{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6104", "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": 6104, "subject": "Gene Wolfe in SFE", "messages": 3, "voices": 3, "first": "2011-11-08T21:59:34+00:00", "last": "2011-11-08T22:33:43+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Gwern Branwen", "address": "gwern0 at gmail.com" }, "date": "2011-11-08T21:59:34+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Gene Wolfe in SFE", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/Entry/wolfe_gene\n\nReads like a pretty good entry, although given recent threads, I can\nsee many interpretive claims list regulars will reject. Conclusion is\ninteresting:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "It may be that Wolfe has never had an original sf idea, or never a significant one, certainly none of the calibre of those generated by writers like Larry NIVEN or Greg BEAR. His importance does not reside in that kind of originality. Setting aside for an instant his control of language, and his intensely applied control over structure in general and the paced revelation of story in particular, it is possible to claim that Wolfe's importance lies in a spongelike ability to assimilate generic models and devices, and in the quality of the transformations he effects upon that material. Wolfe's actual language is at times visibly parodic, and many of his short stories are designed deliberately and intricately to echo earlier models, from the whole pantheon of GENRE SF. But the relationship between current and previous texts is not only in the \"music\" of the words themselves. A further musical analogy might be the Baroque technique of the PARODY cantata, in which a secular composition is transformed by reverent transformations (some recondite) into a sacred work (or vice versa); such parodies, in the case of the greater composers, can often only be deciphered after long study. Wolfe's importance has been, therefore, twofold: the inherent stature of his work is deeply impressive, and he wears the fictional worlds of sf like a coat of many colours. In 1996 he was given a WORLD FANTASY AWARD for Life Achievement; and he was inducted into the SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME in 2007. [JC/John Clute]" }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "gwern\nhttp://www.gwern.net" } ] }, { "message_id": "<4EB9A84F.5010709@gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "António Marques", "address": "entonio at gmail.com" }, "date": "2011-11-08T22:08:15+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Gene Wolfe in SFE", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Gwern Branwen wrote:\nhttp://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/Entry/wolfe_gene\n\nReads like a pretty good entry, although given recent threads, I can\n see many interpretive claims list regulars will reject. Conclusion\nis interesting:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "It may be that Wolfe has never had an original sf idea, or never a\nsignificant one, certainly none of the calibre of those generated\nby writers like Larry NIVEN or Greg BEAR. His importance does not\nreside in that kind of originality. Setting aside for an instant\nhis control of language, and his intensely applied control over\nstructure in general and the paced revelation of story in\nparticular, it is possible to claim that Wolfe's importance lies\nin a spongelike ability to assimilate generic models and devices,\nand in the quality of the transformations he effects upon that\nmaterial. Wolfe's actual language is at times visibly parodic, and\nmany of his short stories are designed deliberately and\nintricately to echo earlier models, from the whole pantheon of\nGENRE SF. But the relationship between current and previous texts\nis not only in the \"music\" of the words themselves. A further\nmusical analogy might be the Baroque technique of the PARODY\ncantata, in which a secular compo sition is transformed by reverent\ntransformations (some recondite) into a sacred work (or vice\nversa); such parodies, in the case of the greater composers, can\noften only be deciphered after long study. Wolfe's importance has\nbeen, therefore, twofold: the inherent stature of his work is\ndeeply impressive, and he wears the fictional worlds of sf like a\ncoat of many colours. In 1996 he was given a WORLD FANTASY AWARD\nfor Life Achievement; and he was inducted into the SCIENCE FICTION\nHALL OF FAME in 2007. [JC/John Clute]" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Not unlike the Outsider transforms folks into doing his work, heh?" } ] }, { "message_id": "<92035C5E5CCB4C8693268B9D12C8166E@Rover>", "from": { "name": "Gerry Quinn", "address": "gerry at bindweed.com" }, "date": "2011-11-08T22:33:43+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Gene Wolfe in SFE", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "From: Gwern Branwen " }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Reads like a pretty good entry, although given recent threads, I can\nsee many interpretive claims list regulars will reject." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "The Outsider as AI was a new one on me. But I agree, whether or not you agree with everything it gives encyclopaedia readers a decent picture of the author.\n\n- Gerry Quinn\n " } ] } ] }