Re-reading, hoping for some discussion ;-)

HHR · 17 Aug 2006, 14:16 · from 2006-August.txt.gz

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From: hubert.rogers at ntlworld.com (HHR)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:16:27 +0100
Subject: (urth) Re-reading, hoping for some discussion ;-)
In-Reply-To: <2da11e286cdba25d8ef58c2c8d3e77cd at cogsci.ucsd.edu>
References: <BAY103-F976B38D7A4B230606E736D74F0 at phx.gbl>
	<2da11e286cdba25d8ef58c2c8d3e77cd at cogsci.ucsd.edu>
Message-ID: <551314DE-AEA8-4AA6-AF06-12AACC648DEC at ntlworld.com>

In my admittedly limited experience trying to persuade friends into  
reading New Sun, I've had no success. One friend read around 3 pages  
and seemed to think that the whole main character as a torturer story  
was a gimmick, and couldn't accept statements near the beginning of  
the book such as the one about women not being allowed in the guild  
because they could be too cruel.

It's a real shame, because all three people I've got to start reading  
New Sun (and given copies of Shadow and Claw to), I know are the type  
who would love the unsurpassed mysteries and adventure. I've always  
thought it was just a matter of getting people to just have the  
patience and open-mindedness to get past the first few chapters.

Other times I've wondered if it could be that we who have read  
(multiple times) and loved every bit of TBotNS are somehow just  
obsessive freaks for thinking so highly of it. But to be honest I  
can't accept that. I'm cautious not to come across as a crazy  
fanatic, and I know you can never please everyone and that there will  
always be large proportions of the public who have no interest in a  
given style, but I do know that the Wolfe's New Sun is not anywhere  
near being given its due regard.

As Bsharp suggested, I agree a lot of this is down to the complete  
lack of TV/cinema presence Wolfe has received.
Even though the endless detail and wealth in minor characters and  
subplots (and lack of a simple and obvious primary plot!) make it  
practically impossible for true justice to be done even in a trilogy  
of 3 hour epics such as. Still I think if the atmosphere of Urth was  
captured by a highly talented director (and great soundtrack and CGI  
teams!), and even if a great deal of the book was cut out, the result  
could be amazing.

The problem is there is so little awareness to spark interest in  
making a cinema adaption. All we can do is our little part... put in  
a good word wherever and whenever we can. I recently was looking up  
Wolf related terms and characters on Wikipedia and it struck me that  
good Wikipedia representation would be a great help to the cause.  
I've just made my attempt on Erebus... Abaia is up next :-)

On 15 Aug 2006, at 14:23, Adrian Robert wrote:
>
> Anyhow, it's an interesting question as to whether Wolfe's work will
> last.  To do so it will not only have to stand out from other works of
> its time, but also continuously maintain some degree of readership.  I
> think these are a lot harder these days than, say, 100 or even 50  
> years
> ago, if for no other reason than the sheer number of other works being
> competed against for reader's attention.
>
> And I feel like his work kind of falls between the cracks of different
> audiences.  Most sci fi readers that I know have not heard of Gene
> Wolfe.  Same with most non-scifi readers.  He's not mainstream sci fi
> and a bit difficult going if you're just looking for spaceships, laser
> guns, and/or AI.  On the other hand people who read books for the
> characters and emotions are not necessarily going to even consider
> reading a sci fi work because they're conditioned to believe that  
> genre
> focuses on ideas at the expense of narrative elegance and character
> development.  I suspect a lot of Wolfe fans happen to enjoy both types
> of works, they make up the exception rather than the rule among
> readers.  (I did manage to get a friend of mine to read _There are
> Doors_ once, but despite a positive reaction she balked at BotNS.)
>
> Anyhow, I guess I'd like to think Wolfe's work will last, but have
> trouble convincing myself it can.
>
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