Where were you when you first read his works? When you first pored over his absolute majesty of prose and magnificence? Where were you when you read our time's greatest master, above Sterne, Proust, Dostoevsky, Joyce, Melville, Faulkner, Homer, even Shakespeare?
Where were you, /lit/?
Please stop.
>>7743531
No, the world must know his greatness! Don't you try to stifle his genius!
>>7743487
He looks like the spider from Spirited Away in this picture.
>>7744012
A thousand keks
>>7743487
I was at home.
You're the second anon in pic related aren't you?
>>7743487
Remove croat.
OP should be forced to namefag as "Deadsea".Because he's salty as fuck.
>>7743842
>>7744018
>>7744063
>My Only Dream In This Dying World Was To Be A Torturer But It Turns Out I'm Really Jesus Christ?!
>>7744107
kek, I forgot we have have Gene Wolfe to thank for Pringles. Is there nothing he can't do?
>>7744107
source on that greentext story?
I'm a couple of chapters into the second BotNS book and it's okay. He's a competent writer and uses a lot of tricks that I guess other fantasy authors don't bother with. I posted about two, very minor, problems I'd found in the other thread; namely the "translated" songs scan and rhyme perfectly in English which is a bit silly, and that he displays ignorance of the cider making process. The prose isn't particularly engaging, the character motivations are weak and the titillation seems unnecessary, but nothing that makes me want to put the book down.
>>7744141
I replied in the other thread, as a translation I just assumed that the songs were made up by the translator to take the place of Urth songs which wouldn't have worked in English.
And as for cider, XXXXcentury Urth cider might be different to 21st century Earth cider. Hell, even their apples might seem alien to us. Remember he says at the end of the first book that we don't have words for a lot of the alien stuff on Urth and English words are used which have approximately similar meanings in many cases.
And I think Book of the New Sun is only really firing up in Shadow of the Torturer, Claw of the Conciliator gets very interesting. I think Wolfe is at his best when he deals with myths and legends, which come up later on.
Have you read The Fifth Head of Cerberus or Peace? Those are GOAT novels and in my opinion a better introduction to Wolfe's work the Book of the New Sun. Also I think that the orange cover of Cerberus is one of the prettiest I've ever seen on a book.
>>7744159
Translated poetry generally doesn't rhyme and isn't substituted like that. I think those are weak excuses, but as I said, it's only minor.
I read his collection of short stories which I did enjoy. I'm not really interested enough in the genre to go out of my way to read more than this quadrilogy at this time, thank you all the same. I'll finish reading them but I'm not getting any sort of frisson from doing so.
>>7744141
>he displays ignorance of the cider making process
you guys are fucking disgusting. Gene Wolfe is one of the greatest voices of our generation, and you fucksteaks are all just jealous of his utter genius. You'll see, when your lives come crashing down around you, your DFW's and your Pynchon's will all piss in your eyes. You're the salty ones. I'm not.
>>7743487
Oh cool, I love George R. R. Tolkein.
>>7744497
you son of a bitch. you know who Gene Wolfe is. A fucking genius.
>>7743487
Glad you agree with me. Read Wolfe more thoroughly, with wisdom behind aged eyes, and perhaps time will turn your lies into truth. Alas, you are capable of being only what you are, your unforgiveable sin. Perhaps if twixt your legs an unhatched chick hungered for more solid sustenance, or your breasts were bigger than your head, then this thread, too, might have utility. Wolfe really does belong with those artists, and he writes much more than simple quest fantasies. The banal epistolary aims of Clarissa, the inane peregrinations of the Beats, the useless degeneracy of burroughs and Henry Miller, who attempt to transform being worthless bums into art, never dare approach the sublime themes of real artists. The mockery you make of my words only cements their immortal truth, which rings hollow in the ears of the unwashed masses. But one man alone can be right, like Eratosthenes looking in his well, and the whole world wrong.
>>7744141
>namely the "translated" songs scan and rhyme perfectly in English which is a bit silly
This complaint is silly. You have the rebuttal in your very own critique.
>>7744530
>this is what people actually believe
what a pleb.
>>7744559
Converse with me on any book - I've read over 3,000. Thou by the Indian Ganges could complain, and we could while away the long sweet day. Plebs, you see, are coarse and ignorant fellows. Speak to me of anything and I will explain it to you, from Beckett to Herodotus. Your words have never been less apt than now, your fancies never more mistaken. The world is very much not as you believe it to be. The truth is that Wolfe is too subtle for even great minds, so do not feel badly.
>>7744620
never pursue a career in writing.
I like Wolfe but the fans are cringe as fuck, literally becoming meme tier
>>7744633
>current year
>not an avid member of the Wolfe Elite
pleb harder.
>>7744633
I hadn't heard of him before /lit/ started blabbing about him. Looked him up and it turns out he's some fantasy writer, confirming the number of high-schoolers here I guess.
>>7744624
Talk to me about something intelligent, I implored you, and this is what I received. Four of your words reached two syllables - it's a start. You have an immense opportunity to converse with one of the great minds of your age (with such a pretty face, to boot) and you squander it on vague rejoinders like this? In the years to come, when time has left you a dessicated husk, you will regret the missed chance at enlightenment. It rarely knocks once, and never twice. I bid you good evening and all the best.
>>7744645
>great minds of your age
>isn't Gene Wolfe
pleb.
it's some troll spamming every thread about gene wolfe
just add 'gene wolfe' to your filters
>>7744547
Clearly I know that and you needn't point it out.
>>7744651
>can't engulf the Wolfe
pleb
>>7744655
You clearly don't know how bad you sound. You have a very myopic interpretation of what "translation" means.
The book of the new sun is actually good though. How is he a meme
>>7744633
You know most of the posts ITT are memeing, including yours probably?
>>7743487
I was 18 at the time (I reread it once a year now, 21 at the moment), I was looking for good science fiction and a friend randomly namedropped him. It sounded cool so I downloaded Book of the New Sun.
It literally changed my life. It started my passion for all the things I consider integral to my being, I became more interested in theology, and my process towards becoming a pious Catholic and not just a cultural one or one who doesn't know better, philosophy and fired up my interest in literature. I started with 20 than 30 than 70 books a year and am on 21 so far and it's one of the things that makes me who I am right now as books shape how I think. So I'm incredibly grateful to Wolfe for showing me all these great things in one of the most cathartic and powerful novels I've ever read. He's still my all time favorite, alongside Williams, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov, Endo and Joyce.
Gene Wells is muh Wigger. Got them stunner shades on.
>>7744110
>accomplished industrial engineer
>helped create the pringles making process
>editor of Plant Engineering
>retired and wrote the most /lit/ science fiction novels
>proud husband, father, and grandfather
How can one man do so much?
As a Wolfe fan, I wish the fanbase were more chill like the Hellsing fanbase.
In the long run, I don't think the Wolfe spammer will do more harm than good though. We used to get Wolfe threads only a couple of times a year, now as far as I know, it's a weekly thing.
>>7745648
>Fought in Korea against the Kims
>Dealt with his wife's tragic bout with Alzheimer's disease
Memes aside Wolfe is starting to grow on me as a person and an author.
>>7743487
Through /a/ doujins
>>7745658
What a shitty cover, did someone from Metal Hurlant do it? As for Hellsing I can't get into that because of how overpowered the protag is. Japanese creators have this disease of the mind making every character in any work go super saiyan at some point.
>>7745658
Yeah, it's been a weeky thing for a while now.
I'm convinced that the recent spammer is really butthurt about people arguing that Wolfe is a great author or something because this thread was made with a quote from the last therad because >genre fiction memes
>>7745800
I like the cover, but not as something related to New Sun.
>>7745710
The other awesome thing about him is his kindness to fans. While obviously age has slowed down the length and frequency of his correspondence, he actually takes the time to answer letters to, for all intents and purposes, fans who are no one in the grand scheme of things, and has been known to send gifts like signed chap books, etc. His fiction is crueler to his readers than he is - a strange thing indeed. That doesn't mean he will answer questions about the mysteries in his books, however. He will ignore those, by and large. I know of very few illustrious writers who would take that time.
>>7745967
>tfw you will never be able to go back in time and engage with Gene Wolfe while he was still in his prime.
>>7745967
Where do we send the letter? I'd like to send one.
>>7745800
I'm not really into Hellsing either. I'm just really wowwed by how consistently chill they are when handling trolls. And when a Hellsing fan looks bad, it's usually a phony.
>>7745811
Interesting, I forgot that some people have no life and would rather give free publicity to an author they don't like rather than engage in reasonable discourse.
>>7746021
It has great art so I will at least read manga more.
>>7746019
For now the best bet is through tor books or his agent at the virginia kidd agency, though she and Hartwell have both passed away. I cant give you a more firm mailing address on 4chan.
>>7746132
Yes you can. Stop being a basic beta bitch and spill the beans.
>>7746132
Yeah, I understand, I wasn't expecting a real, concrete one.
Someone will probably do the legwork in getting Wolfe's mailing address and then just pass it on via all of the many Wolfe threads we've been getting.
>>7746196
I wouldn't dream of actually posting it here. I only wish the best for the man, I don't want a retard to spam him.
>>7746233
As if you aren't spam in the eyes of Gene the jolly green giant of lit.
>>7746242
You are confusing Wolfe and Chesterton
>>7746253
They can fight for it. That'd be a fight for the century.
He truly is a god, Marc Aramini said so. (one of the greatest analytical minds of our time)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKw_xUI6fDE
>>7747093
Oh hai Marc.
>>7747097
I always use my name when I post, but i agree with the assessment of my mind ...
>>7747110
>using his name when he posts
Go to tinychat already.
I've never read any of his works. I'm just here for the Wolfe memes.
>>7747330
>jackson popcorn gif that doesn't move
you monster.
>>7747331
I didn't even notice that. Hah. I'm glad that someone pointed it out.
>>7747335
yeah, you just be careful next time.
children might be watching.
>>7743487
>Where were you when you read our time's greatest master, above Sterne, Proust, Dostoevsky, Joyce, Melville, Faulkner, Homer, even Shakespeare?
Possibly only the fourth-best writer with the last name Wolfe.
>>7747468
no. absolutely wrong. He is a genius. *sniff* he's a genius...
>>7743487
New to /lit/ here. Had seen this guy posted on here, figured he was a meme. Was going through my wishlist on Amazon and saw The Book of the New Sun and remember someone recommending it as amazing and then I see it was written by him. So you guys memeing or is he actually that good?
>>7747618
find out for yourself. i think he's pleb tier genre fiction. you might think otherwise.
>>7747618
It's fantastic. It's the one book that really got me into literature and one to which I keep returing for rereads. It's subtle, haunting, atmospheric with interesting characters and a lot of puzzles to solve. It also deals with interesting themes in relatively unusual ways, so for example it makes an argument for "the eternal principle" or Logos through a work wihich is narrated by a very very subjective person so you are constantly trying to find out what he actually saw and not his limited perception of a thing was. The narrator is a very complex charater and the prose itself is both showing and hiding who he actually is through what he is avoiding or especially pointing out or his detachement pointing out to some sociopathic tendencies and so on.
I love it and as times goes I'm still haunted by its beauty.
>>7745658
Wolfe spammer almost certainly isn't a Gene Wolfe fan. I think doing harm is their intention.
>>7747667
I think I'll read it next. Was going to make my 3rd attempt at reading Moby Dick, but probably best to put it off or just listen to the audio book. Maybe I'm an idiot but It's fucking hard to read. I honestly don't think I've ever even read a Sci-fi book. Tend to stick to old literature.
>>7747618
>>7747678
I'd say read The Fifth Head of Cerberus. It's mainly about post-colonialism but themes from Wolfe's more famous works come up to. Most importantly it will introduce you to his particular style of writing. Like in Book of the New Sun he uses narrators who have very particular ways of telling their stories, I don't think I could explain exactly what that means but if you read it you'll get it.
I'd also recommend reading Peace before Book of the New Sun because it's not that long and really interesting. I think that The Fifth Head of Cerberus and Peace were his most important works that he made before Book of the New Sun and I like to move forwards through a writers bibliography like that.
>>7747681
Perhaps I'll take your advice. Thanks, Anon.
>>7747670
Someone got extremely pissed in a thread because I argued extensively in it that Wolfe is a great writer and that saying the prose isn't Moby Dick good isn't really a critique.
Or maybe he didn't, it may be some other person.
In any case Wolfe has been getting more negative comments than he was a week back, but not that much critique of his work outside >pleb genre fiction. I'm unsure if it's one or two persons or more.
On Goodreads most reviews are positive out of the 20 people I have added who have read it.
>>7747691
Memeing is an effective method to influence peoples perspective, believe it or not. People are sheep. Not to sound edgy or anything.
>>7747691
He might be a parody/poor imitation of Gassposter/The Holy Apostle of Gass. We can never know for sure, unless...
>>7747688
>>7747681
>>7747678
Yeah, it's good advice for sure. Also his short stories are really nice.
Moby Dick is really long and specific and I'm also stuck halfway through.
Wolfe deals with a lot of sff tropes and plays around with them. For eample New Sun protag is on the surface some cool pulp beat monsters get bitches character, but the story plays out with very little action and his relationship with women being very... domination based.
>>7747691
I'm the one who had the Moby Dick conversation with you. I don't care enough to try to make it into a meme war, honestly. I just disagree with you. That's fine, we can all have our opinions about literature!
>>7743487
so who is the guy
>>7747715
True. It's just that the two coincided so I thought it was possible.
>>7747720
Jean Woolf the great transnigger polygamous feminist science fiction writer and sociologist.
>>7747703
The funny thing is I actually downloaded Gass and heard he's good from a reliable source and will read him as soon as I get an ereader.
>>7743487
I was lounging in fiacre drinking brain fluid when Father Inire call
"Jean Wolf is book"
"Nay"
and you?
>>7747842
i haven't had blain fluid in years. where did you get it?
>>7747848
A dealer in the bad parts of nessus, towards the abandoned area.
