From: Michael Straight <straight@email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Borges and Vance
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:32:41 

On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 David_Lebling@avid.com wrote:

> Alex David Groce writes of Borges' influence on Wolfe:
> <<Borges is also always looming over Wolfe's work ... "Funes the Memorius" and
> "The Circular Ruins" are obvious ones.>>
> 
> I'd like to add, as a less obvious one, also from _Ficciones_, "The Approach to
> al'Mutasim."  

I'd also like to add "The Immortal," a story which reminds me more of
Wolfe's style than any other.  For instance, the narrator gives offhanded
comments from which one can infer his cruelty, not because he's trying to
hide anything, but because torturing slaves for information or crucifying
seditious soldiers is such standard operating procedure that it hardly
bears mentioning.

Also the cool, distanced tone of the narrator reminds me of one of Wolfe's
narrators (Severian, Latro).

-Rostrum


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