The Snootiness of Gene Wolfe

Josh · 29 Feb 2004, 09:49 · from rec.arts.sf.written.2004.mbox

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From: Josh <if.you.want.to.email at visit.joshbrain.tripod.org>
Subject: Re: The Snootiness of Gene Wolfe
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 09:49:02 GMT
Message-ID: <Xns949E128161373ifyouwanttoemailvisi at 199.45.49.11>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
References: <Xns949D9FE6F929Difyouwanttoemailvisi at 199.45.49.11> <j7y-80EFC8.02595529022004 at visonmassif.rs.itd.umich.edu>

"jere7my tho?rpe" <j7y at liws.org> wrote in
news:j7y-80EFC8.02595529022004 at visonmassif.rs.itd.umich.edu: 

> 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.

You say this with such feeling that I can't help but believe you. And it 
highlights the fact that I made a poor inference and expressed it in a 
too-aggressive manner. Really, I have no idea if Wolfe is Snooty. On 
further reflection, I believe that his *fans* are Snooty, myself being 
but one of many, and my primary inspiration for the sweeping indictment.

> 
>      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.

Not to mention the fact that such an inspiration is hardly snooty now is 
it? (I'm starting to consider this group as an oven where half-baked 
ideas can become, if not delicious, then at least palatable).

> 
>> 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.

How do they differ? I can list a variety of ways in which they are the 
same, but I forgot all the details.

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