My reaction to IN GREEN'S JUNGLES

The Reverend Jacob Corbin · 05 Dec 2000, 03:21 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: The Reverend Jacob Corbin <webmaster at afriendlysbooks.com>
Subject: (whorl) My reaction to IN GREEN'S JUNGLES
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2000 03:21:39
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0043 at digest.urth.net>
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Some discombobulated thoughts mere hours after plowing through IGJ:

-- I'm glad I went ahead and purchased the hardcover instead of waiting for=
 the TPB.
Notwithstanding my junkie-like desperation for the next SHORT SUN installme=
nt, the
fact that I could leave the dust jacket at home averted many potentially-em=
barrassing
situations. I know it's been discussed before on this list, but it bears re=
peating:
that cover is an abomination.  I mean, just look at it.  Does it grab you a=
nd demand
your attention, saying: "This book is superbly erudite, marvelously witty, =
and worthy
of the closest scrutiny.  It is the best its genre has to offer and you owe=
 it to
yourself to read it"?  I'm afraid not.  Instead, it shouts to unsuspecting =
passersby:
"The person reading this is a socially-maladapted head case and is best giv=
en a wide
berth!"  Ehhh, I could go on for hours about SF's image problem, but I'll j=
ust stop
here.

-- My only major complaint with the book was the repetitious Horn vs. the D=
espoiling
Conquerors stuff.  Now, obviously Wolfe wouldn't keep putting his character=
s in these
situations if he wasn't trying to make a major point.  And I'll grant that,=
 like the
Gaonese war, the Blanko fiasco allowed Wolfe to put Horn into a series of s=
ituations
that would have been harder to contrive sans a background conflict.  But wh=
y couldn't
this have been allowed to *remain* in the background, like in OBW?  The "cl=
imactic"
battle suffered from a major case of deus ex machina.  Wolfe spends large c=
hunks of
dialogue describing the relative might of Soldo's forces to ratchet up the =
tension and
get us wondering what clever tactics will be used...but neglects to tell th=
e reader
that, oh yeah, Blanko had a bunch of heavy artillery just lying around.  Ha=
ndy, that.

-- I liked the way OBW dealt, to some extent, with the rearing of sons, and=
 now IGJ
has done much the same with daughters...as one would expect, given the dedi=
cations.
Does anyone know if Horn's adventures in parenting bear any resemblance to =
GW's own?

-- I massively enjoyed almost every other aspect of the book.  I probably g=
ave a
girlish squeal of glee when everyone turned up in Nessus.  Unfortunately, t=
hanks to my
utter lack of discipline, I now have a very long wait for RTTW, and am goin=
g to have
to spend the morning turning my bookshelves inside out in search of a suita=
ble
substitute...the methadone to GW's heroin, as it were.  I'm open to suggest=
ions.

Jacob G Corbin


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