(urth) instant new fan

Mon Dec 19 11:04:45 PST 2011

I always kind of thought you could be either a "Stephenson" or "Gibson"
person, but not both. [?]

I

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 2:02 PM, Larry Miller <decanus1284 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Snow Crash is also good IMHO a better cyberpunk novel than any of
> Gibsons recent works.  The Diamond Age is also a great book, probably
> my favorite book of his so far.
>
> On 12/19/11, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 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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> >>
> >
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