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From: BMeyer7@aol.com
Subject: (whorl) Heresy
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 11:34:51 EST
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OK, I'm sure I'll be the target of the wrath of many, but here goes. First,
let me set forth my background--I've been reading SF/F for my entire life
(I'm 40), have read every published word of Wolfe, and, while not nearly as
sophisticated as many on this list, am not a total Wolfe-dummy. I figured
out lots of stuff (including what was going on in "Fifth Head") on my own,
before such lists provided the insights of others. OK, reading this list, it
is striking that after 7 books in this series, the very, very, smart people
posting cannot come up with a consensus about what the hell is going on with
respect to key issues. Now a series of rhetorical questions: At what point
does intentional obscurity on the part of an author become a self-indulgent
pretention that gets in the way of artistic expression? How much do we
really love Wolfe because he's a great writer and how much because it's fun
to solve puzzles? Has Wolfe crossed the line from not giving all the answers
to creating texts that must be pored over by talmudic scholars rather than
actual readers of novels? Is Wolfe writing for a smaller, and smaller
audience of expert Wolfe-interpreters? Discuss.
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>OK, I'm sure I'll be the target of the wrath of many, but here goes. First,
<BR>let me set forth my background--I've been reading SF/F for my entire life
<BR>(I'm 40), have read every published word of Wolfe, and, while not nearly as
<BR>sophisticated as many on this list, am not a total Wolfe-dummy. I figured
<BR>out lots of stuff (including what was going on in "Fifth Head") on my own,
<BR>before such lists provided the insights of others. OK, reading this list, it
<BR>is striking that after 7 books in this series, the very, very, smart people
<BR>posting cannot come up with a consensus about what the hell is going on with
<BR>respect to key issues. Now a series of rhetorical questions: At what point
<BR>does intentional obscurity on the part of an author become a self-indulgent
<BR>pretention that gets in the way of artistic expression? How much do we
<BR>really love Wolfe because he's a great writer and how much because it's fun
<BR>to solve puzzles? Has Wolfe crossed the line from not giving all the answers
<BR>to creating texts that must be pored over by talmudic scholars rather than
<BR>actual readers of novels? Is Wolfe writing for a smaller, and smaller
<BR>audience of expert Wolfe-interpreters? Discuss. </FONT></HTML>
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