A Mania for Conversations

Steve Strickland · 10 Jun 2001, 15:53 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: "Steve Strickland" <SSTRICKLAND at satx.rr.com>
Subject: Re: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 15:53:06
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0807 at digest.urth.net>
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I took Horn's statement as a bit of self-deprecating humor on the part of
Mr. Wolfe.  No doubt as a result of the extensive narrative sections in the
latter volumes of Long Sun, Wolfe received more than a few comments like,
"Can't you write anything but dialogue?" or "Can't you pepper the dialogue
with a little more description?" (And I'm sure he received less critical
observations regarding the same.)

As I see it, Horn's statement is Wolfe's playful nod to the critics (while
playfully placing the blame on the narrator-character, Horn.)

Very cute.

Imperator

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Straight" <straight at email.unc.edu>
To: <whorl at lists1.ba.best.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 2:48 PM
Subject: (whorl) A Mania for Conversations

>
> Horn's statement about having a mania for recording coversations struck me
> as a key insight into Wolfe's writing.  Could it be that Wolfe's eliptical
> style is largely based on a preference for writing conversations rather
> than describing actions?  I'd have to do some more reading with this idea
> in mind, but I have the impression that quite a lot of the gaps in Wolfe's
> narratives come when a conversation is interrupted by some event, and we
> skip the event for another conversation in which someone may or may not
> describe or allude to the event itself.
>
> -Rostrum
>
>
> *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.
> *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/
> *To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request at lists.best.com
ranjit at moonmilk.com
> *If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list:
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>

*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.
*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/
*To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request at lists.best.com
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