Who Do You Think is Greater, Gene Wolfe or Jack Vance?
- Thread starter BAYLOR
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My brain is not working to well today. I should have told him The New Sun first.
Just perfect.
I haven't seen it Baylor, can't help sorry. Have you looked under the sofa?
tinkerdan
∞<Q-Satis
That okay. Thanks.
Reading what there is in the Wikipedia entries I felt that the first portion new sun sounds almost formulaic like the old adventure romance novels such as The Three Musketeers. There was also at least one review that said that there is a bit of time travel in the novels and that it can often get confusing so I'm not sure that starting in the middle will hurt.
I could tell from the sample that his writing style is pretty dense in a good way and that compounding that with a narrative that jumps around in and out of time indicated a possibility that it will take a bit of focus to comprehend things.
I figured, read the first of the generation ship books and then decide if I want to continue on through to the short sun and eventually the new sun.
Or I might decide I need to do the new sun after reading into the first part of the long sun.
After reading up on them and reading a sampling of the long sun I think that it should make little difference and perhaps reading the middle portion of the series will peek my interest in the first portion.My brain is not working to well today. I should have told him The New Sun first.
Reading what there is in the Wikipedia entries I felt that the first portion new sun sounds almost formulaic like the old adventure romance novels such as The Three Musketeers. There was also at least one review that said that there is a bit of time travel in the novels and that it can often get confusing so I'm not sure that starting in the middle will hurt.
I could tell from the sample that his writing style is pretty dense in a good way and that compounding that with a narrative that jumps around in and out of time indicated a possibility that it will take a bit of focus to comprehend things.
I figured, read the first of the generation ship books and then decide if I want to continue on through to the short sun and eventually the new sun.
Or I might decide I need to do the new sun after reading into the first part of the long sun.
hitmouse
Well-Known Member
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@tinkerdan Dont worry, Book of the Long Sun can be read as standalone, and is perfectly accessible ( ar least by GW standards.) It is a good story, but is not your trad generation starship story. The sequel trilogy (short sun) is a bit more tricky, and a read of BOTNS and Urth of the New Sun does help.
I would say that BOTNS is anything but formulaic. It is a masterpiece.
I would say that BOTNS is anything but formulaic. It is a masterpiece.
tinkerdan
∞<Q-Satis
while I'm waiting for hard volumes to arrive...
Finished the first book and half way into the second book.
Much of the plot and themes that run through this book remind me both of elements in
The Three Musketeers
And
Count of Monte Cristo
However I admit it is so much more.
there are elements of plot-themes behind ERB's Mars series.
Then add in a torturer, headman, and personification of death as the main character.
It does read better than anything translated from French to English.
However I have to stop often for:
The use of words that name things that in some cases don't exist in today's world.(Closest thing to describe it. often is old word old usage.)
Creation of names of things that sometimes just barely have enough context to make a guess as to what it is.
Also I think: unfortunately there are some places where the OCR was not fully edited properly and just compounds confusion.
[Good thing I ordered the hard volumes of the Long Sun series.]
No doubt: it is a masterpiece: though.
I shall sail through the first four books and then possibly the fifth of the New Sun series though I'm not sure of it's importance in the scheme of things.
I've gotten the ebooks of New Sun.
Finished the first book and half way into the second book.
Much of the plot and themes that run through this book remind me both of elements in
The Three Musketeers
And
Count of Monte Cristo
However I admit it is so much more.
there are elements of plot-themes behind ERB's Mars series.
Then add in a torturer, headman, and personification of death as the main character.
It does read better than anything translated from French to English.
However I have to stop often for:
The use of words that name things that in some cases don't exist in today's world.(Closest thing to describe it. often is old word old usage.)
Creation of names of things that sometimes just barely have enough context to make a guess as to what it is.
Also I think: unfortunately there are some places where the OCR was not fully edited properly and just compounds confusion.
[Good thing I ordered the hard volumes of the Long Sun series.]
No doubt: it is a masterpiece: though.
I shall sail through the first four books and then possibly the fifth of the New Sun series though I'm not sure of it's importance in the scheme of things.
tinkerdan
∞<Q-Satis
Just opened a newly arrived Gene Wolfe book.
Free Live Free--in the New Sun Series universe--at least that was what it was advertised as; though it seems to be...not so much..
It starts like this.
And I a got to thinking; maybe we should be comparing him to Edward Bulmer-Lynton
"It was a dark and stormy night..."
I'm pretty sure that Gene Wolfe tends to be a bit more florid than Jack Vance.
Free Live Free--in the New Sun Series universe--at least that was what it was advertised as; though it seems to be...not so much..
It starts like this.
And I a got to thinking; maybe we should be comparing him to Edward Bulmer-Lynton
"It was a dark and stormy night..."
I'm pretty sure that Gene Wolfe tends to be a bit more florid than Jack Vance.
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I have to disagree with that.
tinkerdan
∞<Q-Satis
As you may well do.
I'm half way through the Urth of the New Sun and I've realized that his writing can compare easily with Elizabeth Bear.
In particular her:
Jacob's Ladder series.
and
The Edda of Burdens series
both of which I recently finished reading.
JJewel
Douglas Morrison
Cant remember reading any Gene Wolfe books but do remember Jack Vance so my choice is simple.
Jackie boy it is!
Their are so many authors out their and titles, how many lifetimes would you need to read them all and worse stillr emember them all?
Although Baylor seems to have read them all, is he far older than he seems???
Jackie boy it is!
Their are so many authors out their and titles, how many lifetimes would you need to read them all and worse stillr emember them all?
Although Baylor seems to have read them all, is he far older than he seems???
Elckerlyc
"Philosophy will clip an angel's wings."
Comparing Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe?
I consider Wolfe more of an literary writer, whose prose consist of meticulously constructed sentences which nevertheless flow naturally. Much of his plot is obscured by unfamiliar words or unreliable narrators and unfurls slowly. The reader is expected to work as he reads, while savouring the prose. The reward is great.
Vance is a born story-teller. His prose is easy going, pictorial and florid. His vocabulary is as rich as Wolfe's, only different in style and approach. The plot generally keeps moving forward in a clear direction. Reading Vance is fun and enchanting.
They are both great writers. Impossible to say who's the greatest. Though I suspect that Jack Vance is generally more widely read and appreciated. (certainly here in The Netherlands.)
However, if one had to make a choice I would say Gene Wolfe. Many call BotNS a masterpiece and I agree. And personally I consider the Latro trilogy and Peace equal great works. Which novel of Jack Vance would or could you call a masterpiece?
I consider Wolfe more of an literary writer, whose prose consist of meticulously constructed sentences which nevertheless flow naturally. Much of his plot is obscured by unfamiliar words or unreliable narrators and unfurls slowly. The reader is expected to work as he reads, while savouring the prose. The reward is great.
Vance is a born story-teller. His prose is easy going, pictorial and florid. His vocabulary is as rich as Wolfe's, only different in style and approach. The plot generally keeps moving forward in a clear direction. Reading Vance is fun and enchanting.
They are both great writers. Impossible to say who's the greatest. Though I suspect that Jack Vance is generally more widely read and appreciated. (certainly here in The Netherlands.)
However, if one had to make a choice I would say Gene Wolfe. Many call BotNS a masterpiece and I agree. And personally I consider the Latro trilogy and Peace equal great works. Which novel of Jack Vance would or could you call a masterpiece?
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