Native American Heritage Month
A Goodreads user asked this question about The Book of the New Sun:
Is this one of those books that is great because that is what people are supposed to say, or is it in fact great based on it own merits?I find most classics fit that the category because people are sheep and don't want to appear as if they had "missed" the greatness of the book. I don't have the time to invest in a so-so book because people won't say it's crap.
Miles Johnson This book demands a lot of investment. I would say that as much as any book I've ever read it demands a rereading; it's meant to be reread, or even re…moreThis book demands a lot of investment. I would say that as much as any book I've ever read it demands a rereading; it's meant to be reread, or even researched. It's usually criticized of being cold and meandering, but that's also the spell of the book -- it's absolutely swollen with genre-bending omens and echoes of powers storming behind the fabric of our experience that never end but never reveal themselves. I like Ursula K. Le Guin's comment: "The groundnote of it all is human pain, so that this fantasy has the weight of vision." The book's most compelling fantasy/sci-fi element is the way experience is augmented, and this is furthermore an allegorical exploration of religious phenomenology, hemeneutics, on and on... There are aliens, time-travel, etc., but they're almost a footnote to the experience of body-snatching with which the book is preoccupied.(less)
flag
More questions about The Book of the New Sun…
Image for The Book of the New Sun
The Book of the New Sun
by Gene Wolfe
Rate this book
Clear rating
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more