Gene Wolfe appreciation thread

>hardcover
>valuing aesthetics over practicality

I would never bother with this James Joyce Rip off.

(you)

>Ha. You're a real funny guy.

Ha. You can't read.

So he writes the books high,
Lmao, i knew it, so many subtle weed refs

>PKD in science fiction
Wolfe transcends science fiction anyway, and you're a fucking pleb if you think PKD is anything other than edgy pseud fedora sf trash.

I'm not naïve enough to call Wolfe the best prose stylist alive today, but he's certainly got to be a part of any consistent discussion on the topic.

Reading In Green's Jungles now and it's great.
I really like how every book he writes has a completely different style based on who is writing it.

Which of his standalone books has the best prose? Deciding between Fifth Head or The Sorceror's House next

Meme Wolfe.

A character in book of the new sun actually addresses this. Isn't it possible to appreciate a nice, well made book, regardless of its content?

I feel stupid when I see people memeing Gene Wolfe, because while I have been enjoying BotNS thus far (about halfway through Citadel now) I just can't see the prose as anything too noteworthy. I guess it's better than most scifi/fantasy, but I wouldn't know, as I usually avoid genre fic. Every twenty pages or so Severian would say a great sentence or even a full short paragraph, but I've never been consistently wowed like I might with the Meme Trilogy

What am I missing? Am I reading the books improperly somehow?

Wolfe's strength is his use of narrator's voice. You might have to read some of his other stuff to really get a feel for what he does. I don't know why people recommend New Sun first. The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a much better introduction to his writing as well as his intricate storytelling.

I appreciate him more for how he plans out and structures his work but his prose is also pretty great every now and then. His short stories might be a better showcase of that. Maybe if you want a break from what you're reading now look up a story called 'The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories,' that's not the name of a collection, it's one standalone story.

5th Head is far better.

I stated with New Sun, I never saw why that would be a problem for anyone. The novel is gripping enough even if you miss most of everything. I mean unless you are retarded you will make the picture he is painting at least partially and the intricate plot can be seen by the end of volume 2.

Well I'm already like 90% of the way through New Sun, so I may as well finish it. I suppose I'll check out short stories and like Fifth Head and so on, then come back to BotNS to see if I appreciate it more. I want to re-read it eventually anyway, because I feel there's a lot of subtle references to modern-day shit, and the only thing I caught on my own is the astronaut painting or whatever

Also, is Urth of the New Sun necessary to finish Severian's story, or do I not really need to read it? I'll get to it eventually, but I've had Sword & Citadel from my uni library for the entire semester and I'm trying to get back to reading my own damn books, so I'd rather not have to check Urth immediately

You can understand New Sun, sure, but it's like starting Pynchon with Gravity's Rainbow rather than Lot 49 or V., I think that before you get into something that big you should get an idea of what the author's about so that you can better appreciate what he's getting at right from the start.

I'm sure you'll get it as well as me, it's more of a personal thing of mine. I like to go through an author's stuff chronologically so that I can follow themes, styles and ideas throughout their work and appreciate how they develop.

I usually go through an author's work (or a musician's or filmmaker's) chronologically, but I fell for the memes and jumped straight into New Sun

Peace is Wolfe's masterpiece and the highmark of American lit in the 20th century.

Also, check em.

Does he have sex with Erdogan?
If so, he is GOAT indeed.

>well made
Yes, to me well-made is using superior, high quality materials and having a construction that's built to last. Aesthetics has nothing to do with it.

Those centipede editions look like good quality stuff.

Agree

I'm planning on reading it as the final boss, I have 2 Short Suns and Latro left, will probably finish it all by the end of the year.

>James Joyce Rip off.
It's funny because I actually read this as a compliment

I've only read Portrait and didn't find it similar

Gene Wolfe dubs better become a new meme

I wasn't saying that Wolfe is similar to Joyce but I just finished Portrait and thought to add that I found it pretty dope. I actually teared up at a few parts.

No similarities whatsoever, they're joking about the eyepatch

This is the meme we needed

You are missing a lot. Don't worry. Everyone does the first time through.

Alas, no. Wolfe is one of a kind. He does not work for everyone, simply because not everyone has a discerning and logical mind capable of appreciating numinous divinity. I snicker at the shallow and superficial intellect of the masses.

Wolfe is a master at suggesting what's going on outside of Severian's direct awareness. He also knows how to communicate without being explicit, which is somewhat rare in SF.

I don't cringe at your comment only because I like your book and understand your disdain for plebs

Hard covers are more practical. paperbacks deteriorate faster over time.

Bois is Krait's secret ever revealed?

When anonymity fails completely ...

I answered it in the general thread ... wait until you finish rttw and we will discuss it. Not really a secret but completely misunderstood by most.

>fedora
>last trilogy was about the incarnations of god
>most widely acclaimed book was about salvation from entropic forces
>fedora
what the fuck are you even saying

I'll probably finish it within 2 weeks, it's been quite a ride so far. Very confusing narrative, but at the same time has that simple old people wisdom you rarely read in novels.

Excited to talk with you about it. Short sun is the first Wolfe book I feel I "got" as it came out ... but geez the urth list pushed HARD against my readings back then. They have been way more accepting the past few years.

...

Peace. It's also his best work.

I finished Book of the New Sun. Can't say I got more than a clear outline of themes from one reading.

Should I go for Urth or should I go for Cerberus and Latro next? How are the Long Sun books?

>Hardcover

I feel like people overthink his work t b h

There was this one short story he wrote about a guy and this mysterious girl he knew about as a kid, I forget the name, and this guys one analysis on it was so sprawling and half-ended it just left me facepalming

Since the entire premise of the story was there being a strange inexplicable happening, and thats what happened.

Who here tried to ape Wolfe's style and how did it go?

Suzanne Delage is the story

Wolfe is the type of guy where some unscrupulous smarmy hack will entirely lift his style but water it down and make a billion dollars adapting it into the new Game of Thrones or Walking Dead or whatever show / movie.

so stupid

>Book of the New Sun
>Peace
>Fifth Head of Cerberus

Where should I go next? How is pic related? There is next to no criticism or writing on it.

stop with the memes try to think for a change

No

I don't see how he's memeing, PKD is borderline unreadable writer that had some neat ideas. Literature has to be about executing those ideas as well.

implying you read pdk and not just shitposting

I tried my best with multiple novels of his. I even read his bio which is pretty good (Divine Invasions).

It's nothing like as good as The Book of the New Sun, read it only after you've read that and the Soldier in the Mist trilogy as well

pick one then (ex Ubik) and explain why is it unreadable

Shit writing

Copy paste any page from it here and you'll see for yourself

i'm blind explain it to me

Imagine if someone rearranged braille relief you purchased in good faith totally at random and then claimed it's a visionary sequence of words connecting with some post-Kerouackian Dharma Bums entity whose malt liquor has been inundated with LSD flakes.

If you want a boy becomes knight story with arthurian myth, it's the way to go. It's the most fun I've ever had with a novel.
Some do, Borski is the prime example, but you can't say that isn't a thing with all other cryptic writers.
Thus far I can't say I feel a particular theme in itself, but then again it's also not obvious in New Sun or 5HoC or TWK.
Right now it seems as if it were mostly about his common what a human is and guilt and mistakes of an old man who can't escape remorse about certain things.

Strange to criticize something as pointless while not making a single coherent point yourself. can you muster something that is not meaningless babble?

Well it would have been much easier were it not for your handicap.

Favorite overall short story collection of his?

I'm quite liking Starwater Strains, and was wondering which to read after this. I've already read The Island of Dr Death and Other Stories and Other Stories and I loved it.

so you got nothing

I could only get my hands on his Best of which I actually bought.
Dick is a shit stylist, but his ideas make for a hell of a ride. It's like a mushroom trip.