THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT: More Essays on the Fiction of Gene WolfeOver the years sf and fantasy writer Gene Wolfe has proven himself to be adept at all lengths of fiction. Now in THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT, once again literary detective Robert Borski brings his critical eye and acumen to the wide array of Wolfe's work, from short stories to novellas to mega-book series. Along the way he'll reveal to you the hidden alchemical structure of PEACE, why he thinks Latro and several others may be werewolves, what has happened to the missing twenty-four hours in "Seven American Nights," what Biblical story is retold in the pulpish "Tracking Song," who might or might not be an abo in THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS, and how to navigate your way through dozens of other lupine mazes-all before concluding with an extended examination of Wolfe's dazzling, if often opaque, BOOK OF THE SHORT SUN. |
Contents
| 1 | |
2 THE DEVIL HIS DUE | 17 |
3 THE COLDHOUSE PRANK | 30 |
4 WOLVES IN THE FOLD | 34 |
5 THE WERWOLF AS HERO | 41 |
6 MARSCHIAN SEXUALITY | 46 |
7 FAR PLUTONIAN SHORE | 52 |
8 SNOW WHITE CAIN AND ODYSSEUS THREE FABULA | 62 |
9 MYSTERY IN SPACE | 73 |
10 THE DICKENS TAKE YOU | 77 |
11 CLUES | 81 |
12 A SOLAR LABYRINTH | 83 |
13 A LUPINE ABECEDARY | 86 |
14 PENUMBRAE OF THE SHORT SUN | 105 |
| 140 | |
Other editions - View all
The Long and the Short of It: More Essays on the Fiction of Gene Wolfe Robert Borski Limited preview - 2006 |
The Long and the Short of It: More Essays on the Fiction of Gene Wolfe Robert Borski No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
abos actually alien Alvard Ardis attempt Aunt Jeannine Babbie believe Blue Bobby called catgirl character clue color Cutthroat Daisy Damien Broderick dead death Delage Devil Dollo's Law earlier Emery encounter eyes father Faust fiction Fifth Head Five's Gene Wolfe Gene Wolfe's girls given godling Gold Green Head of Cerberus Horn Horn's human inhumi Janey Johann John Marsch Julius Smart Ketin killed later Latro least Long Sun look Louis Gold lupine Mainframe Maitre means meant monster Mother Mucor mysterious Mystery Play Nadan Neighbors never novella Number Five Oior Olivia onomastic Oreb Pajarocu Passilk perhaps Phaedria possible recall Return Sainte Anne Scylla Seawrack seems Seven American Nights Severian sexual Shadow children Short Sun Silk someone story Sun series Suzanne Delage symbolic talking Tartaros tells Terzo there's tion told Typhon Urth Veil's Hypothesis Victor Weer werewolf who's Whorl Windcloud Wolfe’s woman word
Popular passages
Page 7 - I'm afraid you've been led astray by that word perfectly. Dr. Veil, I'm certain, meant to use it loosely rather than as precisely as you seem to think. The imitation could hardly have been exact, since human beings don't possess that talent and to imitate them perfectly the abos would have to lose it." "Couldn't they?" "My dear child, abilities of every sort must evolve. And when they do they must be utilized or they atrophy. If the abos had been able to mimic so well as to lose the power to do so...
Page 4 - ... and the crippled monkey on my father's shoulder pressing itself against his hawk face, with the black scarf and scarlet dressing gown beneath and the rows and rows of shabby books and notebooks behind them, and the sick-sweet smell of formaldehyde coming from the laboratory beyond the sliding mirror. I do not remember what he said or whether it had been I or another who had knocked, but I do recall that after the door had closed, a woman in pink whom I thought very pretty stooped to bring her...