From: Doug Eigsti <douge@nti.com>
Subject: (urth) Stupid Wolfe fan
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:04:26 

"Tony Ellis" <tony.ellis@futurenet.co.uk> wrote:

>I myself first read TBOTNS when I was a spotty, callow teenager who'd read
>one Vance book, no Borges and an awful lot
>of the sort of SF that Wolfe's writing -isn't- based on. I was hooked for
>life.
>
>The message is, you don't need to be well-read in SF, or any genre before
>you can appreciate Wolfe. You just need an
>open mind, and to know good writing when you see it. That's why I believe
>that if we could only force mainstream
>critics to actually read a little Wolfe, at gunpoint, they might come
>around to our viewpoint. The only people who
>will never come over to our side are the ones who are already reading SF.
>
>I still treasure a quote from Wendy Bradley's review of Castleview in,
>sadly, Interzone. The gist of it was: "this
>book made me feel stupid, and I don't like feeling stupid."

	I had an empathic reaction when I read this post. I bought THE
SHADOW OF THE TORTURER beacuse the guy on the cover looked cool with his
mask and executioner's sword. Reading it was a self-extracting Wolfe
appreciation course.

	For years I refrained from recommending Wolfe to others thinking
him so unique that my SF friends wouldn't get it. Twelve Wolfe books later
they are spoiled, and chide me for holding out on them. Wolfe is the
standard against whom all others must be compared. I hear phrases like
"Wolfe would never do that". One new fan is trying to read LONG SUN in one
month just so he can better appreciate ON BLUE'S WATERS and be able to
discuss it with other fans. Good writing brings out the best in readers.

=Talon=



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