Subject: (whorl) Re: The ending

From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at home.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 15:24:48 +0000

>To compare it with ENGINE SUMMER, a comparison mantis made (though
>apparently he didn't mean by it what I took him to): in ES also, the
>protagonist's story is not resolved in the sense we had expected it to be;
>instead, a sudden twist of events abruptly "closes off" the protagonist's
>story.  But in ES the resolution worked, and I didn't feel cheated, because
>it was emotionally moving and thematically resonant.  Neither of these
>things are true of the ending voyage in RttW.

         While I did not "dislike" the ending as much as some here did, I 
think you have a good point. Suddenly "Horn" is "Silk." Suddenly they all 
go away. This has not been "prepared." And as you note, unlike Engine 
Summer, the ending is not emotionally powerful.
         But Wolfe often does this kind of thing. It's his way of trying to 
get us to re-read the book or story with new eyes. Yet, the re-reading does 
not seem to give much in this case.

Nutria

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