Urth Net
Brother North-wind's Secret REVEALED!
↰ answers William Ansley
· by quotation
2 quoted lines
I wrote:
How about this one: What's the difference between G. Wolfe and J. Crowley? Well, Wolfe would would never come right out and tell you what Brother North-wind's Secret is, but Crowley does, after pausing for a few pages to keep you in suspense.
Now that I have paused a couple days to keep you all in suspense, here is more detail. Book Two of LB is called "Brother North-wind's Secret". Chapter II of this Book starts off with several school children taking turns reading a children's story of the same name. In the story, a Meadow Mouse, who has never seen Winter is questioning animals to find out how to prepare for it. A Crow tells him that one thing he needs to know is Brother North-wind's secret, which is the answer to the question, "What is the one good thing about Winter?" But the crow won't tell and neither will Brother North-Wind.
Before the last child can finish the story, just before the secret is revealed, the teacher (Smoky Barnable) interrupts him. So far, so Lupine. But, only a little over 3 pages later, Smoky recalls the answer (he read the story before): "If Winter comes, Spring can't be far behind."
My expectation, if this was a Wolfe story, is that the answer would be revealed less directly or at a greater remove from the question or not given at all.This isn't to say that Crowley doesn't have his secrets, there are plenty of ambiguities and mysterious goings-on in LB.
William Ansley