Subject: (urth) How would you rate Wolfe as a short story writer?

From: Anthony Ferrara <ajferrara72 at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 17:06:46 +0000

I believe Gene Wolfe is one of the greatest novelists of any time period. I also believe Wolfe have written some great short stories. However, I don't think his short stories consistently attain to th 
Anthony  

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From: cilluff1 at optonline.net <cilluff1 at optonline.net>
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 17:37:36 +0000

Anthony, we've had this debate before on the list and I agree with you (as
did a few other listers, Alga I think began the discussion).  I think Wolfe
is a superb novelist, particularly when he is writing a multi-volume work. 
But his short stories IMHO have been good certainly but not up to the high
standard set by his longer fiction.  Perhaps he is a victim of his own
success: his novels set the bar so high that anything less seems rather
ordinary.  Very few of Wolfe's short stories grab me the way, say, Ted
Chiang's do.  

But in fairness to Mr. Wolfe I must admit I have not read The Island of
Doctor Death and Other Stories (and Other Stories), which is generally
considered to be his best work in the genre. I'm smack dab in the middle of
Alastair Reynold's "Chasm City" and Norman Spinrad's "The Void Captain's
Tale" right now, each of which is excellent in its own way.  TVCT strikes
me, actually, as rather Woflean in style, perhaps because it is baroque and
lyrical and filled with metaphors (although slightly more obvious than
Wolfe) a la TBOTNS.  Chasm City, on the other hand, although it certainly
can be read on multiple levels is really just more of an excellent and very
well written page turner.

- Joe

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From: Sam Keyes <skeyes at richmond.edu>
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 17:53:35 +0000

I, too, am really still unfamiliar with most of Wolfe's short fiction
(though I did just buy Island of Doctor Death).  I wonder if this seeming
discrepancy is inevitable (and given what Wolfe has said about doing "big"
projects, he knows this too).  I mean, in the world of fiction, quantity
does, perhaps more often than we would like to admit, tend to accompany
high quality.  So maybe it's not that Wolfe is weaker in short stories,
but rather that short stories, formally, are usually weaker--or, I ought
to add, weaker at asking the questions and playing the games that Wolfe
likes to do, which are usually on a grand scale.

snk

> Anthony, we've had this debate before on the list and I agree with you
> (as did a few other listers, Alga I think began the discussion).  I
> think Wolfe is a superb novelist, particularly when he is writing a
> multi-volume work.  But his short stories IMHO have been good certainly
> but not up to the high standard set by his longer fiction.  Perhaps he
> is a victim of his own success: his novels set the bar so high that
> anything less seems rather ordinary.  Very few of Wolfe's short stories
> grab me the way, say, Ted Chiang's do.
>
> considered to be his best work in the genre. I'm smack dab in the middle
> of Alastair Reynold's "Chasm City" and Norman Spinrad's "The Void
> Captain's Tale" right now, each of which is excellent in its own way.
> TVCT strikes me, actually, as rather Woflean in style, perhaps because
> it is baroque and lyrical and filled with metaphors (although slightly
> more obvious than Wolfe) a la TBOTNS.  Chasm City, on the other hand,
> although it certainly can be read on multiple levels is really just more
> of an excellent and very well written page turner.
>
> - Joe
>
> unsubscribe: send "unsubscribe" to urth-request at urth.net

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From: Tony Ellis <tony.ellis at futurenet.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 09:08:37 +0000

Sam Keyes wrote:
> So maybe it's not that Wolfe is weaker in short stories,

I¹m always surprised when I see people post that they don¹t rate Wolfe so
much as a short story writer. If they¹re expecting the big, multi-layered
mysteries of his novels, as you suggest, that might explain why.

Personally I enjoy Wolfe every bit as much for his short stories as for his
novels, and I've read about 95% of them. I love a good stylist and a I love
a writer who knows how to be concise, and Wolfe excels in both these areas.

I agree that some stories are a lot better than others, but I still find the
average Wolfe short more rewarding than the average short by most other SF
writers. I also find it very hard to imagine an entire canon of 300-odd
short stories all as good as Kevin Malone, The War Beneath the Tree, Against
the Lafayette Escadrille etc  gems which I have read over and over again
simply for the pleasure of the writing

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at cox.net>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 16:03:58 +0000

Having read all of Wolfe's short stories, except for recent ones published 
in odd and hard to find (expensive) books, I would say this: There are two 
kinds. Wolfe has written some fluffy, often funny pieces, like "The 
Headless Man." These are fun to read, but hardly "great." On the other 
hand, there are some excellent stories of full literary quality, and I 
think they are fully on a part with his longer work.

Nutria

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