donn (02/14/83)
References: sri-unix.5164 sri-unix.5165
I disagree and agree strongly with Stuart.
I enthusiastically recommend THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN. Everyone I know
who has read the whole series has liked it. I could be more persuasive
by saying that I know only one person in my immediate circle of friends
who was only able to finish THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER (he went back to
reading mystery novels...). I knew one person who said he didn't like
Wolfe because he hadn't enjoyed "The Island of Doctor Death and Other
Stories" and on that basis wasn't going to read any more by him; but I
caught him later with his own copy of SHADOW in paperback and it turned
out he was desperate for more and ended up borrowing CLAW and SWORD
from me. As for Wolfe's "dense" style (I think "baroque" might be a
better word), I like it. I also like Avram Davidson... talk about
baroque! You can make the same charge against J. R. R. Tolkien, for
that matter. It's basically a question of taste and it's too bad that
Stuart didn't like the book.
I agree with Stuart that THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH and
MARTIAN TIME-SLIP are worth reading; other Philip Dick books I can
recommend are EYE IN THE SKY, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE and UBIK.
(UBIK is the novel where reality comes in aerosol spray cans.)
Donn Seeley UCSD Chemistry Dept. RRCF ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdchema!donn
(619) 452-4016 sdamos!donn@nprdc