This week in Google Alerts: Mieville on Wolfe

Gwern Branwen · 18 Jan 2011, 01:25 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: gwern0 at gmail.com (Gwern Branwen)
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:25:38 -0500
Subject: (urth) This week in Google Alerts: Mieville on Wolfe
Message-ID: <AANLkTikoRuyX=NYuvwuG+-Mkxq_gA-U3J0FUHOmquaf8 at mail.gmail.com>

> Q: "How does your political viewpoint relate to your fiction?
> A. ....
> Sometimes what you can really admire in a book while disagreeing with its politics, and/or the politics of the writer, doesn't mean not seeing the politics. For example, I think the books of Gene Wolfe are very political books, and he's a quite traditional, right-wing Catholic. I think he's an outstanding genius and I don't think it's just that he writes these cool, weird books and he has these politics. I think the politics are in the books. I love the books, and I don't love them despite the politics?I disagree with the politics, but I find it fascinating, the texture it gives to the world.
> Conrad's _Heart of Darkness_ is a book that is, I think, structured by a kind of racism. It could not be the book it is without that racism. I love the book. I hate the racism. And I think you can have it both ways in the realm of fiction and art. There's no contradiction there."

http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=13011

Also worth noting:

- http://silk4calde.blogspot.com/2011/01/influence-of-g-k-chestertons-writings.html
- http://mervih.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/gene-wolfe-the-fifth-head-of-cerberus/
(review of TFHoC)
- http://blog.42scifi-fantasy.com/2011/01/new-scifi-fantasy-releases-week-of_16.html
(PR-y short review of _Home Fires_)
- http://andy-wolverton.livejournal.com/41818.html (quasi-review of
_The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories_)

-- 
gwern
http://www.gwern.net

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