Wolfe's Attitude toward his Readers

Lee Berman · 14 Aug 2010, 02:21 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:21:02 -0400
Subject: (urth) Wolfe's Attitude toward his Readers
Message-ID: <SNT123-W55FB1AAAD34DB1F72B1CF7CF990 at phx.gbl>

Jack Smith: 

>This is interesting.   I can see how someone might feel Wolfe has disdain
>for his readers, but I don't think that's correct.    Instead, I think Wolfe
>tries--through unreliable narrators and puzzles and ambiguity and lack of
>information and narrative holes--to produce in his writings the experience
>we get in real life.   In our own lives, we can never be completely sure of
>the truth or people around us or ourselves.   So our author gives us partial
>views and conflicting information and incomplete information.

I admit to a penchant for the provocative and theatrical, especially online.  
I hope I am not undercutting your post by mentioning that I did soften this
assertion in a more recent post by suggesting perhaps Wolfe has disdain for 
first time readers but has a soft spot for those who go on to  re-read.

An interesting thought about our real lives and ourselves. I feel pretty 
comfortable and trusting in most aspects of my life and myself. I'm far more 
trusting in my real life than I am reading a Gene Wolfe book.  But I know
there are some who seeth with paranoia and mistrust beneath their surface.
Could Mr. Wolfe have a streak of this beneath his genial exterior? I think 
most great artists require great inspiration for their work.

>I don't think there is necessarily one right interpretation to most of the
>works, especially the longer ones.   I'm not convinced that all the
>mysteries and puzzles in Wolfe have definite answers.   We're often supposed
>to be puzzled and we can't be sure we've figured a book out, just as we
>can't be sure we've figured life out.

I generally agree with this. I think Wolfe has said as much in interviews..that
sometimes we readers are meant to conclude that there is no solution to a suggested
mystery in his works. Yet, still, I have found some very subtle answers to puzzles
which suggest there is some stuff still hidden that we have yet to uncover.

My current favorite glaring example is the grouped sequence of numbers on the Seal
of Pas in the Long Sun story. In 16 years I am not aware that anyone has made progress 
on solving the significance of it. But the intentionally unique grouping and 
organization of these numbers within the text suggest they do have a solution. I will
admit that if I somehow learned (impossible unless Gene Wolfe tells us, of course) 
that there is no solution to this puzzle, I might be forced to consider that he 
has some disdain even for his multiple-reading fans.

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