Interlibrary Loan (no spoilers) The Urth list — 7 messages, 7 voices, 18 Jul 2020 https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6837 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. ============================================================================== Dave Lebling — 18 Jul 2020, 14:44 Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? I re-read *A Borrowed Man* before reading *Interlibrary Loan*. I had found *A Borrowed Man* to be very opaque on first reading, and much more reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with Wolfe; each reading produces more clarity.) I found the first reading of *Interlibrary Loan* to be even more opaque, and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and funny. I believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which seems to go against a lot of reviews. It could have used another draft. It is extremely sad we will never get one. Dave Lebling ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ab de Vos — 18 Jul 2020, 15:33 in reply to Dave Lebling I read it as well and everything in the book seems to be a riddle. How many Erns are there, is the story line mixed up, what is in the green box, what happens to the key Ern takes from dead Ern, the status of the ghosts, the relation of the book to Borrowed Man etc. Fascinating but frustrating. Op 18-7-2020 om 16:44 schreef Dave Lebling: > Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? > > I re-read /A Borrowed Man/ before reading /Interlibrary Loan/. I had > found /A Borrowed Man/ to be very opaque on first reading, and much > more reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with > Wolfe; each reading produces more clarity.) > > I found the first reading of /Interlibrary Loan/ to be even more > opaque, and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and > funny. I believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which > seems to go against a lot of reviews. It could have used another > draft. It is extremely sad we will never get one. > > Dave Lebling > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dan'l Danehy-Oakes — 19 Jul 2020, 03:00 in reply to Dave Lebling I *have* read it - just finished a few minutes ago - and boy do I have thoughts, but most of them have to wait until the spoilage period has passed. I found it much easier going than *A Borrowed Man* - until the last four pages or so, where I suddenly had *no* idea what was going on, and most especially the last line. What the actual hell? Dan'l Danehy-Oakes *?Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the dragonfly. Courage consists of staying at home, close to nature, which could not care less about our disasters. Each grain of dust contains the soul of something marvellous. -- *Joan Mir? > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 7:44 AM Dave Lebling wrote: > Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? > > I re-read *A Borrowed Man* before reading *Interlibrary Loan*. I had > found *A Borrowed Man* to be very opaque on first reading, and much more > reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with Wolfe; each > reading produces more clarity.) > > I found the first reading of *Interlibrary Loan* to be even more opaque, > and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and funny. I > believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which seems to go > against a lot of reviews. It could have used another draft. It is extremely > sad we will never get one. > > Dave Lebling > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ eb — 19 Jul 2020, 03:39 in reply to Dan'l Danehy-Oakes I've almost finished it. I'm liking it a lot. To discuss. ******* Eric Bourland eb at hwaet.com https://www.hwaet.com/ ---------------------------------------- From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" Sent: 7/18/20 11:01 PM To: The Urth Mailing List Subject: Re: (urth) Interlibrary Loan (no spoilers) I have read it - just finished a few minutes ago - and boy do I have thoughts, but most of them have to wait until the spoilage period has passed. I found it much easier going than A Borrowed Man - until the last four pages or so, where I suddenly had no idea what was going on, and most especially the last line. What the actual hell? Dan'l Danehy-Oakes "Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the dragonfly. Courage consists of staying at home, close to nature, which could not care less about our disasters. Each grain of dust contains the soul of something marvellous." -- Joan Mir? On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 7:44 AM Dave Lebling wrote: Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? I re-read A Borrowed Man before reading Interlibrary Loan. I had found A Borrowed Man to be very opaque on first reading, and much more reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with Wolfe; each reading produces more clarity.) I found the first reading of Interlibrary Loan to be even more opaque, and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and funny. I believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which seems to go against a lot of reviews. It could have used another draft. It is extremely sad we will never get one. Dave Lebling_______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Evan Pickett — 19 Jul 2020, 04:14 in reply to eb I read it and (I think) kept up with it until the last ~3 chapters. Does anyone know if the book was definitively finished, or was it finished enough that the publishers want ahead? Not casting aspersion; just curious. It felt like there was another 100 pages of material in the last couple chapters, that just wasn't there. With Wolfe, it's hard to say if that's intentional or not. Evan > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 8:48 PM eb wrote: > I've almost finished it. I'm liking it a lot. To discuss. > > ******* > Eric Bourland > eb at hwaet.com > https://www.hwaet.com/ > > ------------------------------ > *From*: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" > *Sent*: 7/18/20 11:01 PM > *To*: The Urth Mailing List > *Subject*: Re: (urth) Interlibrary Loan (no spoilers) > I *have* read it - just finished a few minutes ago - and boy do I have > thoughts, but most of them have to wait until the spoilage period has > passed. > > I found it much easier going than *A Borrowed Man* - until the last four > pages or so, where I suddenly had *no* idea what was going on, and most > especially the last line. What the actual hell? > > Dan'l Danehy-Oakes > > *"Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the > dragonfly. Courage consists of staying at home, close to nature, which > could not care less about our disasters. Each grain of dust contains the > soul of something marvellous." -- *Joan Mir? > > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 7:44 AM Dave Lebling wrote: > > Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? > > > > I re-read *A Borrowed Man* before reading *Interlibrary Loan*. I had > > found *A Borrowed Man* to be very opaque on first reading, and much more > > reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with Wolfe; each > > reading produces more clarity.) > > > > I found the first reading of *Interlibrary Loan* to be even more opaque, > > and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and funny. I > > believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which seems to go > > against a lot of reviews. It could have used another draft. It is extremely > > sad we will never get one. > > > > Dave Lebling > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Marc Aramini — 19 Jul 2020, 04:56 in reply to Evan Pickett Wolfe finished it and turned it in very shortly before he died. I do feel that the sketchiness of the last few chapters might have something to do with that fact, though of course the green square is present throughout. Certainly the pace accelerates at the end. > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 9:14 PM Evan Pickett wrote: > I read it and (I think) kept up with it until the last ~3 chapters. Does > anyone know if the book was definitively finished, or was it finished > enough that the publishers want ahead? Not casting aspersion; just curious. > It felt like there was another 100 pages of material in the last couple > chapters, that just wasn't there. With Wolfe, it's hard to say if that's > intentional or not. > > Evan > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 8:48 PM eb wrote: > > I've almost finished it. I'm liking it a lot. To discuss. > > > > ******* > > Eric Bourland > > eb at hwaet.com > > https://www.hwaet.com/ > > > > ------------------------------ > > *From*: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" > > *Sent*: 7/18/20 11:01 PM > > *To*: The Urth Mailing List > > *Subject*: Re: (urth) Interlibrary Loan (no spoilers) > > I *have* read it - just finished a few minutes ago - and boy do I have > > thoughts, but most of them have to wait until the spoilage period has > > passed. > > > > I found it much easier going than *A Borrowed Man* - until the last four > > pages or so, where I suddenly had *no* idea what was going on, and most > > especially the last line. What the actual hell? > > > > Dan'l Danehy-Oakes > > > > *"Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of > > the dragonfly. Courage consists of staying at home, close to nature, which > > could not care less about our disasters. Each grain of dust contains the > > soul of something marvellous." -- *Joan Mir? > > > > > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 7:44 AM Dave Lebling > > wrote: > > > Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? > > > > > > I re-read *A Borrowed Man* before reading *Interlibrary Loan*. I had > > > found *A Borrowed Man* to be very opaque on first reading, and much > > > more reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with Wolfe; > > > each reading produces more clarity.) > > > > > > I found the first reading of *Interlibrary Loan* to be even more > > > opaque, and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and funny. > > > I believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which seems to go > > > against a lot of reviews. It could have used another draft. It is extremely > > > sad we will never get one. > > > > > > Dave Lebling > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Factory Farmer — 20 Jul 2020, 01:31 in reply to Marc Aramini Isn’t this to be expected as one or more volumes would have been forthcoming? And of course the belief that more would have made it more understandable. Hahaha! Listened to the audiobook which I considered very well executed. > On Jul 19, 2020, at 12:56 AM, Marc Aramini wrote: > > > Wolfe finished it and turned it in very shortly before he died. I do feel that the sketchiness of the last few chapters might have something to do with that fact, though of course the green square is present throughout. Certainly the pace accelerates at the end. > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 9:14 PM Evan Pickett wrote: > > I read it and (I think) kept up with it until the last ~3 chapters. Does anyone know if the book was definitively finished, or was it finished enough that the publishers want ahead? Not casting aspersion; just curious. It felt like there was another 100 pages of material in the last couple chapters, that just wasn't there. With Wolfe, it's hard to say if that's intentional or not. > > > > Evan > > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 8:48 PM eb wrote: > > > I've almost finished it. I'm liking it a lot. To discuss. > > > > > > ******* > > > Eric Bourland > > > eb at hwaet.com > > > https://www.hwaet.com/ > > > > > > From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" > > > Sent: 7/18/20 11:01 PM > > > To: The Urth Mailing List > > > Subject: Re: (urth) Interlibrary Loan (no spoilers) > > > I have read it - just finished a few minutes ago - and boy do I have thoughts, but most of them have to wait until the spoilage period has passed. > > > > > > I found it much easier going than A Borrowed Man - until the last four pages or so, where I suddenly had no idea what was going on, and most especially the last line. What the actual hell? > > > > > > Dan'l Danehy-Oakes > > > > > > "Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the dragonfly. Courage consists of staying at home, close to nature, which could not care less about our disasters. Each grain of dust contains the soul of something marvellous." -- Joan Mir? > > > > On Sat, Jul 18, 2020 at 7:44 AM Dave Lebling wrote: > > > > Has anyone read this, and if so, do you have thoughts? > > > > > > > > I re-read A Borrowed Man before reading Interlibrary Loan. I had found A Borrowed Man to be very opaque on first reading, and much more reasonable on a second reading. (This is my normal pattern with Wolfe; each reading produces more clarity.) > > > > > > > > I found the first reading of Interlibrary Loan to be even more opaque, and also a bit disjointed. It was by turns weird, scary, and funny. I believe it is actually hard SF rather than Fantasy, which seems to go against a lot of reviews. It could have used another draft. It is extremely sad we will never get one. > > > > > > > > Dave Lebling > > > > _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------