A Good Society

On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 11:17 AM, John Smith <jsmith2627 at att.net> wrote: Can any one think of a Wolfe novel or story in which he portrays a good society? When I re-read The Fifth Head of Cerberus, I realized that on the first reading I had missed how brutal and nasty the planet of Sainte. Croix is. Urth and the Whorl are also terrible places. Stories like The Death of Dr. Island have a cruel or indifferent society in the background. Wolfe doesn't seem to write about utopias. But does he ever show even a decent world? Jack Best wishes, Jack _______________________________________________

John Smith wrote: Can any one think of a Wolfe novel or story in which he portrays a good society? When I re-read The Fifth Head of Cerberus, I realized that on the first reading I had missed how brutal and nasty the planet of Sainte. Croix is. Urth and the Whorl are also terrible places. Stories like The Death of Dr. Island have a cruel or indifferent society in the background. Wolfe doesn't seem to write about utopias. But does he ever show even a decent world?

On Jul 11, 2008, at 12:23 PM, Jeff Wilson wrote: John Smith wrote:

Can any one think of a Wolfe novel or story in which he portrays a good society? When I re-read The Fifth Head of Cerberus, I realized that on the first reading I had missed how brutal and nasty the planet of Sainte. Croix is. Urth and the Whorl are also terrible places. Stories like The Death of Dr. Island have a cruel or indifferent society in the background. Wolfe doesn't seem to write about utopias. But does he ever show even a decent world?

The Goddess' world in There Are Doors is a pretty tranquil liberal democracy similar to 1950's Britain - She reigns with the lightest of hands and suffers Her people to govern themselves as long as Her worship and personal property are respected. -- Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com < http://www.io.com/~jwilson > _______________________________________________

Lane Haygood wrote: Given the strong Gnostic vibe I get from a lot of Wolfe's work (not that I think he's a gnostic, mind you, but I think he mines the theology for plot points), the idea that the material world is flawed and evil isn't so strange.

On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 2:39 PM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com> wrote: Lane Haygood wrote:

Given the strong Gnostic vibe I get from a lot of Wolfe's work (not that I think he's a gnostic, mind you, but I think he mines the theology for plot points), the idea that the material world is flawed and evil isn't so strange.

His interviews affirm this; he says we are lucky to live in a Christian society cos the rest of the world (like Turkey) is a depraved hellhole where people kill kittens for fun. -- Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com < http://www.io.com/~jwilson <http://www.io.com/%7Ejwilson> > _______________________________________________

Paul B wrote: Hooo boy, really? What interview was this? Well, Wolfe is getting old, I suppose I can grant him moral exception (har) for cantankerous outbursts.