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I deeply love the characters Wolfe has given us. The moral systems by which his characters conduct themselves have been a scaffold for my own when my parents fe

I deeply love the characters Wolfe has given us. The moral systems by which his characters conduct themselves have been a scaffold for my own when my parents fell short. It's writing that exceeds itself past the only sensual, becoming symbolic glories to remember continually as I live. I can't praise him enough. It's so odd to have as a tension an author of fiction staining me on one half and the Buddha's early teachings on the other. It's a tension I treasure. I have one criticism of him and it's a strong one -- I hate it because it has locked out just about every woman I've introduced to his corpus: his treatment of women. So very many of them: Chenille, the fire nymphs, just about every one Severian sleeps with save for dear Thecla, Chenille-as-Scylla, the prostitutes of Fifth Head, Jahi, Jolenta, Hyacinth, Jesus there must be a legion more I can't recall just now... So many of them are vampish, buxom women who are either put on a pedestal or written to be beauteous victims. That's not to say strong women don't exist in his books: there are a few but it's by and large the men who are written as whole people. One woman runs around for a few hundred pages stark naked with a flimsy premise as to why. If readers can repeatedly forgive him for these excesses, his writing can transform the way you see the world and the purpose of living in it. A small excerpt: "We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges."

wolfefan 6y ago
It is disappointing to see women locked out of Wolfe's books, but I wouldn't want to see him write in a critic's idea of a Strong Female either. Not everything has to be for everyone. In defense of the BotNS, I think that it's mostly lazy readers that think Severian is having his way with all these women - astute or second time readers will note that these women are manipulating Severian who is actually somewhat dim. (Consider Agia). But this is more likely to turn off female readers. In the context of Wolfe's treatment of women The Sorcerer's House becomes a favorite novel. It seems designed to bait that most common criticism. Here's an excerpt from a 3/5 review: "I'm not overwhelmed with the treatment of women in this book -- every woman wants to sleep with Our Hero, for example, and quickly opens up to him, and I don't see why. He's not charming, he's unsettling. But maybe that's because we see him through his own report of himself to his brother... I don't know. I'm not a fan, anyway. Even if it works for the character, I could have done with a female character who really stood out." This response is I think what Wolfe was going for. Baxter getting all the girls is a glaring clue hiding in plain sight. But even if it's in service of the novel it's normal to want to have a character for yourself and is a reasonable expectation of a fantasy novel. Fair enough. >"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." "The would-be sorcerer alone has faith in the efficacy of pure knowledge; rational people know that things act of themselves or not at all."

wolfefan 6y ago

It is disappointing to see women locked out of Wolfe's books, but I wouldn't want to see him write in a critic's idea of a Strong Female either. Not everything has to be for everyone. In defense of the BotNS, I think that it's mostly lazy readers that think Severian is having his way with all these women - astute or second time readers will note that these women are manipulating Severian who is actually somewhat dim. (Consider Agia). But this is more likely to turn off female readers. In the context of Wolfe's treatment of women The Sorcerer's House becomes a favorite novel. It seems designed to bait that most common criticism. Here's an excerpt from a 3/5 review: "I'm not overwhelmed with the treatment of women in this book -- every woman wants to sleep with Our Hero, for example, and quickly opens up to him, and I don't see why. He's not charming, he's unsettling. But maybe that's because we see him through his own report of himself to his brother... I don't know. I'm not a fan, anyway. Even if it works for the character, I could have done with a female character who really stood out." This response is I think what Wolfe was going for. Baxter getting all the girls is a glaring clue hiding in plain sight. But even if it's in service of the novel it's normal to want to have a character for yourself and is a reasonable expectation of a fantasy novel. Fair enough. >"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." "The would-be sorcerer alone has faith in the efficacy of pure knowledge; rational people know that things act of themselves or not at all."