, Wolfe's works included).
>
>-Rostrum

I started _Bridge of Birds_ last night, and I have to praise its wit and 
charm.  Hughart did an excellent job of making the book fun to read.  It 
probably sounds strange, but I had a smile on my face, even when a plague 
beset the village.

I have also checked out _The Golden Age_ by John C. Wright, which is next in 
my queue.

-Darryl/Dragonfly

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2002 20:03:23 +0000

> probably sounds strange, but I had a smile on my face, even when a plague 

Not at all strange.  One of the chief virtues of BoB is Hughart's ability
to maintain a light (and often hilarious) tone while telling about grim
events, and yet still managing to treat the characters and their
sufferings as real, not as just cartoons to be laughed at.

-Rostrum

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