Subject: Gene Wolfe Books

From: Evelyn C. Leeper <eleeper at optonline.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 13:46:46 +0000

Assume one has the following books by Gene Wolfe and is trying to trim 
down one's collection:
	Book of the New Sun (4 vols.)
	Devil in a Forest
	Fifth Head of Cerberus
	Nightside the Long Sun
	Soldier of the Mist
	Urth of the New Sun

Which would people say are his major works and which could be gotten rid 
of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way lies 
madness.)

-- 
Evelyn C. Leeper
A passionate commitment to social justice is no substitute for
knowing what the hell you're talking about.  --Thomas Sowell

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From: Nancy Lebovitz <nancyl at panix.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:27:57 +0000

In article <2dkgf.27307$rc7.1415 at fe12.lga>,
>of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way lies 

Do I gather you haven't read some or all of them so that you aren't sure
what you'd want to reread or refer to?
-- 
Nancy Lebovitz     http://www.nancybuttons.com  
http://livejournal.com/users/nancylebov

My two favorite colors are "Oooooh" and "SHINY!".

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From: Evelyn C. Leeper <eleeper at optonline.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:38:23 +0000

> what you'd want to reread or refer to?

Correct.  I think the only Wolfe I have read are short stories (those 
collections I will keep).

My initial implulse is to keep BotS and get rid of the rest.  (We have 
reached a point when we are really trying to at least hold the line on 
the book volume in the house.  This concept is, of course, a whole 
nother thread.  As are infixes.)

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From: Nancy Lebovitz <nancyl at panix.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:53:20 +0000

In article <rZkgf.1264$Jq4.1034 at fe09.lga>,
>nother thread.  As are infixes.)

For what it's worth, BotNS is the only one on the list I'm enthusiastic
about, but I'm not a huge Wolfe fan and I haven't read all of them. You
might want to keep Urth of the New Sun since it's a sequel.

I recommend going with your impulse--used copies of reasonably common sf 
books are cheap and easy to get these days, and I suspect they're going to
get cheaper for a while --you're not the only person who feels a need to
declutter. 
-- 
Nancy Lebovitz     http://www.nancybuttons.com  
http://livejournal.com/users/nancylebov

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From: Steve Simmons <scs at not.di.these.org.words>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:03:22 +0000

> nother thread.  As are infixes.)

If you've not started reading any of these, I'd question keeping any of
them except 'Fifth Head.'  Wolfe is likely to remain in print for many
years to come, so should you suddenly become addicted to Wolfe there will
be plenty of opportunity to fix.

But keep 'Fifth Head.'  Every time you get to wondering if you should read
his longer works, consider it a push towards 'Fifth Head.'  If you finally
read it (all of it) and like it, then go get some of his other novels.
-- 
Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be canceled.  A
laugh track has been provided, and the reason why we are put in the
material world is to get more material. 
     From "Swami Beyondananda's Guidelines for Enlightenment"

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From: Pete Fenelon <pete at fenelon.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:24:31 +0000

>        Nightside the Long Sun

pete

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From: Thomas Lindgren <***********@*****.***>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:01:36 +0000

"Evelyn C. Leeper" <eleeper at optonline.net> writes:

> Which would people say are his major works and which could be gotten
> rid of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way
> lies madness.)

A bit of triage, then? Keep Book of the New Sun, Fifth Head,
Soldier. I might keep the Long Sun there as well, but you only seem to
have the first volume and it doesn't sound like you want to buy
more. (Soldier isn't a solo volume either, of course, but why be
consistent?)

If space is at a premium, just keep a slim first edition Fifth Head
and snort or give a silent, unnerving hooded stare when people mention
his later work.

Best,
                        Thomas
-- 
Thomas Lindgren
"It's becoming popular? It must be in decline." -- Isaiah Berlin

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From: Jesper Svedberg <jesv8435 at studentnospam.uu.se>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:25:35 +0000

> of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way lies 

Haven't read them all, but BotNS and Fifth Head definite keepers; being 
among the greatest works of sf of all time and all that. Soldier might 
be a bit more minor, but the writing is beautiful and it's a must read 
for anyone who has an interest in ancient Greece.

   // Jesper

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From: David Dyer-Bennet <dd-b at dd-b.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:22:42 +0000

> rid of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way

Well, BotNS is clear a major work.  But I wouldn't keep it.  I'd keep
4th Head and nothing else, myself, assuming I were actually going to
dispose of books.
-- 
David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b at dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/>
RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/>
Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>

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From: Evelyn C. Leeper <eleeper at optonline.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 21:05:02 +0000

> 4th Head and nothing else, myself, assuming I were actually going to

Is 4th Head 20% slimmer than 5th Head? :-) :-)

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From: David Dyer-Bennet <dd-b at dd-b.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 22:10:10 +0000

> Is 4th Head 20% slimmer than 5th Head? :-) :-)

Or shorter; one or the other.

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From: John VanSickle <evilsnack at earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 22:13:14 +0000

> of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way lies 

No, that way lies good taste.

Regards,
John

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From: Rich Horton <rrhorton at prodigy.net>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 01:13:08 +0000

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 08:46:46 -0500, "Evelyn C. Leeper"

>of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way lies 

Of course you should keep everything. Seriously, Wolfe is perhaps our
best -- why not?

That said, of the books above, perhaps _Nightside the Long Sun_ would
go first because it really doesn't stand alone -- you need the other
three books in the Long Sun series.

After that, _The Devil in a Forest_ is a very good juvenile but not
absolutely brilliant.

And _The Urth of the New Sun_ is an intriguing but not really
necessary coda to _The Book of the New Sun_.

Of course we would have to punish you if you got rid of _The Book of
the New Sun_, very clearly an essential SF series, or _The Fifth Head
of Cerberus_, a great novel, from which in many ways almost all of
Wolfe descends.

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From: Will <wrbriggs at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 01:37:03 +0000

Humm, where to begin...  I'll probably sound like a broken record after
the rest of the replies, but Book of the New Sun is most definitely a
keeper, as is Fifth Head of Cerberus.  If you are keeping New Sun, you
should keep Urth of the New Sun, for while it is not essential, it does
clarify a few things (and raise additional questions).

Ditch Nightside, since you don't have the rest of the Long Sun novels.
I've not read Devil in a Forest, so I'm not prepared to comment on that
one,  but it can probably go.

Now - I'm probably a minority, but I found the Soldier books to be
amongst Wolfe's finest, probably because I have a weakness for Greek
mythology.  If you don't intend to acquire the sequel, then you can
dispose of it, but it really would be a shame.

As an aside, if you're disposing of many books, most of them are
probably far below Wolfe's caliber, in which case you can safely retain
the Wolfe books and still considerably pare down your collection.

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From: Mike Beede <beede at visi.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 04:46:11 +0000

> nother thread.  As are infixes.)

Soldier of the Mist is one of the best fantasies I've
ever read.  None of his other long fiction has done
anything for me.  I suggest you keep it, and further,
that you read it immediately.

   Mike Beede

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From: JavaJosh <javajosh at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 07:28:09 +0000

> of?  (Yes, I know some will say "keep everything", but that way lies

Gene who? You should sell all of those nasty books and buy something
*good* by Weiss & Hickman.

Seriously though, I'd keep them all because of the books I've read in
that list they've all been quite thought-provoking. Soldier of the Mist
was my least favorite.

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From: Nancy Lebovitz <nancyl at panix.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:33:25 +0000

>that you read it immediately.

Alternatively, read it and see if you like it. If you do, sell it and
get the trade paperback duology--it's got a spectacular cover.

I suppose I should ask--do people who've read both think _Soldier of
Arrete_ is as good as _Soldier of the Mists_?
-- 
Nancy Lebovitz     http://www.nancybuttons.com  
http://livejournal.com/users/nancylebov

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From: Mike Beede <beede at visi.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 17:14:18 +0000

> Arrete_ is as good as _Soldier of the Mists_?

I didn't think so.  In fact, I never got more than a little
bit through it.  

    Mike Beede

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From: Ron Henry <ronhenry at clarityconnect.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 20:56:15 +0000

"Evelyn C. Leeper" <eleeper at optonline.net> wrote in message 
news:rZkgf.1264$Jq4.1034 at fe09.lga...
> reached a point when we are really trying to at least hold the line on the 
> book volume in the house.  This concept is, of course, a whole nother 
> thread.  As are infixes.)

Given only this list, I'd keep BotNS and Fifth Head of Cerberus; I'm 
assuming you won't be buying any additional books to fill out series (since 
Nightside the Long Sun is part of a 4-book series and Soldier of the Mist 
has a companion volume).

Urth of the New Sun is a more difficult-to-read (or perhaps 
differently-difficult to read?) sequel to the New Sun series, and some 
people don't like it; in any case it's not essential to the main story. The 
Devil in a Forest is (imho) a minor Wolfe novel.

Ron Henry

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From: westprog <westprog at hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:31:31 +0000

> Arrete_ is as good as _Soldier of the Mists_?

I'd have to think about it. However, Wolfe tends to not want to do the
same thing in part 2, or 3 or 4. The denoument he is building towards
seems to go missing. That can seem a bit disconcerting.

My advice would be to get rid of the TV, shower, bed, dividing walls
etc, and get spare copies of all the Gene Wolfes. If I had to trim down
to twenty books, I suspect he'd make up about a third of them.

J/