{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/1433", "note": "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.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "whorl", "thread": { "id": 1433, "subject": "A Mania for Conversations", "messages": 4, "voices": 2, "first": "2001-06-10T15:48:00+00:00", "last": "2001-06-11T09:14:49+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Straight", "address": "straight at email.unc.edu" }, "date": "2001-06-10T15:48:00+00:00", "subject": "(whorl) A Mania for Conversations", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Horn's statement about having a mania for recording coversations struck me\nas a key insight into Wolfe's writing. Could it be that Wolfe's eliptical\nstyle is largely based on a preference for writing conversations rather\nthan describing actions? I'd have to do some more reading with this idea\nin mind, but I have the impression that quite a lot of the gaps in Wolfe's\nnarratives come when a conversation is interrupted by some event, and we\nskip the event for another conversation in which someone may or may not\ndescribe or allude to the event itself.\n\n-Rostrum\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Steve Strickland", "address": "sstrickland at satx.rr.com" }, "date": "2001-06-10T15:53:06+00:00", "subject": "Re: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I took Horn's statement as a bit of self-deprecating humor on the part of\nMr. Wolfe. No doubt as a result of the extensive narrative sections in the\nlatter volumes of Long Sun, Wolfe received more than a few comments like,\n\"Can't you write anything but dialogue?\" or \"Can't you pepper the dialogue\nwith a little more description?\" (And I'm sure he received less critical\nobservations regarding the same.)\n\nAs I see it, Horn's statement is Wolfe's playful nod to the critics (while\nplayfully placing the blame on the narrator-character, Horn.)\n\nVery cute.\n\nImperator\n\n----- Original Message -----" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "From: \"Michael Straight\" \nTo: \nSent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 2:48 PM\nSubject: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations\n\nHorn's statement about having a mania for recording coversations struck me\nas a key insight into Wolfe's writing. Could it be that Wolfe's eliptical\nstyle is largely based on a preference for writing conversations rather\nthan describing actions? I'd have to do some more reading with this idea\nin mind, but I have the impression that quite a lot of the gaps in Wolfe's\nnarratives come when a conversation is interrupted by some event, and we\nskip the event for another conversation in which someone may or may not\ndescribe or allude to the event itself.\n\n-Rostrum\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Steve Strickland", "address": "sstrickland at satx.rr.com" }, "date": "2001-06-10T15:53:06+00:00", "subject": "Re: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I took Horn's statement as a bit of self-deprecating humor on the part of\nMr. Wolfe. No doubt as a result of the extensive narrative sections in the\nlatter volumes of Long Sun, Wolfe received more than a few comments like,\n\"Can't you write anything but dialogue?\" or \"Can't you pepper the dialogue\nwith a little more description?\" (And I'm sure he received less critical\nobservations regarding the same.)\n\nAs I see it, Horn's statement is Wolfe's playful nod to the critics (while\nplayfully placing the blame on the narrator-character, Horn.)\n\nVery cute.\n\nImperator\n\n----- Original Message -----" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "From: \"Michael Straight\" \nTo: \nSent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 2:48 PM\nSubject: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations\n\nHorn's statement about having a mania for recording coversations struck me\nas a key insight into Wolfe's writing. Could it be that Wolfe's eliptical\nstyle is largely based on a preference for writing conversations rather\nthan describing actions? I'd have to do some more reading with this idea\nin mind, but I have the impression that quite a lot of the gaps in Wolfe's\nnarratives come when a conversation is interrupted by some event, and we\nskip the event for another conversation in which someone may or may not\ndescribe or allude to the event itself.\n\n-Rostrum\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Straight", "address": "straight at email.unc.edu" }, "date": "2001-06-11T09:14:49+00:00", "subject": "Re: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Sun, 10 Jun 2001, Steve Strickland wrote:\nAs I see it, Horn's statement is Wolfe's playful nod to the critics (while\nplayfully placing the blame on the narrator-character, Horn.)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "So what you're saying is that lots of people have noticed this already,\nbut I didn't get it until Wolfe pointed it out himself.\n\n-Rostrum\n\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] } ] }