Subject: Gene Wolfe - some spoilers

From: Laurence C. Roberts <robertsl at stolaf.uucp>
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 1984 05:09:29 +0000

I've enjoyed the recent discussions of Gene Wolfe's _Book_of_the_New_Sun_.
I've read ( and re-read) this and a fair ammount of Wolfe's other work.  Has
anyone out there read _The_Fifth_Head_of_Cerberus_?  Has anyone read both that
book and Silverberg's _Lord_Valentine's_Castle_?  Did it seem to you as if LVC
lifted certain concepts from Fifth Head - note the similarity of the Annese to
Silverberg's Metamorphs, and the underlying theme in both books of metamorphasis
- in Fifth Head from generation to generation of clones (#5) and from VRT to
Marsch , and in LVC from the old Valentine to the new.  And, although I'm no
Heinlein fan, what about Michael Valentine Smith's Castle?  Well, perhaps I'm
paranoid.

     Is it possible that there never was a Marsch in the first place, that VRT
made him up?  I havn't re-read the book since I heard this hypothesis, but even
if there aren't any contradictions to it, it sounds kind of shaky.  Of course,
you've probably noticed the marsch-men pun in "A Story" .  Then again, how about
March's green eyes?  Was there a handwriting change in the journals in part 3?

     One analysis I read mentions that scenery in "A Story" also appears in
"VRT" (part 3).  I never noticed this before - I'll have to watch next time.

     Now a few New Sun things... What about the second time the Green Man was
supposed to save Severian's life?  Has anyone heard when _The_Urth_of_the_New_
_Sun_ is coming out?  What is _The_Wolfe_Archipeligo_?

      Does anyone out there read Thomas Disch or Somtow Sucharitkul?  They are
both marvelously literate authors.  What's your opinion of Wolfe and Disch
(among others) publishing unaffordable collectors editions that you'd be afraid
to read for fear of damaging them, even if you could afford them... I'm not even
talking about $18 hardbacks ( although those are bad enough ) .  I'm complaining
about $100 books, and somewhat about Disch's booklets like _Ringtime_ for
Toothpaste Press...  Opinions?

       Laurence Roberts
       ihnp4!stolaf!robertsl

"Ifrit first you don't succeed, fly, fly a djinn!"

---

From: Kenn Barry <barry at ames.uucp>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 1984 21:43:18 +0000

[]

>                               ...  What's your opinion of Wolfe and Disch

	Why would you want to complain? You're not required to buy the
expensive collector's editions. These books almost invariably come out
in large trade editions, as well, or in paperback. The only ones that
don't are those which wouldn't have a mass audience. In such cases high
prices are inevitable, since you're unable to prorate the costs of publishing
over a large print run.
	The main reasons these editions are expensive is that they are
limited editions, and they (usually) are better made than trade editions.
The reason they're published at all is that there are collectors who
are willing to pay the high prices for them. I've paid more than $100.00
for some books, and I have no complaints.
	Having roasted you adequately, let me back down a bit. I *have*
seen cases where there has been an unconscionably long delay between the
publishing of the collector's edition, and later publishing of the trade
edition. This seems to be an effort to boost sales of the expensive version
by withholding the affordable copies, and I consider it a low practice.
Lest the libertarians flame me, I should add that publishers have a
right to do it; but I don't have to like it.

-  From the Crow's Nest  -                      Kenn Barry
                                                NASA-Ames Research Center
                                                Moffett Field, CA