<div>I am probably in the minority on this, but I think the Soldier series is a fantastic place to start. It's language is as clear-cut as The Knight's is, but it's set in a world most people are at east passing familiar with. Maybe if you include a little cheat sheet that translates the places and gods from Latro-speak into English, they could at least surf through the story and wallow in Wolfe's brilliant realization of ancient Greece. They're bound to realize there's more down below...</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div><BR><B><I>Steve Taylor <steve.taylor@majitek.com></I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Dave Lebling wrote:<BR>> Personally, I would consider "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" (meaning all <BR>> three novelettes, of course) as a
good introduction to Wolfe. I have to <BR>> admit that I've had very little luck getting people interested in him, <BR>> using that or "The Book of the New Sun." The prospect pretty much has to <BR>> be interested in SF or Fantasy and be interested in "literary" fiction; <BR>> not many are.<BR>><BR>> <BR><BR>I started on Book of the New Sun and it suited me very well. I owe it <BR>all to Michael Moorcock too - I'd been ignoring it because "Shadow of <BR>the Torturer" sounded pretty trashy. In _Wizardry and Wild Romance_, a <BR>book of essays on fantasy, he talked it up big enough that I was willing <BR>to try it - and loved it of course. I'd recommend this for readers who <BR>would be taken by the sweep of invention<BR><BR>I can see The Knight (haven't read The Wizard yet) as a good starting <BR>point because of the astonishing simplicity and purity of the language. <BR>Somehow Wolfe can write "The sea was blue. The sun came up." and make <BR>the prose
sing. I am mystified as to how he does it.<BR><BR>Fifth Head would be suitable for puzzle solvers. It's one of the <BR>demanding books which asks the reader to untangle it. I'm not a puzzle <BR>solver by nature - I figure that if the author thinks I need to know <BR>something they can just come out tell me. Which makes it pretty odd that <BR>I'm such a big Wolfe fan - but then, that's my point - there are <BR>different Wolfe's for different readers. Fifth head would be a poor <BR>starting point for me, but possibly a good starting point for others.<BR><BR>(Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure I read Death of Dr Island etc when I was <BR>about 9 - but at that age I would finish any book I read, whether I <BR>disliked it, whether I completely failed to understand it, whether I was <BR>holding it upside down... My only memory of reading it is "Huh?".<BR>> Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha<BR>> <BR><BR><BR>Steve<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Urth Mailing
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