G.Wolfe _Shadow of the Torturer_

Janet M. Lafler · 25 Jul 1991, 18:34 · from rec.arts.sf-lovers.1991.mbox

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From: repnomar at leland.Stanford.EDU (Janet M. Lafler)
Subject: Re: G.Wolfe _Shadow of the Torturer_
Date: 25 Jul 91 18:34:29 GMT
Message-ID: <1991Jul25.183429.26778 at leland.Stanford.EDU>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
References: <9107221851.AA00898 at nowalls.UCSD.EDU> <1991Jul23.164922.11000 at leland.Stanford.EDU> <1991Jul24.220142.8036 at tc.fluke.COM>

>
>>One of the main features of Wolfe's narrative style is that his stories go
>>on and on beyond the point you could reasonably expect them to.  If you like
>>his tricks, he's great.
>
>Wolfe has said "I like to write every story at the length at which it seems
>to me it should be told."  You accuse him of instead using tricks to pad the
>page count.  What tricks are these?  What would your "good" author have done
>differently?  What "reasonable expectations" are betrayed?

Dear me, what venom.

You misunderstood me, my dear fellow.  I have the greatest respect for Wolfe,
and I love his work.  I just have a funny way of showing it.

I said nothing about tricks being used to "pad the page count."  What I meant
was that Wolfe has an uncanny ability to keep spinning story when other 
authors would give up.  Wolfe's narrative technique is encapsulated by the
title of one of his short story collections, _The Island of Doctor Death
and Other Stories and Other Stories._  The "...and other stories and other 
stories"  is a wonderful expression of the way his fiction often works; he
creates story within story within story, and the reader simply has to have 
faith that he's going to go back and pick up the loose ends, or else take you 
somewhere so interesting that you won't mind that he's left those loose
ends dangling.  Very often he succeeds.

And yes, he uses tricks to accomplish this.  Wonderful tricks.

>>There is also a companion volume, _The Urth of the New Sun_, which I
>>haven't read but have been reliably informed is awful.
>
>First "tricks" and now "reliable informants."  Did your reliable informant
>even bother to read the book?  Finish the book?  Or is said informant's
>opinion is based on a tabloid headline?  "WOLFE BOOK AWFUL.  HAS THREE
>HEADS.  SEE PAGE 12."

I've already posted an article acknowledging my idiocy in presuming to give
an opinion on a book I haven't read.

My reliable source did in fact read the book cover to cover, and has read 
just about everything that Wolfe has published.  He's entitled to his opinion,
isn't he?  (Actually, I don't remember whether he used the word "awful," but
he didn't like the book.

>>That's all the books there are in the series; I think we can count on him
>>not to write any more.
>
>What did he ever do to you to inspire such disdain?  Were you forced to buy
>and read his books?  Is he taking precious shelf space from your favorite
>formula fantasy writer, last name of Anthony?  What gives?

What gives is that I respect authors who don't keep on writing sequel after
sequel.  I appreciate the fact that Wolfe doesn't keep writing Severian 
books in order to make money.  The Torturer series, as some have pointed
out is one whole work, a four-part novel; I don't think that Wolfe has so
little respect for his own work as to keep writing books in the "series"

BTW, who is this Anthony fellow you speak of?  I've never heard of him.

>You can count on Wolfe to write well, and that's about all.  It may *very*
>well be surprising, strange, and difficult.  But it will also be
>well-crafted, thought out, and unique.

I basically agree with you here.  I don't think that everything he's written 
succeeds, however.  That's not a crime; very few authors succeed all the time.

/Janet

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