Jack Vance or There are Doors?

James Jordan · 20 Dec 2002, 23:51 · from urth-v0212.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at cox.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) Jack Vance or There are Doors?
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 17:51:02 -0600
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At 05:29 PM 12/20/2002, Dave R. wrote:


>I think you might as well read the Dying Earth stories, since they're a
>quick, easy read.  Contrary to some other views on the list, I think Vance
>is a good but definitely not great author.  I do think he should get some
>credit for writing such an entertaining set of stories where the main
>character in most of them (Cugel) is a completely unlikeable bastard ;)

         The Cugel stories are in the tradition of "picaresque tales"=20
(tales about rascals) and we've seen very few in recent times, though they=20
were common in Spain in the 16th c. You're supposed to both like and=20
disdain Cugel, and that's the strength of a picaresque tale, which exposes=20
the attractiveness of wicked behavior and makes us feel the humanity of=20
even wicked people, all the while entertaining us humorously and indirectly=20
showing us that wickedness is .. well .. wicked. It's a kind of realistic +=20
humorous moral tale that is hard to pull off, and Vance does it brilliantly.
         Whether on thinks Vance is "great" or not, the Cugel tales are=20
deft and exquisite exemplars of a neglected genre of Western literature.

Nutria


--=20

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