The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction

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This is the discussion hub for our Short Story collection discussion of...


The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction by Gene Wolfe

Please comment of each individual story in it's own topic in the Best of Gene Wolfe discussion folder. (Links to each story's topic in the Table of Content below.) You can use this topic for general discussions of the anthology as a whole or the author.

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The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction

Table of Content

"The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Toy Theater" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Beech Hill" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Recording" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Hour of Trust" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Death of Dr. Island" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"La Befana" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Forlesen" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Westwind" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Hero as Werwolf" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Straw" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Eyeflash Miracles" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Seven American Nights" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Detective of Dreams" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Kevin Malone" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The God and His Man" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"On the Train" [Redwood Coast Roamer] ( -> DISCUSSION )
"From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Death of the Island Doctor" [Archipelago] ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Redbeard" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Boy Who Hooked the Sun" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Parkroads—A Review" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Game in the Pope's Head" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"And When They Appear" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Bed and Breakfast" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Petting Zoo" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"The Tree Is My Hat" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?" ( -> DISCUSSION )
"A Cabin on the Coast" ( -> DISCUSSION )

All stories by Gene Wolfe

[[deleted user]]

Only one story in this collection is available to read on-line for free, at Baen:

The Detective of Dreams

You can also read the first two stories, "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" and "The Toy Theater" by downloading Amazon's free sample of the collection.

[Sarah]

Just as a general comment, I thought this was a wonderful collection.

To me, most of the stories have a Twilight Zone vibe, existing in vague borderlands between reality and fantasy. I know I will be reading many of them again.

[Andreas]

I came to love Gene Wolfe back in the 80s, reading his Book of the New Sun series. To be honest, I'm a bit of a fanboy, so don't expect overcritical reviews from me.

Gene Wolfe is never a leisurely read. There are always lots of riddles and puns in his works that one often isn't able to figure out. At least I don't. Reading a story the first time is only half the fun and re-reading to resolve the puzzles is the other half. In general I seek help at the WolfeWiki

Wolfe is not only about riddles but also about a stunning language and interesting topics like identity, humanity, and memory.

The collection contains some great works and some lesser important ones. I'd recommend starting with "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" or "The Death of Dr. Island" (not to be confused with the start of the collection, "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories").

It's a long while ago that I've read the stories and as I re-read, I'll write some reviews.

[Andreas]

Which stories are the most important ones?
Are there good stories missing?

To answer the first, I'd say one should read:
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" (1972),
"The Death of Dr. Island" (1973),
"Forlesen" (1974),
"The Hero as Werewolf" (1975),
"The Eyeflash Miracles" (1976),
"Seven American Nights" (1978),
"The Detective of Dreams" (1980),
"A Cabin on the Coast" (1981), and
"The Tree Is My Hat" (1999).

I'd have loved to see a couple of additional stories included in this volume:
"'A Story,' by John V. Marsch" (1972),
"Tracking Song" (1975),
"The Doctor of Death Island" (1978),
"The Ziggurat" (1995),
"Golden City Far" (2005), and
"Memorare" (2007)

[[deleted user]]

Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun makes Barnes & Noble's list of 5 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books That Can Never Be Filmed

[Wastrel]

Andreas wrote: "I came to love Gene Wolfe back in the 80s, reading his Book of the New Sun series. To be honest, I'm a bit of a fanboy, so don't expect overcritical reviews from me.

Gene Wolfe is never a leisure..."

I wouldn't necessarily recommend "The Death of Doctor Island" as a first story... just because I was reading "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories", got to that story... and haven't been back.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great short story, by a long way his best that I've read so far. But it also left me somewhat traumatised and feeling really... not friendly toward the author. Thinking about it, still feeling a bit angry about that story!

Which, of course, shows how effective it was. Great story, very admirable. But... not something that made me want to read on. Punch Gene Wolfe, possibly, but not so much read on. [Though I will, eventually]

[Andreas]

Wastrel, that sounds similar to G33z3r's experience - although those stories are definetely not horror stories, they are tough.

Fifth Head of Cerberus is a bit similar in that regard, talking of an abused child.

It sounds, like Gene Wolfe's best short works are around that topic. There are funnier, easier ones like "Toy Theatre", but I didn't find them playing in the same league.

[Phil]

I would like a little help with Gene Wolfe. I read the first two The Book of the New Sun books and stopped because I felt like there was just too much I was missing. Basically, I didn't feel smart enough to keep going. The other time I remember feeling this way was in the second book of the Viriconium series. I pushed through that and got practically nothing form it- just a sense that it was dreamlike nonsense with very little in the way of plot and no memorable characters after the Iron Dwarf exits.

So, what's the best way to read Gene Wolfe? Does he have some kind of central theme, philosophy, perspective, or concept that drives his storytelling? Is it all a metaphor for a certain group of Greek myths? Do I need to go study Carl Jung for this to make sense?

[Andreas]

Phil wrote: "So, what's the best way to read Gene Wolfe? Does he have some kind of central theme, philosophy, perspective, or concept that drives his storytelling? Is it all a metaphor for a certain group of Greek myths? Do I need to go study Carl Jung for this to make sense?"

Deciphering Wolfe's narrative game is half the fun and double rewarding. If you don't like those puzzles, the story is just plain and creative. There is always the unreliable narrator, in this case Severian telling it from his own perspective.

I don't know if this helps you a lot but I can understand your position.
I liked two deeper reviews which might help better:
http://ultan.org.uk/review-botns/
http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-a...

There are lots of others but in the end: If battling the text isn't rewarding enough for you, switch to other authors. Because it is not the book you have to fit for but the other way round.

[Phil]

Andreas wrote: "Phil wrote: "So, what's the best way to read Gene Wolfe? Does he have some kind of central theme, philosophy, perspective, or concept that drives his storytelling? Is it all a metaphor for a certai..."

Thanks for the links. I really want to try Wolfe again. I think of myself as a pretty cerebral reader, and I'm not accustomed to feeling lost in a book. Maybe I should revisit the Llatro books first- I liked the first one, and I think I "got" it more because it was so tied in to Greek mythology.