Wolfe in decline?

Kieran Mullen · 14 Apr 2009, 17:06 · from 2009-April.txt.gz

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From: kieran at nhn.ou.edu (Kieran Mullen)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:06:29 -0500
Subject: (urth) Wolfe in decline?
In-Reply-To: <mailman.16094.1239726601.12296.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
References: <mailman.16094.1239726601.12296.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
Message-ID: <FDDFE864-E0DB-474F-9F9C-BDD6BECF5AE8 at phyast.nhn.ou.edu>


    Sorry to omit previous discussions....

    I don't think Wolfe jumped the shark with Pirate Freedom.   I  
thought that it was an interesting story as well as an exploration of  
good and evil in a much more violent world.   The narrator is  
unreliable, of course as most are in Wolfe.    It seems silly to state  
that involving time travel immediately implies a poorIy written  
story.  I  even liked the Wizard-Knight series.   I found "The FIfth  
Head of Cerberus" to be unenjoyable - the story too thin and the  
narrative layers too complex.

     As for "An Evil Guest,"  I didn't like it because it wandered all  
over the genre map, so that it seemed incoherent.   The Lovecraftian  
elements were pulled out in the end without enough foreshadowing, and  
I could not find a character with whom I could empathize.   However, I  
think I need to reread it based on some insights brought up by this  
mailing list.   It's a bit like seeing "Rosencrantz and Guilderstern  
are Dead"  without any knowledge of Shakespeare.   You can admire  
parts of it, but it seems a bit incoherent.   I am still looking for  
some key understanding that will make AEG make more sense.

Kieran Mullen

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