From: m.driussi@genie.com
Subject: Re: (whorl) Cordwainer Smith
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 97 22:42:00 GMT


[Posted from WHORL, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

Reply:  Item #4917410 from WHORL@LISTS.BEST.COM@INET01#

. . . and Nutria is king of Cordwainer Smith readers!

(Which makes for an odd couple royale. <g>)

(Those NESFA volumes are really nice, they always do good work, and
because of blood sacrifice to Ashtaronuggoth or some other Big Name
Devil, NESFA books are even available at Borders Books!! <gnashing of
teeth in ENVY>  OTOH, that is a daunting prospect, to buy the complete
volumes and start from the kinda rough and very early beginning--
don'tcha think?  On the Wolfe side, I wouldn't start somebody off with
his first ever story "The Case of the Vanishing Ghost" [1951] nor even
the first novel OPERATION ARES [1970]; I'd say FIFTH HEAD ["if the
first novella don't grab ya, f'gettit"] or SHADOW OF THE TORTURER
["if the first chapter don't grab ya, f'gettit"].)

(Gee, ranking the Cordwainer Smith stories.  I don't know.  For
example, "The Burning of the Brain" seems very popular but doesn't do
much for me.  "Scanners Live in Vain," another biggie, is touching but
a little rough, if I remember my impressions aright--but still I like
it better than "The Burning of the Brain."  And so on.)

=mantis=