Free Live Free (was Re: Gene Wolfe interview in Locus)

Janet M. Lafler · 04 Jun 1991, 22:44 · from rec.arts.sf-lovers.1991.mbox

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From: repnomar at leland.Stanford.EDU (Janet M. Lafler)
Subject: Free Live Free (was Re: Gene Wolfe interview in Locus)
Date: 4 Jun 91 22:44:40 GMT
Message-ID: <1991Jun4.224440.2345 at leland.Stanford.EDU>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
References: <1991May30.233326.5041 at tc.fluke.COM> <1991Jun2.015734.14702 at netcom.COM>

Various people have been complaining about and, alternatively, defending 
Gene Wolfe's _Free Live Free_.  I really liked this book, though I don't 
think it's his best and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to someone who
hadn't read anything by Wolfe before.  My sense of it was that it was a
long, entertainingly told, very funny shaggy dog story.  I had this figured
from very early on.  Now, this kind of thing is definitely an acquired 
taste, and I can understand why a lot of people might feel cheated by it,
just as we all generally feel cheated by shaggy dog stories.  (I happen to
like them if they're well told.)  Wolfe's story-telling style is very cir-
cuitous, and he often doesn't bother to deliver just what he promised.  I
enjoy this, but unless you like this for its own sake, and trust him to make 
it worth your while to read, you're not going to like Wolfe.  He's a writer
that I like very much, but I can understand why some readers find him in-
furiating, because sometimes, when he goes too far (for me), I get annoyed too.

/Janet

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