(urth) 9 Ways to Read GW by Neil Gaiman

[Mark Lewin]

... and here are two other authors' suggestions on how to read GW from the
same magazine (Fantasy & SF):

Michael Swanwick: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwms0704.htm

Michael Andre-Driussi: http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwma0704.htm

Mark

On 02/03/07, Matthew DeLuca <deluca22 at tcnj.edu> wrote:
>
>   How to read Gene Wolfe:
>
> 1) Trust the text implicitly. The answers are in there.
>
> 2) Do not trust the text farther than you can throw it, if that far.
> It's tricksy and desperate stuff, and it may go off in your hand at
> any time.
>
> 3) Reread. It's better the second time. It will be even better the
> third time. And anyway, the books will subtly reshape themselves
> while you are away from them.Peace really was a gentle Midwestern
> memoir the first time I read it. It only became a horror novel on the
> second or the third reading.
>
> 4) There are wolves in there, prowling behind the words. Sometimes
> they come out in the pages. Sometimes they wait until you close the
> book. The musky wolf-smell can sometimes be masked by the aromatic
> scent of rosemary. Understand, these are not today-wolves, slinking
> grayly in packs through deserted places. These are the dire-wolves of
> old, huge and solitary wolves that could stand their ground against
> grizzlies.
>
> 5) Reading Gene Wolfe is dangerous work. It's a knife-throwing act,
> and like all good knife-throwing acts, you may lose fingers, toes,
> earlobes or eyes in the process. Gene doesn't mind. Gene is throwing
> the knives.
>
> 6) Make yourself comfortable. Pour a pot of tea. Hang up a DO NOT
> DISTURB Sign. Start at Page One.
>
> 7) There are two kinds of clever writer. The ones that point out how
> clever they are, and the ones who see no need to point out how clever
> they are. Gene Wolfe is of the second kind, and the intelligence is
> less important than the tale. He is not smart to make you feel
> stupid. He is smart to make you smart as well.
>
> 8) He was there. He saw it happen. He knows whose reflection they saw
> in the mirror that night.
>
> 9) Be willing to learn.
>
> - Neil Gaiman
>
> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0704.htm
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