The Snootiness of Gene Wolfe

jere7my tho?rpe · 29 Feb 2004, 07:59 · from rec.arts.sf.written.2004.mbox

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From: "jere7my tho?rpe" <j7y at liws.org>
Subject: Re: The Snootiness of Gene Wolfe
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 02:59:55 -0500
Message-ID: <j7y-80EFC8.02595529022004 at visonmassif.rs.itd.umich.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
References: <Xns949D9FE6F929Difyouwanttoemailvisi at 199.45.49.11>

In article <Xns949D9FE6F929Difyouwanttoemailvisi at 199.45.49.11>,
 Josh <if.you.want.to.email at visit.joshbrain.tripod.org> wrote:

> I've read a lot of Gene Wolf (the complete Sun and Urth sequences plus a 
> short story collection who's title currently escapes me), generally with 
> great interest, the two Latros novels being a notable exception (I only 
> skimmed the second). Therefore I feel somewhat qualified to make this 
> observation: Mr. Wolfe is a snooty elitist author.

     I would have a hard time thinking of an author who is more 
down-to-earth, kind, and straightforward than Gene Wolfe.  He's a Texas 
gentleman, with all that that implies.

     He certainly doesn't see his work as elitist; he writes that way 
because that's the way he writes.  My personal theory is that he cut his 
teeth on mysteries, in which readers are meant to piece together 
scattered and well-hidden clues to determine the identity of the 
murderer, and simply applies the same technique to SFnal worldbuilding.  
Rather than telling you flat-out that Severian's companion is a robot, 
he offers clues which you are meant to piece together.  He expects that 
this will be fun and rewarding for you, as it is for fans of mysteries.

> Of course, I really should offer support for this assertion. (Well, 
> sudden realization anyway). Consider that the entire justification for 
> Severian was that Wolfe wanted to write a character who would make a good 
> halloween costume (this was revealed in an interview).

     Inspiration != justification.  Stephen R. Donaldson said he got the 
inspiration for the most powerful scene in _The Power That Preserves_ 
from a can of Lysol in a gas station restroom.

> Severian, Silk, Latros are the same 
> person to me. Urth, the Ship + Green + Blue, the mediterannean of 
> antiquity are all the same places (well, Green was a bit different). So 
> at least when it comes to "range" Wolfe does not have anything to brag 
> about.

     Perhaps you should read _Peace_.  Perhaps, also, you should 
consider that Severian and Silk have similar narrative voices because 
(Wolfe believes) everyone sees their own actions as reasonable and 
proper, and we're witnessing the events from inside their heads.  If you 
see past the unreliability of their narration, you'll see that they are 
very different people.

                                                       ----j7y

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