Digest urth.v028.n174

Alice Turner · 03 Apr 2000, 20:48 · from urth-v0028.mbox · original

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From: "Alice Turner" <akt at attglobal.net>
Subject: (urth) Re: Digest urth.v028.n174
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 20:48:16
Message-ID: <urth-v0028-0885 at digest.urth.net>
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Welcome (and a peacepipe) to Steve, who wrote:
=20
> Please don't crucify me. . .
>=20
>     I got started on Wolfe when I was sick in the hospital.  My parents=20
> offered to pick up some books to help pass the time and I suggested a boo=
k I=20
> had heard of called The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.  The only Wolf=
e=20
> books Border's had were the last two books of the Long Sun series.  Frank=
ly,=20
> I'm glad it was these two or I wouldn't be posting on this list today.  I=20
> loved Calde and Exodus and immediately began to try to read all the Wolfe=20
> books I could find.  I ordered the Book of the New Sun as a single volumn=20
> from the book club I was in.  Upon reading it I was extremely dissappoint=
ed. =20
> I didn't think it was near as good as the Long Sun.  To me, it seemed lik=
e a=20
> strange, disjointed fairy-tale that kinda wanted to be sci-fi.  I admit, =
the=20
> mood of the entire work was beautifully haunting, and when I get arround =
to=20
> reading it a second time I'll probably find a hundered things I missed, b=
ut=20
> in my view New Sun was the worst, Urth of the New Sun was little better, =
and=20
> Long Sun was best.  Short Sun is shaping up to be the best yet.  Well, th=
at's=20
> my two bits.  I just felt I had to defend the Long Sun, because it's what=
 got=20
> me hooked.  If I had started on New Sun, I don't think I'd be a Wolfe fan.

You're certainly entitled to think this way--and it's nice for LS to have a=
 defender! What absolutely floors me, though, is that you were able to come=
 in on the middle of the series and enjoy it thoroughly. So much for my def=
ense of elegant plotting!

-alga



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