{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/3939", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "urth", "thread": { "id": 3939, "subject": "Wolfe's little stories", "messages": 2, "voices": 2, "first": "2003-04-16T00:46:18+00:00", "last": "2003-04-16T15:30:04+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at hotpop.com" }, "date": "2003-04-16T00:46:18+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Re: Wolfe's little stories", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "alga wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "And I don't think Wolfe is a very good short story >writer, by and large." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Some of his fables are marvelous in >-Just-So- kind of way, and a few of\nthe\nlonger stories, >novellas really, are very good. But if you're pinching\npennies, skipping a Wolfe collection is not unwise." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Crush sort-of disagrees:\nWell, for the stuff I've read online, yeah, true. And I haven't read\n\"Strange Travellers\" yet although it is on my shelf. But \"Endangered\nSpieces\" (speaking as someone who isn't usually impressed by any \"single\nauthor\" short story collection and doesn't typically like the short story\nformat) was the second book I read of Wolfe's (if one takes tBotNS as one\nbook), and I found it quite enjoyable. I've often wondered if Wolfe deserves\na cut of the profits of the movie 'The Last Action Hero\" since it seems so\nblatantly inspired by \"The Last Thrilling Wonder Story\" (no comments desired\nabout the merits of the movie -- I LIKED it). This story, aside from being\nfun, it is an interesting analysis of how a character can hijack a story,\nhow a plot can develop beyond the genre intended by the author, and how\nstory plotting is often governed by unwritten rules. A very \"inside\" writing\nstory.\n\nIn that vein, a friend of mine was positive that \"A Toy Story\" was inspired\nby \"The War Beneath the Tree\".\n\nLet us not forget the \"The Cat\" and \"The Map\" which are two elaborations on\n\"The Book of the New Sun\". Honestly, I can't remember the plot of \"The Cat\"\nright now but I thoroughly enjoyed \"The Map\" and still think about it lo\nthese many years later from time to time, speculating on what happened in\nkey plot points. Tim already mentioned \"The Detective of Dreams\" which is in\nthis collection. But what about \"The House of Gingerbread\"? Good, good\nstuff.\n\n\"The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories\" also has some\nreal surprises (the title story is IMO not one of them): \"IBEM,\" \"Tracking\nSong,\" \"The Death of Dr. Island\", \"Werewolfe as Hero\" (I'm operating\nentirely from memory here).\n\nThere are some duds in both collections but frankly one has to expect that.\nOne will often put up with a chapter in a novel that falls flat, goes\nnowhere, or is just not one's cup of tea -- and still give the work a hearty\nthumbs up (I never really enjoyed the play in tBotNS). When reading short\nstory collections (especially those all by one author where some less than\npremium examples inevitably make their way in) I tend to take the same\nattitude -- expecting only that the collection on a whole be enjoyable. In\nthese two cases, I'd say they cut muster.\n\n-- Crush" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Straight", "address": "straight at email.unc.edu" }, "date": "2003-04-16T15:30:04+00:00", "subject": "Re: (urth) Re: Wolfe's little stories", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Wolfe's short story collections are a mixed bag. Some stories I really\nlike, some I don't enjoy that much. Island of Doctor Death has some\nfantastic novellas: Seven American Nights, Tracking Song, Eyeflash\nMiracles.\n\nHere's the order I'd rank the collections, with my favorites:\n\nIsland of Doctor Death\n The Death of Doctor Island\n Tracking Song\n The Eyeflash Miracles\n Seven American Nights\n Alien Stones\n\nEndangered Species\n When I Was Ming the Merciless\n The Last Thrilling Wonder Story\n A Cabin on the Coast\n Thag\n The Other Dead Man\n Peritonitis\n The HORARS of War\n\nCastle of Days\n Forlesen\n How I Lost the Second World War\n The War Beneath the Tree\n\nStoreys from the Old Hotel\n Westwind\n The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton\n A Solar Labyrinth\n\nStrange Travellers\n My least favorite. \"And When they Appear\" and \"The Ziggurat\" are good\nstories, but kind of grim. \"To the Seventh\" is fun and I like \"Bed and\nBreakfast,\" but they aren't great.\n\n-- Rostrum" } ] } ] }