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.)<div>
<br></div><div>-DOJP<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 6:36 PM, Antonin Scriabin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kierkegaurdian@gmail.com">kierkegaurdian@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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 <i>Quicksilver</i> and absolutely loved it, then read <i>Shadow and Claw</i>, which I loved even more. Then I went back to read Stephenson's <i>The Confusion</i>, and it felt like I had really, really stepped down a notch. I didn't realize how good the prose in <i>New Sun</i> was until I read something else; then it hit me how incredibly well Wolfe can write.<br>
<br>P.S. I feel like I should mention that <i>The Confusion</i>, once I got back into the swing of that story, ended up being one of my favorite "adventure" novels. I highly recommend it!<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:25 PM, Daniel Petersen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com" target="_blank">danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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. <div>
<br></div><div>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.<div>
<br></div><div>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.</div>
<div>
<br></div><div>-DOJP<div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 6:14 PM, Antonin Scriabin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kierkegaurdian@gmail.com" target="_blank">kierkegaurdian@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
Wolfe's writing is very beautiful, and he uses such vivid, unique language. I haven't memorized the passage, but the part in <i>The Shadow of the Torturer </i>where Ultan is describing the different books in the library; wonderful! That together with the nearby <i>Book of Gold</i> passage really made me fall in love with that book in particular and Wolfe in general.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 1:08 PM, Daniel Petersen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com" target="_blank">danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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.'<div>
<br></div><div>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.<div><br></div><div>-DOJP<div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 3:58 AM, David Stockhoff <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dstockhoff@verizon.net" target="_blank">dstockhoff@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On 12/18/2011 7:59 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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:<br>
<br>
'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.<br>
<br>
I'm very excited about what waits around the corner. BotNS seems like the kind of novel I dream of writing.'<br>
<br>
Some pretty apt comments, I thought.<br>
<br>
-DOJP<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Cool!<br>
<br>
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:<br>
<br>
With that he fell silent, looking out over the nenuphars. We were well above that part of<br>
<br>
Gyoll opposite the Citadel, but they were still packed more densely than wildflowers in<br>
<br>
any meadow this side of paradise.<br>
<br>
<br>
This kind of mood/content juxtaposition enraptures me.<br>
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