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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Gene Wolfe: Book of the New Sun
Message-ID: <118@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 6-Mar-86 09:37:40 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.118
Posted: Thu Mar  6 09:37:40 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Mar-86 15:14:06 EST
References: <196@starfire.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 23

I've found that I really like Wolfe's short stories.  Shortly after the
BotNS came out, I picked up _Gene Wolfe's Book of Days_, which I enjoyed
immensely.  I could never get into the BotNS, though, for a couple of
reasons.  WHen I got _Free Live Free_ a few months ago, I had hoped that
things would be different.  Alas, I have temporarily given up it, about
halfway through.

   Wolfe's style always seems to get to me after a few hundred pages.  I can
take it in small doses, but the prospect of page after page of it stretching
out before me always makes me faintly queasy.  _Free Live Free_ manages to
overcome this by a certain lightness which is more like his short stories.
The BotNS, though, moves along with the ponderous grace of the Vehicle
Tranporter pulling away from the VAB.  Also, the odd word trick doesn't work
for me.  SInce it's such a high-wire act, one slip ruins it, and when I ran
across "palaquin" used in the wrong context, the spell was broken.  Not
caring for the subject matter all that much anyway, I've never seriously
attempted to pick it up again.

Its certainly true that Wolfe requires rather deliberate and careful
reading.  That's partly why I haven't finished _Free Live Free_; things have
gotten in the way and I haven't had the time to devote to it.

C. Wingate