Pirate Freedom: first glimpse The Urth list — 4 messages, 4 voices, 01 Mar 2007 https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4794 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. ============================================================================== Nicholas Gevers — 01 Mar 2007, 09:55 My Advance Bound Manuscript of PIRATE FREEDOM just arrived. In an odd squarish format, typescript, 473 pages, which I estimate at 300 or so regular printed pages. Dedication to sundry pirates and writers on piracy; epigraph by H L Mencken. Glossary at the end has the usual personal and place names. The protagonist is Chris, later Father Christopher. --Nick Gevers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Taylor — 01 Mar 2007, 22:29 in reply to Nicholas Gevers > Nicholas Gevers wrote: > epigraph by H L Mencken. That's nice to see - Mencken, Orwell and Dorothy Parker have always formed a sort of holy trinity for me. Somehow I can't see Wolfe using an epigraph by Dorothy Parker though. Steve ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Matthew DeLuca — 02 Mar 2007, 22:02 in reply to Steve Taylor How to read Gene Wolfe: 1) Trust the text implicitly. The answers are in there. 2) Do not trust the text farther than you can throw it, if that far. It's tricksy and desperate stuff, and it may go off in your hand at any time. 3) Reread. It's better the second time. It will be even better the third time. And anyway, the books will subtly reshape themselves while you are away from them.Peace really was a gentle Midwestern memoir the first time I read it. It only became a horror novel on the second or the third reading. 4) There are wolves in there, prowling behind the words. Sometimes they come out in the pages. Sometimes they wait until you close the book. The musky wolf-smell can sometimes be masked by the aromatic scent of rosemary. Understand, these are not today-wolves, slinking grayly in packs through deserted places. These are the dire-wolves of old, huge and solitary wolves that could stand their ground against grizzlies. 5) Reading Gene Wolfe is dangerous work. It's a knife-throwing act, and like all good knife-throwing acts, you may lose fingers, toes, earlobes or eyes in the process. Gene doesn't mind. Gene is throwing the knives. 6) Make yourself comfortable. Pour a pot of tea. Hang up a DO NOT DISTURB Sign. Start at Page One. 7) There are two kinds of clever writer. The ones that point out how clever they are, and the ones who see no need to point out how clever they are. Gene Wolfe is of the second kind, and the intelligence is less important than the tale. He is not smart to make you feel stupid. He is smart to make you smart as well. 8) He was there. He saw it happen. He knows whose reflection they saw in the mirror that night. 9) Be willing to learn. - Neil Gaiman http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mark Lewin — 03 Mar 2007, 07:27 in reply to Matthew DeLuca ... and here are two other authors' suggestions on how to read GW from the same magazine (Fantasy & SF): Michael Swanwick: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwms0704.htm Michael Andre-Driussi: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwma0704.htm Mark > On 02/03/07, Matthew DeLuca wrote: > > How to read Gene Wolfe: > > 1) Trust the text implicitly. The answers are in there. > > 2) Do not trust the text farther than you can throw it, if that far. > It's tricksy and desperate stuff, and it may go off in your hand at > any time. > > 3) Reread. It's better the second time. It will be even better the > third time. And anyway, the books will subtly reshape themselves > while you are away from them.Peace really was a gentle Midwestern > memoir the first time I read it. It only became a horror novel on the > second or the third reading. > > 4) There are wolves in there, prowling behind the words. Sometimes > they come out in the pages. Sometimes they wait until you close the > book. The musky wolf-smell can sometimes be masked by the aromatic > scent of rosemary. Understand, these are not today-wolves, slinking > grayly in packs through deserted places. These are the dire-wolves of > old, huge and solitary wolves that could stand their ground against > grizzlies. > > 5) Reading Gene Wolfe is dangerous work. It's a knife-throwing act, > and like all good knife-throwing acts, you may lose fingers, toes, > earlobes or eyes in the process. Gene doesn't mind. Gene is throwing > the knives. > > 6) Make yourself comfortable. Pour a pot of tea. Hang up a DO NOT > DISTURB Sign. Start at Page One. > > 7) There are two kinds of clever writer. The ones that point out how > clever they are, and the ones who see no need to point out how clever > they are. Gene Wolfe is of the second kind, and the intelligence is > less important than the tale. He is not smart to make you feel > stupid. He is smart to make you smart as well. > > 8) He was there. He saw it happen. He knows whose reflection they saw > in the mirror that night. > > 9) Be willing to learn. > > - Neil Gaiman > > http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------