Wolfe book of the new sun6/7/2023 Sometimes, especially in some of the later Long Sun / Short Sun books, Wolfe creates narrative puzzles that have disappointingly mundane solutions. Is the whole book like this? What else have I missed? The Dorcas puzzle in the first book is such a tour de force, once you see it (or have it spelled out for you) it's very unsettling. Even if it's just a trick, it's an impressive and beautiful accomplishment. Wolfe certainly creates a masterful impression that there's some larger theme and story here that we're not quite seeing. On the other hand, I continue to have people point out details and connections that I had missed but which are unquestionably there in the text, clues that make me say, "Now wait a minute, maybe this trail really does lead somewhere…" Some of the most elaborate, in-depth attempts to make sense of it all - John Clute, Robert Borski - are unconvincing and seem to stray off into fan fiction. Even after my third time through the series, I'm still not sure whether tBoTNS actually coheres into something greater than a sum of its procession of strange and wonderful episodes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |