(urth) The Distant Suns of Gene Wolfe

[David Duffy]

On Sat, 2 Jun 2007, Roy C. Lackey wrote:

> Daniel D Jones quoted Matthew King and wrote:
>>> I do like the article's emphasis on the Soldier books.  _Mist_ is the
>>> book that hooked me for Wolfe, after _New Sun_ nearly chased me away.

>> BOTNS was the first Wolfe series I read.  (It was almost the first Wolfe
>> period.  I'd actually read "The Death of Doctor Island" in an anthology
>
> It's funny how tastes differ even among those who read Wolfe. As I've
> probably said before, PEACE was my first read, twenty-five years ago. I

I first read _The Fifth Head_ back in high school, and was blown away by 
the complexity and density of ideas.  I knew I didn't understand half of 
what was going on, but you can *taste* that there are layers.  I think the 
mental comparison I made at the time was with Borges.

Much more recently, I recommended tFHoC as a good introduction to Wolfe to 
my wife (actually I think we might have started reading it aloud), but she 
found it too cruel, and didn't continue.  He actually does write a lot of 
horror, mixed in with everything else.


I still think that if you are going to like Wolfe, you will like tFHoC, 
and it is short ;)

David Duffy.