A Mania for Conversations

Michael Straight10 Jun 2001, 15:48original as archived

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.

Steve Strickland10 Jun 2001, 15:53original as archived

↳ follows Michael Straight · by subject

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 -----

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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.

Steve Strickland10 Jun 2001, 15:53original as archived

↳ follows Steve Strickland · by subject

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 -----

10 quoted lines

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.

Michael Straight11 Jun 2001, 09:14original as archived

↳ follows Steve Strickland · by subject

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On Sun, 10 Jun 2001, Steve Strickland wrote: 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.)

So what you're saying is that lots of people have noticed this already, but I didn't get it until Wolfe pointed it out himself. -Rostrum *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.

A Mania for ConversationsWhorl