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From: BraveSaintCroix@aol.com Subject: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v012.n057 Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 17:08:28 EST >Now a series of rhetorical questions: At what point >does intentional obscurity on the part of an author become a self-indulgent >pretention that gets in the way of artistic expression? How much do we >really love Wolfe because he's a great writer and how much because it's fun >to solve puzzles? Has Wolfe crossed the line from not giving all the answers >to creating texts that must be pored over by talmudic scholars rather than >actual readers of novels? Is Wolfe writing for a smaller, and smaller >audience of expert Wolfe-interpreters? Discuss. Wait. . . do I answer these rhetorical questions or not? Well, you said discuss, so here goes: >How much do we >really love Wolfe because he's a great writer and how much because it's fun >to solve puzzles? This is the only question I really feel qualified to answer, because after finishing RTTW I've been wondering about it myself. I read Wolfe because I love to read Wolfe. The Short Sun and Long Sun, in my opinion, are his best works. As for how obscure these books are, I don't know. Most of the discussion here goes over my head, but I like to skim it and see what I missed and what I caught in my own reading of his novels. Why do I like RTTW? It's writen beautifully. I love Silk. I think he's the coolest character in any book I've ever read. I love the way Wolfe weaves in his Christian beliefs (which I share) into his novels. I like Oreb. I love the Outsider. I like being able to finish his books and sit back and really think about them, instead of having everything spelled out. I like getting on this list after I finish and comparing notes. -Steve *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun. *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/ *To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request@lists.best.com *If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list: urth@lists.best.com