This Week in Google Alerts: Will No One Rid Me Of This Troublesome Writer?

Sergei SOLOVIEV · 10 May 2011, 15:03 · from 2011-May.txt.gz

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From: soloviev at irit.fr (Sergei SOLOVIEV)
Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 17:03:21 +0200
Subject: (urth) This Week in Google Alerts: Will No One Rid Me Of This
 Troublesome Writer?
In-Reply-To: <4DC9242B.8010703 at verizon.net>
References: <BANLkTi=dQua4Hvxh0YtYxFsTq0EE3P=D3g at mail.gmail.com>
	<4DC9242B.8010703 at verizon.net>
Message-ID: <4DC953B9.3040308 at irit.fr>

I read Vance partly because he was mentioned with great respect by Gene 
Wolfe
as one of the writers who influenced the New Sun series (with his "Dying 
Earth").
Honestly, I was disappointed by literary quality of his work. The 
characters are
in general very schematic, the language is sometimes interesting but 
dialogues
are extremely artificial, nobody does speak like this, the composition 
very linear
(Vance does use most of the time "travelogue" plan - "Ports of call" and 
travels
of Cugel are typical examples). It doesn't mean that there is no 
impressive episodes/ideas -
and great deal of intelligent irony that I like. I liked "Guyal of 
Sphere" for example.

Best

Sergei

David Stockhoff wrote:
> Writer _X_ is not derivative?
>
> Writer _Y_ is derivative?
>
> This makes no sense. All writers derive.
>
> On 5/9/2011 11:30 PM, Gwern Branwen wrote:
>> Just in time for Gene's birthday celebrations:
>> http://foreverness.createforumhosting.com/what-to-do-about-gene-wolfe-t337.html 
>>
>>
>>> This is driving me nuts. I'm far beyond my limit of tolerance for 
>>> cover-jacket blurbs declaring Gene Wolfe to be "... the greatest 
>>> writer in the English language alive today." and "... there is 
>>> nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, 
>>> clarity of thought, and depth in meaning." That's Michael Swanwick's 
>>> embarrassing fawning, which has apparently become required 
>>> promotional jibber-jabber for every book Wolfe gets published. Other 
>>> literary critics who don't know anything about science fiction take 
>>> this at face value, and occasionally regurgitate it with their own 
>>> variations, completely oblivious to Jack Vance's work. And, readers 
>>> new to science fiction (or speculative fiction if you prefer) are 
>>> being grossly misled. They're amazed by the pebble but aren't told 
>>> about the mountain. Don't get me wrong; I don't dislike Gene Wolfe's 
>>> writing. I pounce on every new chunk of fiction he comes up with. 
>>> I'll go so far as to say that his "The Book of the New Sun" 
> i
>>   s required reading for anyone who believes that some sci-fi is 
>> serious literature equal to the best in mainstream fiction. But, 
>> Wolfe is derivative. He obviously used Vance as a starting point, 
>> whereas Vance developed his literary voice independently. Vance is 
>> authentic and original, and Wolfe is the brilliant student. It's true 
>> that Wolfe's most recent work seems to be moving in a direction that 
>> is more of Wolfe himself and less of Vance's style and technique. 
>> Hopefully, Wolfe's future works will be ships with a wind in their 
>> sails that flows from Wolfe's lungs alone. But we're still being 
>> pounded over the head with the uninformed blather of Swanwick, et al. 
>> What to do? Who will sound the trumpet for Vance? Who will illuminate 
>> Vance's status as the progenitor?
>>
>
>
>
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