Gene Wolfe: Book of the New Sun

Charley Wingate · 06 Mar 1986, 14:37 · from sf-lovers.1986.mbox

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From: umcp-cs!mangoe at caip.rutgers.edu (Charley Wingate)
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe: Book of the New Sun
Date: 6 Mar 86 14:37:40 GMT
Message-ID: <sflovers-v11-37-5 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V11 #37
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-11

I've found that I really like Wolfe's short stories.  Shortly after
the BotNS came out, I picked up _Gene Wolfe's Book of Days_, which I
enjoyed immensely.  I could never get into the BotNS, though, for a
couple of reasons.  WHen I got _Free Live Free_ a few months ago, I
had hoped that things would be different.  Alas, I have temporarily
given up it, about halfway through.

   Wolfe's style always seems to get to me after a few hundred
pages.  I can take it in small doses, but the prospect of page after
page of it stretching out before me always makes me faintly queasy.
_Free Live Free_ manages to overcome this by a certain lightness
which is more like his short stories.  The BotNS, though, moves
along with the ponderous grace of the Vehicle Tranporter pulling
away from the VAB.  Also, the odd word trick doesn't work for me.
SInce it's such a high-wire act, one slip ruins it, and when I ran
across "palaquin" used in the wrong context, the spell was broken.
Not caring for the subject matter all that much anyway, I've never
seriously attempted to pick it up again.

Its certainly true that Wolfe requires rather deliberate and careful
reading.  That's partly why I haven't finished _Free Live Free_;
things have gotten in the way and I haven't had the time to devote
to it.

C. Wingate

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