Weer's Death in Peace

William H. Ansley · 24 Aug 1998, 23:45 · from urth-v0018.mbox · original

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From: "William H. Ansley" <wansley at warwick.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) Weer's Death in Peace
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 23:45:20
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Christopher R. Culver <crculver at aol.com> said:
>William Ansley said:
><It is as certain as anything can be in a Wolfe book that Weer is dead...f=
rom
>internal evidence...>
>
>I don't think so...
>

You certainly can think whatever you want, but please note that I said
"certain as anything can be in a Wolfe book" which isn't very certain at
all. However I think the evidence that Weer is dead is strong. One reason I
think that the evidence is strong is that it is also very indirect and you
have to pay close attention to figure it out. I read the book three times
before I realized that Weer was dead. If Wolfe makes it easy to think
something is true, it may well be false. If Wolfe makes it hard to discern
something, it is more likely to be true.

>
>And continued:
><...and because Wolfe has said so.>
>
>...but it looks like I'm wrong <g>
>

Don't give up the ship! Why believe what Wolfe says "in person" if you
don't believe what he says in his books? <g>

>
>And said:
><Maybe I'll reread _Peace_ again>
>
>I assume _Peace_ is like all Wolfe novels in that whole new shades of mean=
ing
>blossom with each rereading. I hope to learn more the second time around t=
han
>I did the first. I guess I'll start on it again after I finish Dan Simmons'
>Hyperion quartet which, incidentally, contains several influences from Wol=
fe,
>IMHO.
>

Exactly! Even though _Peace_ seems to be a story told by a fairly
unremarkable man in a fairly unremarkable setting, I keep finding new,
remarkable things in it every time I reread it. (I have lost count of how
many times that is.) Perhaps that is the reason it fascinates me so.
Another thing that adds to my interest in _Peace_, after reading much of
Wolfe's other work, is how many germs of ideas that appear in many of his
novels and short stories can be found in _Peace_ (or so it seems to me).

>
>I've found, on the Compuserve Wolfe interview, what I was looking for, in =
that
>a fan asks if Weer killed Lois:
>
>"davelant: Mr. Wolfe, did Alden Dennis Weer kill the librarian, and bury h=
er
>in the dry creek bed?"
>
>And Wolfe unfortunately responded:
>
>"GeneWolfe: Weer: You are going to have to figure that one out for yoursel=
f.
>I don't tell that kind of stuff."
>
>Just my luck...

A while ago we had an entertaining discussion about casting a movie version
of TBotNS. Here is another movie idea: a Wolfe version of Stephen King's
_Misery_. In this version the author is tortured by his crazed fan until he
tells him/her what he *really* meant about everything in every book/story.
The torture would be a little more appropriate in this version, since
reading Wolfe's fiction is what drove the fan crazy in the first place.
<It's a JOKE! I don't condone the kidnapping and torture of any author no
matter how deserving. A few come to mind who are much more deserving than
Wolfe, but I'm sure you all have your own, different, lists.>

William Ansley

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

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