/gwg/ - Gene Wolfe General Thread

[Anonymous No.15756153]

Gene Wolfe thread is here for you to air your opinions on the late Gene Wolfe, said to be the James Joyce or the Thomas Pynchon of the sci-fi and fantasy world of speculative fiction. What do you know him for? I've heard his book, The Wizard Knight, is a great piece of literature that breaks away from linearity and the expectations or conventions of his genre.

The Wizard Knight edition.

>Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_mEpLK8cWE

>Blurb
“[Wolfe] should enjoy the same rapt attention we afford to Thomas Pynchon, Toni Morrison, and Cormac McCarthy.” —The Washington Post on The Knight

“Gene Wolfe is the smartest, subtlest, most dangerous writer alive today, in genre or out of it. This book [is] important and wonderful.” —Neil Gaiman on The Knight

>Epub
https://mega.nz/fm/2t5TBCSD

[Anonymous No.15756159]

>>15756153
>wizard knight
he couldnt have thought of a better title?

[Anonymous No.15756162]

>>15756159
I think that's what the series is called. The two novels are called The Knight and The Wizard.

[Anonymous No.15756601]

New edition has a cool cover, but I do prefer the Gollancz edition. Does anyone know where to get it besides Amazon?

[Anonymous No.15756615]

I'm sure he's not bad but everyone talks about his books like they're crossword puzzles and you have to look for clues and be "le riddle master" to solve them and that sounds boring. Are his books just enjoyable as stories and stuff or what?

[Anonymous No.15756630]

>>15756615
There's plenty of other writers who write like that, look at Pynchon for example. I think it may've been the time and era he was writing out of too, as well as the religious nature of 'solving' i.e. having the world revealed to you by God. Gene is supposed to be a devout Catholic.

[Anonymous No.15756638]

>>15756630
>There's plenty of other writers who write like that, look at Pynchon for example

Pynchon has poop jokes though. Does Gene Wolf make poop jokes?

[Anonymous No.15756645]

>>15756615
filthy casual

[Anonymous No.15756649]

>>15756638
I don't know. Maybe we should turn this into a reading group and find out. Also, Pynchon uses the same themes of god working outside of the novel but influencing it, e.g. the kabbalistic nature of the scat scene.

[Anonymous No.15756691]

>>15756153
>vague comparisons between the author and writers of "real literature," so you know this is a serious genre book for grownups
>vague praise from an already-established genre writer
Why are SFF blurbs always so awful? I've seen those same two types of lines on dozens of books, and they've never done their job of selling me on the contents. If you're going to recommend a book, at least try to say something original.
>>15756615
It's not as complicated as some people make it seem. Wolfe doesn't always write in a straightforward style, but as long as you don't speed-read his books aren't confusing. He's nowhere near as abstract as the meme trilogy.

[Anonymous No.15756719]

>>15756691
>Why are SFF blurbs always so awful?

Really? I was drawn into this book and will pre order it because he's compared to Pynchon, but I am a big fan of his.

I don't buy as much into the literary vs genre fiction divide, mainly because it's a marketing scheme, but I would like to read genre fiction that experiments with prose a little more than someone like Terry Pratchett (who is basically writing for tweenagers - at least I read Discworld novels at that age).

[Anonymous No.15756742]

[Anonymous No.15756759]

>>15756719
You should definitely order the book, Wolfe is great and it sounds like you'd like his stuff. It's just that I've seen the same kind of praise being given to authors that are nowhere near as good as Wolfe is.

[Anonymous No.15756798]

>>15756759
Thanks anon, I ordered my dad (who is a big sci fi buff) the Book of the New Sun series. He's a bit picky with prose having to be simplistic, so if he drops it I will just read that. But I realise Gene has a very vibrant worldbuilding skill, so he might keep with it.

The Wizard Knight has about a month or more to go before its reprint so I will wait patiently.

Do you rate Vonnegut too? Recently got his complete novels and love it, but do understand he's not really in the same group as Gene, or even a lot of sci fi fantasy people (he's more just a postmodernist).

[Anonymous No.15757147]

>>15756798
>He's a bit picky with prose having to be simplistic
I don't think he will like BotNS, unfortunately. I've tried to recommend it to multiple friends who read SFF, and they were all put off by the archaic word use and prose style. The worldbuilding is there, but it's more in the background than something like LOTR.
Haven't read anything by Vonnegut, so I can't comment. Is Sirens of Titan a good place to start?

[Anonymous No.15757208]

>>15757147
>Sirens of Titan
Yep. He's pretty accessible in any piece. i've just started finishing Mother Night, which is more historical fiction and probably his most 'complex' in the sense that it's metafictional.

Slaughterhouse Five is also darkly hilarious, so I recommend that, but it is also pretty historical, other than the aliens in the book. Vonnegut frequently mentions schizophrenia and PTSD in it, as well as his wider work. This is mainly because his son went schizo. He also had PTSD from the Bombing of Dresden. I just find that part so interesting, he really puts his own experience into his work.

You'll probably love all his work, but if you're more into sci fi, definitely go for Sirens or Cat's Cradle (even Harold Bloom rated this book highly, putting it on the canon, even if it has sci fi elements)

[Anonymous No.15757355]

>>15756153
After reading this I realised what an influence that GKC and C.S. Lewis had on Wolfe.
http://www.scifiwright.com/2015/10/the-best-introduction-to-the-mountains-2/

[Anonymous No.15757517]

How far to Aelfrice?
No one asks, for all who know Aelfrice, even by repute, know that no man has found the league that will measure the way.
How far to summer, sir?
How many steps?
How far to the dream my mother had?