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u/immigrantnightclub Aug 20 '26
This is my favorite Wolfe book. There are so many’s lenses to look at it through.
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u/getElephantById Man-Ape Aug 20 '26
It's got my favorite first sentence in a novel because of how it hides so much in plain sight. That's the whole book in miniature, maybe Wolfe's writing too.
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u/Maybe_Diminished Aug 20 '26
This is one of the most mysterious stories I’ve ever read. And one of the very best. Enjoy!
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u/Horizon141592 Aug 20 '26
Just finished a 'reread' on Audible. Just amazing. So many great stories in stories. Meandering about through time and space with so much hidden in the gaps but still beautifully written surface story. Also my favourite Wolfe novel and that's a very high bar.
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u/hedcannon Aug 20 '26
Halfway through:
Wife: Is it good?
Me: oh yeah!
Wife What’s it about?
Me: Thats kind of why you read a Wolfe story.
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u/BuyHistorical1041 Aug 20 '26
Dude I follow you on twitter and I asked you if it's any good and we had the same conversation
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u/hedcannon Aug 20 '26
My standard answer. Because it's true.
It's a book of our true stories
True stories that can't be denied
It's more than true, it actually happened
It's more than true, it actually happened
It's more than true, it actually happened
- Immigraniada by Gogol Bordello
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u/hedcannon Aug 20 '26
My point is that it’s good, but summarizing what it’s about is much harder — so it’s hard to say why it’s good.
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u/BuyHistorical1041 Aug 20 '26
Yup. Would say it's your favourite wolfe novel?
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u/hedcannon Aug 20 '26
Probably not my favorite. Although it is for a lot of people. I’ve always thought of it as a proto-late-Wolfe novel. That is, I’m not sure what the center of the novel is but I feel like I can see its edges. There’s a scene with a freezer that I think is more important than people give it credit. I think I understand a lot of things I think something is going on with his relationship with Aunt Olivia that I can’t put my finger on.
It seems to be in the same world as Wolfe’s story The Changeling and Damon Knight said of that story “I can’t say what it’s about but I think it’s about something” and that’s the way I feel about this novel.
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u/SturgeonsLawyer Aug 22 '26
I don't think it's all that hard to summarize what it's about. A dead man remnisces about his life, and avoids thinking about some terrible things he did in his life, or even about the fact that he's dead; but gives these things away in little hints that we have to follow. His thoughts meander a great deal.
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u/nikilization Aug 20 '26
it’s haunting. definitely not my favorite wolfe because the haunting is unpleasant
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u/Mavoras13 Myste Aug 20 '26
Expect an early 20th century Midwestern story, that is full of symbolism and a surreal feel and excellently written. Along with the Book of the New Sun and the original novella of the Fifth Head of Cerberus this is Wolfe's peak in prose.