G.Wolfe _Shadow of the Torturer_

Viktor Haag · 26 Jul 1991, 13:37 · from rec.arts.sf-lovers.1991.mbox

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From: vehaag at crocus.waterloo.edu (Viktor Haag)
Subject: Re: G.Wolfe _Shadow of the Torturer_
Date: 26 Jul 91 13:37:44 GMT
Message-ID: <1991Jul26.133744.7299 at watdragon.waterloo.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?

Whoa, there, cowboy -- I think what Janet meant was that Wolfe has a habit of
teasing the reader by flashing the possibility of a resolution in the air, and
then whipping it away with some unforseen complication.  I think that this
trait is by and large a device used in the Book of the New Sun to reinforce a
point (another article's subject), and for some readers (those who demand
neat resolutions along the way to keep them interested) can be very
annoying.  Of course, she could have been in the middle of being mean and
cutting, but knowing Janet from her previous posts and correspondance, I
don't think so.

>>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."

There you go again, whipping out the sixgun.  We all depend on our friends, 
or bookstore owners that we know, to tell us about new books, and whether
they have read them, and whether they are good or not.  Eventually you
manage to aquire a small group with similar tastes who all preview for 
each other;  I personally know 2 or 3 people whose opinions I would trust
more than most professional reviewers (no offense Chuq!).  Again, Janet
never struck me as the kind of person to shoot her mouth off -- if her
friends have told her that the book is awful, then I believe her.  Whether
I agree with her friends is another story entirely ...

>>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?

I am almost positive that Piers is *not* Janet's favourite author!  I would
suggest something more along the lines of Le Guin, Tanith Lee, John Crowley,
Thomas Ligotti, and others with as much brains as talent.

>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.

And sometimes, for better or for worse, his expermients don't succeed as 
entirely as planned.  Soldier of Arete, for example, suffers greatly from
'2nd bookism', but is still well polished.  There are Doors suffers too
much from the unreliable narrator, ot the point where the reader may 
simply give up on the narrator's perceptions entirely.

>As it happens, Wolfe has said he does not *plan* to write any more *novels*
>about Urth or Severian.  There are already a couple of short stories, and
>there may be more.

I don't know about you Bub, but when someone says "books", I usually asume
novel or at least lengthy novella.  I don't think "short story".  I am
pretty sure that Janet was saying that Wolfe was not going to write any
more "Urth of the New Sun" novels, which is fairly common knowledge.

>Wolfe is presently working on a multi-volume novel, NIGHT SIDE OF THE LONG
>SUN.  Presumably, you'll find that news distressing.  I, for one, am
>eagerly awaiting publication.

Good for you.  And as soon as you get that six-gun toting, look at me and
die, cowboy attitude off your shoulder, people around here might rest a
little easier.

Where's the bloody marshall when you need him (Today my jurisdiction ends
here ...)

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