Wolfe and Materialism

James Wynn · 11 Feb 2011, 17:30 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:30:49 -0600
Subject: (urth) Wolfe and Materialism
In-Reply-To: <3137CC340B2B44F0AD30C7E2D057E691@jill>
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	<3137CC340B2B44F0AD30C7E2D057E691@jill>
Message-ID: <4D557249.7030703 at gmail.com>

> Gerry Quinn-
> I didn't say that at all.  What I'm saying is that a 'nuts and bolts' 
> explanation - the Ploughman's explanation, if you like - needs to be 
> there. Occasionally an author may throw a vagary and include events 
> which are deliberately contradictory or inexplicable - but in books 
> written to be understood, this tends to be rare. 

I suggest to you Michael Andre-Driussi's "What Wolfe Expects of His 
Readers".
http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10536

Initially, Wolfe did not intend to write "Urth of the New Sun" and 
fought against the idea.
Now, do you believe it was really possible to come to an unequivocal 
conclusion from the four volumes of 'The Book of the New Sun' that 
"Severian would travel through time to become both the Conciliator and 
Apu Punchau, rather than being a reincarnation, avatar, or descendant. 
And that the world would drown with the coming of the New Sun"? Yes, 
after "UotNS" one can see that the clues were there. But would anyone 
have chosen those conclusions over all the other possibilities? Would 
those conclusions have passed the bar you have continuously set on this 
list that "books are written to be understood" and, therefore, I must 
feel that _I_ --with whatever background I carry to the book-- must be 
able to understand it. I submit regarding some important points of plot 
in The Book of the New Sun, this is self-evidently not the case.

Wolfe novels are works of high literature. They impart information 
through a variety of levels, not just through plot and exposition. 
Sometimes, they even impart meaning in what has been mysterious left 
out. One has to believe that if one chooses to believe Wolfe intended 
tBotNS to be fully comprehended at all.

u+16b9

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