Teaching Wolfe? — Urth Net

Craig Brewer08 May 2007, 05:02as archived

Teaching Wolfe?

Hello to the list! I recently finished teaching a course on medieval/Renaissance “fantasy,” but I’m revising it now to alternate old texts with new. I was considering teaching either Castleview or the Wizard Knight. I suggested both to a couple of “fanboy/girl” students who hadn’t read any Wolfe, and they went over quite well. We had some great discussions on Castleview contra Malory and Able contra just about everything during office hours. But I was wondering if anyone has ever taught Wolfe before. Specifically, I was hoping for any tips on how to deal with the all but inevitable confusion that people being coerced into reading him might face. I’m not sure if it would even work (simply for length with TWK, at the very least), but both options just seem to me like wonderful modern takes on old romance themes/styles (apart from the glee of getting new people to read Wolfe). I would certainly appreciate any thoughts. -Craig (I used to contribute a few years ago I lost the time but kept up with the, wonderful-as-always, archives hopefully this summer will offer a chance to reread ALL of the Sun books, since it’s been too long.)

brunians at brunians.org08 May 2007, 05:27as archived

↳ in reply to Craig Brewer

I am personally amazed that Wolfe has not been offered a professorship somewhere or another. Delany and John Crowley have, after all. .

35 quoted lines

Hello to the list! I recently finished teaching a course on medieval/Renaissance “fantasy,” but I’m revising it now to alternate old texts with new. I was considering teaching either Castleview or the Wizard Knight. I suggested both to a couple of “fanboy/girl” students who hadn’t read any Wolfe, and they went over quite well. We had some great discussions on Castleview contra Malory and Able contra just about everything during office hours. But I was wondering if anyone has ever taught Wolfe before. Specifically, I was hoping for any tips on how to deal with the all but inevitable confusion that people being coerced into reading him might face. I’m not sure if it would even work (simply for length with TWK, at the very least), but both options just seem to me like wonderful modern takes on old romance themes/styles (apart from the glee of getting new people to read Wolfe). I would certainly appreciate any thoughts. -Craig (I used to contribute a few years ago I lost the time but kept up with the, wonderful-as-always, archives hopefully this summer will offer a chance to reread ALL of the Sun books, since it’s been too long.) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html _______________________________________________

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes08 May 2007, 18:06as archived

↳ in reply to brunians at brunians.org

1 quoted line

On 5/7/07, brunians at brunians.org <brunians at brunians.org> wrote: I am personally amazed that Wolfe has not been offered a professorship somewhere or another. Delany and John Crowley have, after all.

I'm not sure he hasn't. But if he hasn't, it might be because he's, ah, rather conservative. Academia, to be honest, does have a bit of a bias toward liberalism (thank God).

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant ----- http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer http://www.danehyoakes.com Soon, where Toon Town once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful.

Matthew Keeley08 May 2007, 18:08as archived

↳ in reply to Craig Brewer

As a college student myself, I heartily wish that some of my professors would teach Wolfe, though I suppose it might be a hard sell for some students. I'd suggest teaching TWK over Castleview though, as I know that Castleview is out-of-print at the moment, and I imagine that even the best of college bookstores would have trouble getting enough copies for an entire class onto their shelves (Or at least that's my personal experience from working at a college bookstore). If you ever do teach a class with Wolfe texts in it, would you mind posting the syllabus to Urth? I'd be really interested in seeing it. -Matt

35 quoted lines

On 5/8/07, Craig Brewer <cnbrewer at yahoo.com> wrote: Hello to the list! I recently finished teaching a course on medieval/Renaissance "fantasy," but I'm revising it now to alternate old texts with new. I was considering teaching either Castleview or the Wizard Knight. I suggested both to a couple of "fanboy/girl" students who hadn't read any Wolfe, and they went over quite well. We had some great discussions on Castleview contra Malory and Able contra just about everything during office hours. But I was wondering if anyone has ever taught Wolfe before. Specifically, I was hoping for any tips on how to deal with the all but inevitable confusion that people being coerced into reading him might face. I'm not sure if it would even work (simply for length with TWK, at the very least), but both options just seem to me like wonderful modern takes on old romance themes/styles (apart from the glee of getting new people to read Wolfe). I would certainly appreciate any thoughts. -Craig (I used to contribute a few years ago?I lost the time but kept up with the, wonderful-as-always, archives hopefully this summer will offer a chance to reread ALL of the Sun books, since it's been too long.) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html _______________________________________________