Digest whorl.v012.n057

BraveSaintCroix · 20 Feb 2001, 22:08 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: BraveSaintCroix at aol.com
Subject: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v012.n057
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 17:08:28 EST
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0313 at digest.urth.net>
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>Now a series of rhetorical questions:  At what point=20
>does intentional obscurity on the part of an author become a self-indulgen=
t=20
>pretention that gets in the way of artistic expression?  How much do we=20
>really love Wolfe because he's a great writer and how much because it's fu=
n=20
>to solve puzzles? Has Wolfe crossed the line from not giving all the answe=
rs=20
>to creating texts that must be pored over by talmudic scholars rather than=20
>actual readers of novels?  Is Wolfe writing for a smaller, and smaller=20
>audience of  expert Wolfe-interpreters?  Discuss.

Wait. . . do I answer these rhetorical questions or not?  Well, you said=20
discuss, so here goes:

>How much do we=20
>really love Wolfe because he's a great writer and how much because it's fu=
n=20
>to solve puzzles?

This is the only question I really feel qualified to answer, because after=20
finishing RTTW I've been wondering about it myself.  I read Wolfe because I=20
love to read Wolfe.  The Short Sun and Long Sun, in my opinion, are his bes=
t=20
works.  As for how obscure these books are, I don't know.  Most of the=20
discussion here goes over my head, but I like to skim it and see what I=20
missed and what I caught in my own reading of his novels.  Why do I like=20
RTTW?  It's writen beautifully.  I love Silk.  I think he's the coolest=20
character in any book I've ever read.  I love the way Wolfe weaves in his=20
Christian beliefs (which I share) into his novels.  I like Oreb.  I love th=
e=20
Outsider.  I like being able to finish his books and sit back and really=20
think about them, instead of having everything spelled out.  I like getting=20
on this list after I finish and comparing notes.=20

-Steve

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