A defense of the Long Sun's style/plot

Patri10629 · 01 Apr 2000, 23:29 · from whorl-v0010.mbox · original

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From: Patri10629 at aol.com
Subject: Re: (whorl) A defense of the Long Sun's style/plot
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 18:29:47 EST
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In a message dated 4/1/00 4:27:08 PM, akt at attglobal.net writes:

<<=20
Bjjp2 then wrote, responding to Timothy Reilly:

>  I still think Long Sun is very disappointing.  The third person style of=
 =3D
>  diction chosen is flat and to my mind rather boring, anaesthetising =3D
>  Wolfe's linguistic genius (so on display in OBW and TBNS).  The ideas, =
=3D
>  while interesting, did not require four volumes to present.  As for the =
=3D
>  meticulous plotting suggested by Alice Turner, I can only say this was =
=3D
>  not evident to me -  on the contrary I had the impression that unlike =
=3D
>  TBNS the series was not fully written in advance, if only because Exodus=
 =3D
>  is twice as long as the three preceding volumes.>>

Two things:

In terms of plotting: I, too, had difficulties with the Talus factory scene=
.=20
But bear with me and check this out.

Early in NIGHTSIDE... Silk has cracked the book at random and is interpreti=
ng=20
two passages from Chrasmologic Writings for the children in the church. The=
y=20
have to do with birds. This is right before Oreb's botched sacrifice and=20
right after his pruchase. Notice how Wolfe's draws our attention to that=20
fact, even though he is not talking about Oreb at all.

P. 49,  NLS  "...when the actors and actresses  have washed away their make=
up=20
and changed back into the clothing they ordinarily wear..."

And then...

P. 49-50  NLS "It will not help us as the foreknowing authors point out in=20
the next line, to daub a raven, smearing a blackbird with the delicate=20
beauties of the lark or the decent brown of the bulbul. Not enough, even, t=
o=20
gild it like the goldfinch. It is still a raven..."

And then...

P. 50 (IBID) "Suppose, for example, that some uneducated man...were by chan=
ce=20
thrust into the office of His Cognizance, the Polocutor. You would eat and=20
sleep in his cognizance's big palace on the Palatine. You would hold the=20
baculus and wear the jeweled robes, and all the rest of us would kneel for=20
your blessing. But you could not provide us with the wisdom that it would b=
e=20
your duty to supply. You would be a croaking raven daubed with paint, with=20
gaudy colors."

He is talking about Questzal. A figure who will not be revealed until 600=20
some pages later. In the opening chapter of Calde of The Long Sun where he=20
dabs on his makeup and flies away.

You do not get things like this in dashed-off first drafts. This is the min=
d=20
of an master builder or an engineer--"a foreknowing author" as he slyly and=20
self-consciouly admits in the text--laying foundations that will not=20
evidently bear weight until much later. And, still, this foreshadowing of t=
he=20
impersonating inhumi is only one level of what Wolfe is doing in these earl=
y,=20
seemingly innocent pasages.

In terms of style: This is his method throughout the Long Sun Books.=20
Deception. Thusly the prose reflects the major themes and thrust of the=20
novels: Cutting through the crap to understand the mysterious revelation of=20
an unknowable true god as well as the underlying conspiracies and strategem=
s=20
of mortals and false gods. Deceptively transparent prose which is so clear=20
and narratively propulsive it seems to be what it appears to be. It is not.=20
It is some of the densest, metaphor-laden and trickiest prose I have ever=20
read. And it is beautiful on any level, in my opinion. Try reading any=20
passage aloud and marvel at the music.=20

For further proof: Re-read the very first two pages of NIGHTSIDE--so simple=
,=20
so plain--read right to the first line of dialogue "I will not fail." Try=20
decoding just how many motifs are buried there. In many ways, Wolfe has giv=
en=20
the shape and structure of the whole saga. He even mentions Blue and Green.=
 =20
Talk about foreshadowing!

Most of this stuff I didn't get until my third read. I'm on my fifth now an=
d=20
I'm still discovering, still captivated. Severian's beautiful grave poetry=20
was a different kettle of fish. This is airier stuff, wind-made, bird=20
currents, but jsut as strong--and like the wind, you can only see it when i=
t=20
interacts with something that crosses its path. Indirectly, that is.

Hope this helps.

Patrick O'Leary

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