The Second? Best of Gene Wolfe The Urth list — 10 messages, 5 voices, 16 Oct 2014 https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6688 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. ============================================================================== Marc Aramini — 16 Oct 2014, 17:18 50 is a lot ... when I count the Thag stories as four, my list came to 36 ... so I guess I could throw 14 more in, but gee ... > On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 10:16 AM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes > wrote: > Good idea, but do we have to come up with 50, or can we limit it to those > we feel are more deserving? > > On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Robert Pirkola > wrote: > > In *The Best of Gene Wolfe* story collection, Mr. Wolfe writes small > > blurbs about each > > story at its close. After the final story in the volume, "A Cabin on the > > Coast", Wolfe reveals > > that he himself chose the stories contained therein. He also said that > > we the reader has "every > > right to disagree, but don't tell me if you do; it won't accomplish a > > thing. Tell Tor Books instead. > > Name your favorite, and demand that it be included in a second volume." > > > > I think that this mailing list could probably discuss and come up with a > > pretty good list of > > 30 or so stories to include in such a volume. If we could come to a > > consensus (now there's > > a likely story!) we could maybe submit it to Tor as our two cents. Below > > is a link to the WolfeWiki > > page listing the stories that were included in the first volume (add > > "Christmas Inn" from > > the British version): > > > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.TheBestOfGeneWolfe > > > > Here is a link to the WolfeWiki's full list of Gene Wolfe short stories: > > > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.StoriesListByDate > > > > > > If you want to participate, select fifty (50) stories to nominate and > > post it. After everyone has > > had a reasonable amount of time to chime in, I will tally the votes and > > publish the top thirty vote > > getters. Any concerns about the list can be hashed out through > > discussion after that. > > If anyone has an idea for a system more likely to produce a list > > reflecting the opinions > > of the list, I would be open to suggestions. Otherwise, why not give it > > a go? > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ António Pedro Marques — 16 Oct 2014, 17:29 follows, by subject match Marc Aramini I'd rather have 'The This Far Uncollected Gene Wolfe'. No dia 16/10/2014, ?s 17:56, Robert Pirkola escreveu: > In *The Best of Gene Wolfe* story collection, Mr. Wolfe writes small blurbs about each > story at its close. After the final story in the volume, "A Cabin on the Coast", Wolfe reveals > that he himself chose the stories contained therein. He also said that we the reader has "every > right to disagree, but don't tell me if you do; it won't accomplish a thing. Tell Tor Books instead. > Name your favorite, and demand that it be included in a second volume." > > I think that this mailing list could probably discuss and come up with a pretty good list of > 30 or so stories to include in such a volume. If we could come to a consensus (now there's > a likely story!) we could maybe submit it to Tor as our two cents. Below is a link to the WolfeWiki > page listing the stories that were included in the first volume (add "Christmas Inn" from > the British version): > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.TheBestOfGeneWolfe > > Here is a link to the WolfeWiki's full list of Gene Wolfe short stories: > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.StoriesListByDate > > > If you want to participate, select fifty (50) stories to nominate and post it. After everyone has > had a reasonable amount of time to chime in, I will tally the votes and publish the top thirty vote > getters. Any concerns about the list can be hashed out through discussion after that. > If anyone has an idea for a system more likely to produce a list reflecting the opinions > of the list, I would be open to suggestions. Otherwise, why not give it a go? > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marc Aramini — 16 Oct 2014, 17:31 follows, by subject match António Pedro Marques > On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Robert Pirkola > wrote: > > If anyone has an idea for a system more likely to produce a list > reflecting the opinions > of the list, I would be open to suggestions. Otherwise, why not give it a > go? > > > > _______________________________________________ > Urth Mailing List > To post, write urth at urth.net > Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net This is off topic, but your call for suggestions on a more equitable way to run the system evoked a snicker from me. When I was teaching college, my students never realized how innately authoritarian I was because I was always so kind and easy to approach, and naturally gave people the benefit of the doubt. Every once in a while, they would come up with the idea of voting for something and I would laugh and smile, and say, do you imagine you are in a democracy? This is a tyranny. And they were content, never realizing that they had seriously entered the soft determined universe of my will. (When you have cancer, you don't poll your friends on what to do - however, I do admit that in this case the list is closer to the cancer specialist of my metaphor than the general public would be and a similar weighted vote system might be appropriate). But ... you can't leave out Trip, Trap and Suzane Delage, in any case. Trip, Trap is the quintessential Wolfe universe: an objective spiritual reality occluded by sundered and fragmented subjective viewpoints, but still more "real" than even the physical world. In microcosm this is the viewpoint behind his entire corpus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gerry Quinn — 16 Oct 2014, 17:38 follows, by subject match Marc Aramini A lot of those are in 'Endangered Species', which is a very good collection, though... - Gerry Quinn > On 16/10/2014 17:56, Robert Pirkola wrote: > In *The Best of Gene Wolfe* story collection, Mr. Wolfe writes small > blurbs about each > story at its close. After the final story in the volume, "A Cabin on > the Coast", Wolfe reveals > that he himself chose the stories contained therein. He also said > that we the reader has "every > right to disagree, but don't tell me if you do; it won't accomplish a > thing. Tell Tor Books instead. > Name your favorite, and demand that it be included in a second volume." > > I think that this mailing list could probably discuss and come up with > a pretty good list of > 30 or so stories to include in such a volume. If we could come to a > consensus (now there's > a likely story!) we could maybe submit it to Tor as our two cents. > Below is a link to the WolfeWiki > page listing the stories that were included in the first volume (add > "Christmas Inn" from > the British version): > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.TheBestOfGeneWolfe > > Here is a link to the WolfeWiki's full list of Gene Wolfe short stories: > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.StoriesListByDate > > > If you want to participate, select fifty (50) stories to nominate and > post it. After everyone has > had a reasonable amount of time to chime in, I will tally the votes > and publish the top thirty vote > getters. Any concerns about the list can be hashed out through > discussion after that. > If anyone has an idea for a system more likely to produce a list > reflecting the opinions > of the list, I would be open to suggestions. Otherwise, why not give > it a go? > > > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dan'l Danehy-Oakes — 16 Oct 2014, 17:54 in reply to Gerry Quinn To my amazement, when I totted up my favorites and removed those in the first volume, I came up with exactly fifty. 1. Against the Lafayette Escadrille 2. Ain't You 'Most Done? 3. Alien Stones 4. And When They Appear 5. Bluesberry Jam 6. Build-A-Bear 7. Copperhead 8. Counting Cats in Zanzibar 9. Dumpster World 10. Feather Tigers 11. Frostfree 12. Golden City Far 13. Houston, 1943 14. How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen 15. How the Whip Came Back 16. In Glory Like Their Star 17. King Rat 18. La Befana 19. Loco Parentis 20. Memorare 21. Monster 22. No Planets Strike 23. Rattler 24. St. Brandon (Excerpt) 25. Suzanne Delage 26. The Blue Mouse 27. The Cat 28. The Changeling 29. The Death of Dr. Island 30. The Death of Koshchei the Deathless 31. The Fat Magician 32. The Hero as Werwolf 33. The HORARS of War 34. The Hour of the Sheep 35. The Legend of Xi Cygnus 36. The Map 37. The Nebraskan and the Nereid 38. The Night Chough 39. The Old Woman in the Young Woman 40. The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun 41. The Seraph From Its Sepulcher 42. The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) 43. The Tale of the Student and His Son 44. The Ziggurat 45. Three Fingers 46. Three Million Square Miles 47. Tracking Song 48. Trip, Trap 49. Under Hill 50. Why I Was Hanged > On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 10:38 AM, Gerry Quinn wrote: > > A lot of those are in 'Endangered Species', which is a very good > collection, though... > > - Gerry Quinn > > > > On 16/10/2014 17:56, Robert Pirkola wrote: > > In *The Best of Gene Wolfe* story collection, Mr. Wolfe writes small > blurbs about each > story at its close. After the final story in the volume, "A Cabin on the > Coast", Wolfe reveals > that he himself chose the stories contained therein. He also said that we > the reader has "every > right to disagree, but don't tell me if you do; it won't accomplish a > thing. Tell Tor Books instead. > Name your favorite, and demand that it be included in a second volume." > > I think that this mailing list could probably discuss and come up with a > pretty good list of > 30 or so stories to include in such a volume. If we could come to a > consensus (now there's > a likely story!) we could maybe submit it to Tor as our two cents. Below > is a link to the WolfeWiki > page listing the stories that were included in the first volume (add > "Christmas Inn" from > the British version): > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.TheBestOfGeneWolfe > > Here is a link to the WolfeWiki's full list of Gene Wolfe short stories: > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.StoriesListByDate > > > If you want to participate, select fifty (50) stories to nominate and > post it. After everyone has > had a reasonable amount of time to chime in, I will tally the votes and > publish the top thirty vote > getters. Any concerns about the list can be hashed out through discussion > after that. > If anyone has an idea for a system more likely to produce a list > reflecting the opinions > of the list, I would be open to suggestions. Otherwise, why not give it a > go? > > > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marc Aramini — 16 Oct 2014, 17:56 in reply to Dan'l Danehy-Oakes Oh my god how could I leave off the changeling? Probably my favorite Wofe story, I just assumed it was in the first one without thinking about it. > On Thursday, October 16, 2014, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote: > To my amazement, when I totted up my favorites and removed those in the > first volume, I came up with exactly fifty. > > 1. Against the Lafayette Escadrille > > > 2. Ain't You 'Most Done? > > > 3. Alien Stones > > > 4. And When They Appear > > > 5. Bluesberry Jam > > > 6. Build-A-Bear > > > 7. Copperhead > > > 8. Counting Cats in Zanzibar > > > 9. Dumpster World > > > 10. Feather Tigers > > > 11. Frostfree > > > 12. Golden City Far > > > 13. Houston, 1943 > > > 14. How the Bishop Sailed to Inniskeen > > > 15. How the Whip Came Back > > > 16. In Glory Like Their Star > > > 17. King Rat > > > 18. La Befana > > > 19. Loco Parentis > > > 20. Memorare > > > 21. Monster > > > 22. No Planets Strike > > > 23. Rattler > > > 24. St. Brandon (Excerpt) > > > 25. Suzanne Delage > > > 26. The Blue Mouse > > > 27. The Cat > > 28. The Changeling > > > 29. The Death of Dr. Island > > > 30. The Death of Koshchei the Deathless > > > 31. The Fat Magician > > > 32. The Hero as Werwolf > > > 33. The HORARS of War > > > 34. The Hour of the Sheep > > > 35. The Legend of Xi Cygnus > > > 36. The Map > > 37. The Nebraskan and the Nereid > > > 38. The Night Chough > > > 39. The Old Woman in the Young Woman > > > 40. The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun > > > 41. The Seraph From Its Sepulcher > > > 42. The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) > > > 43. The Tale of the Student and His Son > > > 44. The Ziggurat > > > 45. Three Fingers > > > 46. Three Million Square Miles > > > 47. Tracking Song > > > 48. Trip, Trap > > > 49. Under Hill > > > 50. Why I Was Hanged > > > On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 10:38 AM, Gerry Quinn > wrote: > > A lot of those are in 'Endangered Species', which is a very good > > collection, though... > > > > - Gerry Quinn > > > > > > > > On 16/10/2014 17:56, Robert Pirkola wrote: > > > > In *The Best of Gene Wolfe* story collection, Mr. Wolfe writes small > > blurbs about each > > story at its close. After the final story in the volume, "A Cabin on the > > Coast", Wolfe reveals > > that he himself chose the stories contained therein. He also said that > > we the reader has "every > > right to disagree, but don't tell me if you do; it won't accomplish a > > thing. Tell Tor Books instead. > > Name your favorite, and demand that it be included in a second volume." > > > > I think that this mailing list could probably discuss and come up with > > a pretty good list of > > 30 or so stories to include in such a volume. If we could come to a > > consensus (now there's > > a likely story!) we could maybe submit it to Tor as our two cents. Below > > is a link to the WolfeWiki > > page listing the stories that were included in the first volume (add > > "Christmas Inn" from > > the British version): > > > > > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.TheBestOfGeneWolfe > > > > Here is a link to the WolfeWiki's full list of Gene Wolfe short stories: > > > > http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.StoriesListByDate > > > > > > If you want to participate, select fifty (50) stories to nominate and > > post it. After everyone has > > had a reasonable amount of time to chime in, I will tally the votes and > > publish the top thirty vote > > getters. Any concerns about the list can be hashed out through > > discussion after that. > > If anyone has an idea for a system more likely to produce a list > > reflecting the opinions > > of the list, I would be open to suggestions. Otherwise, why not give it > > a go? > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert Pirkola — 16 Oct 2014, 18:15 follows, by subject match Marc Aramini I know that 50 is a lot of stories to nominate but my intention was that if everyone just selected 30 or fewerthere is unlikely to be significant overlap given the amount of stories that could be nominated. Perhaps thisunderestimates the degree to which the next 30 is already somewhat obvious. Why doesn't everyone justpost as many as they would like (up to 50) and we will see where that takes us? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert Pirkola — 16 Oct 2014, 18:19 follows, by subject match Robert Pirkola Marc Aramini wrote: "Oh my god how could I leave off the changeling? Probably my favorite Wo[l]festory, I just assumed it was in the first one without thinking about it." Funnily enough before I wrote the first post on this topic I had to recheck toconfirm that Wolfe hadn't selected "The Changeling" for the first volume. An obvious choice for the second. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert Pirkola — 16 Oct 2014, 21:37 follows, by subject match Robert Pirkola Antonio Pedro Marques wrote: "I'd rather have 'The This Far Uncollected Gene Wolfe'." I, for one, completely agree. He is long overdue for a *new* short story collection and there iscertainly no shortage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert Pirkola — 16 Oct 2014, 21:42 follows, by subject match Robert Pirkola I personally haven't read too many chronologically later than "The Ziggurat" so my list is truncated to thirty: 1. Moutains Like Mice 2. Trip, Trap 3. Volksweapon 4. The Changeling 5. The HORARS of War 6. Three Million Square Miles 7. ?Cues 8. Thag Stories 9. Melting 10. Silhouette 11. Tracking Song 12. Three Fingers 13. Suzanne Delage 14. The Adopted Father 15. Cherry Jubilee 16. The Nebraskan and the Nereid 17. In the House of Gingerbread 18. The Other Dead Man 19. Houston, 1943 20. Sightings at Twin Mounds 21. The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) 22. The Friendship Light 23. Lord of the Land 24. The Haunted Boardinghouse 25. The Monday Man 26. The Old Woman Whose Rolling Pin Is the Sun 27. The Seraph from its Sepulcher 28. The Sailor Who Sailed After the Sun 29. Useful Phrases 30. The Ziggurat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------