Subject: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v012.n007

From: Jacob G Corbin <webmaster at afriendlysbooks.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 18:39:05 +0000

I hereby bet everyone on this list fifty cents apiece that the giant figure on RETURN TO THE WHORL's cover is either a) the Outsider, b) Silk, c) Silk/Pas, d) Gene Wolfe, or e) some mixture of any of the above.

I doubt that Wolfe would resort to that cheesy trope of sticking himself in the book, but you never know....

Jacob

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From: Timothy Reilly <treilly at ozemail.com.au>
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 06:01:59 +0000

Rostrum wrote:

> I'll be reading IGJ soon, so I'll be able to catch up with the rest of the
> discussion.  I'll be happy if it's half as good as OBW!

Sadly I don't think IGJ is even half as good.  I thought OBW was wonderful,
but IGJ is getting too confusing with its astral dream travel all over the
place.  Also do we really need yet another story about how a clever man
helps defeat a superior enemy on the battlefield by a ruse of some sort?
This occurred not only in OBW as well, but constantly in Western literature
since at least the Iliad.  I missed the point of this part of the plot.  The
obscurity of who the protagonist is and why he does what he does left me a
bit irritated after a while.  Too much magic and uncertainty seems to be
creeping into the plot, and it makes it much harder to identify with the
protagonist's problems or choices.  As has been pointed out before, why
doesn't he just try, with Fava's help perhaps, to astral travel back to
Nettle, where he says he wants to be?

On a point of detail, I didn't read the bit where the narrator sees Silk
covered in blood as being a suicide attempt - since he's meant to be getting
a new body, a dead or dying post-suicide one wouldn't be very effective!
The speculation about a head removal is fascinating, though I confess I just
read it as a sacrificial orgy to try to revitalise Hyacinth.

The cover for RTTW looks pretty bad, but they've been going downhill since
OBW.  Could be a giant super-Baldanders type in RTTW, though the one
pictured is far too big for earth strength gravity (which is why Baldanders
went underwater ofcourse).  Or could be Wolfe in a silly hat, but I hope
not!

Tim

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From: Timothy Reilly <treilly at ozemail.com.au>
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 06:01:59 +0000

Tim

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From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 08:33:35 +0000

> I doubt that Wolfe would resort to that cheesy trope of sticking himself
in the
> book, but you never know....

You mean like the cheesy authors of stories like "The Last Thrilling Wonder
Story" and "The Fifth Head of Cerebus?" Yeah, you're probably right...

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From: Endymion9 <endymion9 at mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 16:51:02 +0000

in the
> book, but you never know....

I hope that GW will do exactly what he thinks is the right thing to do and not be influenced by message boards.  I've loved many GW books but have yet to read one written by committee or message board, nor would I want to.

Just my two cents :)

Dennis/Endy
http://home.mindspring.com/~endymion9/index.htm