The Shadow of the Torturer: A Review

Gene Wolfe and the New Sun series appears on a lot of must-read lists. so I got around to reading the first book. I did read this in conjunction with a Goodreads science-fiction and fantasy book club. The responses to The Shadow of the Torturer fell into two camps, broadly speaking.

I fell into the "enjoyed it camp." The book is not an easy read. Why? Wolfe writes in a postmodern vein, which is a way of saying that if you are seeking clarity in plot, characters, and motivations, you won't find it here. That is not saying Wolfe does not provide a plot and whatnot, but he constantly undermines all of it by wordplay, ambiguity, and confusion. Instead, you constantly question yourself, what you know because--at least for me--the essential question of postmodernism is can you anything truly. So the language subverts what we can know, and Wolfe uses a plethora of antique words: carnifex, amphitryon, gyoll, noyade, and on and on. If you don't like using a dictionary (and an excellent dictionary) this book may not be of interest to you. As a part of that, the appendix promotes a postmodern reading of this book. You begin the novel and, if you're like me, pulling out the dictionary to check meanings on many out-of-date terms. The story adds layers upon layers and never allows you to have a settled perception. Then comes the appendix, which throws another layer on it. The "translator" of Severian's tale found proximate words or, in the case of Latin terms, crafted something for unknown words. In other words, a lot of the words you've been hanging onto to allow for comprehension, Wolfe pretty much blows up. What you thought you knew may not be what you thought you knew. Though it could be still.

Sometimes even the characters seem confused by the terminology or events. All of this is subtly told. Plot: Severian, a journeyman in the guild of torturers, is exiled from the city Nessus for a crime against the guild. By the end of the novel, Severian has encountered a number of characters and some exploits, and arrives at a giant wall and gate without much in between--yet it's a hefty 600 some pages (ebook).

Wolfe is a masterful writer with a stunning grasp of English and the multiplicity of meanings (historical and popular) that words have, a way reminiscent of Vladimir Nabokov (a writer I greatly admire). This is a novel that will stand up to multiple readings because the smallest of details, the smallest of perceptions of not only the reader but the characters open up entirely new avenues of meaning. A highly recommended novel.