Subject: (whorl) Wolfe's

From: David Wells <adw at ovum.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 09:19:00 +0000

[Posted from WHORL, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

>    Now, "Wolfe is not trying to convert anybody." Hmmm. Well, that's going 
to
>depend on what you mean by "convert." In "The Detective of Dreams," a
>stealthy invasion of the gospel is presented as the corrective to tyranny.
>I think that's pretty much what is going on in both the Severian and Silk
>narratives also, and elsewhere. Sure, that's just how Wolfe looks at
>things. But, when a Christian communicates his ideas and worldview, that
>CAN be called "evangelism" in some broad sense, no?

One thing I, as an atheist, like about Wolfe is that he leaves room for 
interpretation.
To me, Crane's explanation of Silk's encounters with the Outsider are 
plausible.
Just as theists have told me they dread reading science fiction by authors 
they
know to be atheists - in case the author decides to dive into some 
sub-Von-Daineken
scientific explanation of the nature of God in the final chapter - I 
approached
BoTLS with some apprehension in case Wolfe decided it was time he did a
C.S.Lewis and beat us over the head with an unambiguous Christian message.

In fact, of course, he didn't. I like this, not just for selfish reasons but 
because I
think it makes for more interesting fiction.

newt