(urth) instant new fan

Mon Dec 19 10:44:34 PST 2011

I have yet to read *Anathem *(sitting on my shelf as we speak), but I would
highly recommend his *Baroque Cycle* and the related book, *Cryptonomicon*.
He is a very snappy writer, and is one of the few I have come across who
can make a 1,000 page novel just whiz by.  Lots of fireworks and
excitement; he said in an interview not too long ago that he is first and
foremost concerned with writing "a good yarn".

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:41 PM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com>wrote:

> Daniel, if you want to check out Stephenson, I would recommend
> starting with "Anathem," a book of deep secrets.
>
> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 10:40 AM, Daniel Petersen
> <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Oh yes, Antonin: happens to me all the time.  Dan Simmons, for example,
> > writes a very compelling yard in perfectly capable prose.  But if I read
> him
> > too close to an immersive reading of Wolfe, I'll find myself distactedly
> > pining for Wolfean prose.  And, as you say, once I'm into the swing of
> any
> > good writer's less-than-the-Wolfean-ideal prose, I thoroughly enjoy
> myself.
> >  (I've been planning to check out Stephenson for some time.)
> >
> > -DOJP
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 6:36 PM, Antonin Scriabin <
> kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> Daniel, I understand what you mean about the prose being so good it kind
> >> of slips under the radar, and "does its job".  I read Neal Stephenson's
> >> Quicksilver and absolutely loved it, then read Shadow and Claw, which I
> >> loved even more.  Then I went back to read Stephenson's The Confusion,
> and
> >> it felt like I had really, really stepped down a notch.  I didn't
> realize
> >> how good the prose in New Sun was until I read something else; then it
> hit
> >> me how incredibly well Wolfe can write.
> >>
> >> P.S. I feel like I should mention that The Confusion, once I got back
> into
> >> the swing of that story, ended up being one of my favorite "adventure"
> >> novels.  I highly recommend it!
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:25 PM, Daniel Petersen
> >> <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> You know, it's funny.  The first chapters of SotT did *not* terribly
> >>> impress me as to writing style when I first tackled BotNS over a
> decade ago.
> >>>  There was nothing *wrong* with them at all - flawless grammar and
> syntax
> >>> and what have you.  The story itself and its themes began to sweep me
> up as
> >>> the book really got going, but it wasn't until later in the book or
> series
> >>> that the writing itself began to leap out at me as really exquisite
> prose.
> >>>
> >>> Plus, sometimes I wonder if even the writing style itself is 'hidden in
> >>> plain sight' from the reader along with so much else.  The writing is
> *so*
> >>> good (grammatical and graceful as Wolfe recommends to aspiring
> writers) that
> >>> it just ends up doing its job so effectively that you don't always
> notice it
> >>> until you're quite some way into a work.
> >>>
> >>> Also, I'll here mention that I love the quality of prose in Long and
> >>> Short Suns just as much as New Sun.  It's just doing something totally
> >>> different than Severian's baroque machinations.
> >>>
> >>> -DOJP
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 6:14 PM, Antonin Scriabin
> >>> <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Wolfe's writing is very beautiful, and he uses such vivid, unique
> >>>> language.  I haven't memorized the passage, but the part in The
> Shadow of
> >>>> the Torturer where Ultan is describing the different books in the
> library;
> >>>> wonderful!  That together with the nearby Book of Gold passage really
> made
> >>>> me fall in love with that book in particular and Wolfe in general.
> >>>>
> >>>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:08 PM, Daniel Petersen
> >>>> <danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Yes, so many truly wonderful lines and passages.  I remember loving
> the
> >>>>> really robust mountainous language at the beginning of SotL,
> starting with
> >>>>> the sentence:  'Thrax is a crooked dagger entering the heart of the
> >>>>> mountains.'
> >>>>>
> >>>>> You know, I don't think I've ever seen Wolfe's writing (as in style
> or
> >>>>> tone or texture of prose, etc.) discussed on this list.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> -DOJP
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 3:58 AM, David Stockhoff
> >>>>> <dstockhoff at verizon.net> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On 12/18/2011 7:59 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Thought people here might enjoy seeing that new readers are still
> >>>>>>> discovering Wolfe for the very first time and being instantly
> enchanted.  A
> >>>>>>> friend of mine (an aspiring writer) who loves Tolkien and China
> Mieville
> >>>>>>> finally, at my persistent insistence, obtained BotNS and posted
> this to me
> >>>>>>> on Facebook just now about what he's read so far:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> 'I love the languid, ivy-wrapped prose that Wolfe writes in. I've
> >>>>>>> been discovering that this is a style I find myself entranced by
> when I read
> >>>>>>> it. I was not long ago working through Titus Groan and found myself
> >>>>>>> ensconced by many of the same elements that I'm loving in Wolfe's
> writing.
> >>>>>>> Mr. Wolfe seems much better at marrying plot and poesy than Mr.
> Peake,
> >>>>>>> however.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I'm very excited about what waits around the corner. BotNS seems
> like
> >>>>>>> the kind of novel I dream of writing.'
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Some pretty apt comments, I thought.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> -DOJP
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Cool!
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> BNS has some of the most gorgeous lines I have ever read. There are
> >>>>>> many others, but I think most often of the description of lotuses
> on Gyoll
> >>>>>> in CotA immediately after Maxellindis's uncle's talk of what appear
> to be
> >>>>>> the legions of Erebus:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> With that he fell silent, looking out over the nenuphars. We were
> well
> >>>>>> above that part of
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Gyoll opposite the Citadel, but they were still packed more densely
> >>>>>> than wildflowers in
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> any meadow this side of paradise.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> This kind of mood/content juxtaposition enraptures me.
> >>>>>> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >>
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>
>
> --
> Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
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