|
I've been working my way through TBotNS and just got to Citadel. When I first started reading the language was definitely off-putting, in the "this guy likes his words way too much" sort of way, but after a while you really get into the flow of it. It's hypnotic; after a while, I notice my inner monologue shaping itself after Wolfe's writing style. And while the story can be boiled down to something pretty simplistic, at least for the first half of the book, there are so many fascinating little asides and moments of introspection that the book is transformed into something unique. For instance, I bookmarked this passage when I was reading Sword. Severian is coming down out of the mountain, but more than just describing the scenery, Wolfe goes even further.Sword posted:Just as I had not known my weakness, until I saw the boats and the rounded curves of the thatched roofs of the village I had not known how solitary I had been since the boy died. It was more that mere loneliness, I think. I have never had much need for companionship, unless it was the companionship of someone I could call a friend. Certainly I have seldom wished the conversation of strangers or the light of strange faces. I believe rather that when I was alone I felt I had in some fashion lost my individuality; to the thrush and the rabbit I had been not Severian, but Man. The many people who like to be utterly alone in a wilderness, do so, I believe, because they enjoy playing that part. But I wanted to be a particular person again, and so I sought the mirror of other persons, which would show me that I was not as they were. As an aside, for some reason this novel reminds me of Dhalgren, but I haven't read that in a long time so can't give many reasons for that. Something about the atmosphere seems familiar.
|
#
¿
May 4, 2012 05:45
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 00:04 |
|