Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
3.5 Stars.
This book, which I believe was Wolfe's first, is a series of three novellas that all take place on the same alien worlds. It's my first experience reading Wolfe, and I had to read the first two novellas twice. Why? Well, on a per-word basis, they're easy enough to understand, and the sentences are easy to get through. But there are oddities: characters who shift identities, language that seems unable to properly convey the world it tries to express, and puzzles hidden in the text. At times, the puzzles seem overly clever - discussions of dream scenes lead to 'correct' explanations that Wolfe hopes you pick up on. But these don't often get in the way of my enjoyment; I think there are well-developed characters and themes that are fleshed out well.
It's also worth mentioning style, because Wolfe is a virtuoso. It's almost difficult to believe that the first and second novella are by the same author. The book also uses quite a few techniques of modernism and postmodernism. The stories seem to explore the deep ambiguity of characters and the ways that identity can change. The planets in the book's world feature aboriginal people whose identities have mixed so thoroughly with human colonists that it's unclear whether the aboriginals were wiped out or not.
Ultimately, this was a dense, thoughtful, and morose book that I mostly enjoyed.
Update: re-read the final story, so now I've read every story twice. Mostly the same impressions as before. Wolfe's 'puzzles' still loom large for me: I wish there weren't so many; I wish understanding the book didn't rely so heavily on picking up on the solutions he wanted you to make. I do like the book slightly less because I didn't understand it all, and I think too much of its complexity detracts from book rather than adds to it. I suppose this is more a case of needing to vent at the parts of the book that I found frustrating than actually strongly disliking it.
This book, which I believe was Wolfe's first, is a series of three novellas that all take place on the same alien worlds. It's my first experience reading Wolfe, and I had to read the first two novellas twice. Why? Well, on a per-word basis, they're easy enough to understand, and the sentences are easy to get through. But there are oddities: characters who shift identities, language that seems unable to properly convey the world it tries to express, and puzzles hidden in the text. At times, the puzzles seem overly clever - discussions of dream scenes lead to 'correct' explanations that Wolfe hopes you pick up on. But these don't often get in the way of my enjoyment; I think there are well-developed characters and themes that are fleshed out well.
It's also worth mentioning style, because Wolfe is a virtuoso. It's almost difficult to believe that the first and second novella are by the same author. The book also uses quite a few techniques of modernism and postmodernism. The stories seem to explore the deep ambiguity of characters and the ways that identity can change. The planets in the book's world feature aboriginal people whose identities have mixed so thoroughly with human colonists that it's unclear whether the aboriginals were wiped out or not.
Ultimately, this was a dense, thoughtful, and morose book that I mostly enjoyed.
Update: re-read the final story, so now I've read every story twice. Mostly the same impressions as before. Wolfe's 'puzzles' still loom large for me: I wish there weren't so many; I wish understanding the book didn't rely so heavily on picking up on the solutions he wanted you to make. I do like the book slightly less because I didn't understand it all, and I think too much of its complexity detracts from book rather than adds to it. I suppose this is more a case of needing to vent at the parts of the book that I found frustrating than actually strongly disliking it.
81st book of 2024.
My friend and fellow-booklover, J, who once studied under Abdulrazak Gurnah, recommended me this book. I've owned a few Gene Wolfe novels over the years but never read him. He told me this was a good starting place. J is completely disillusioned from academia (he was once a lecturer himself) because of the elitism and narrowmindedness he found in the field. He tried for a long time to write papers and get Wolfe's name considered seriously among his peers, but to no avail. J promised me this book is complex. He even promised a near-on 'Proustian' beginning. I could not refuse.
And for 220 pages or so, it is insanely complex. The beginning is Proustian, or at least nods its head to the Frenchman, 'When I was a boy my brother David and I had to go to bed early whether we were sleepy or not', and throughout the other novellas I was reminded of countless other books, Darkness at Noon, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . . . The three novellas collected as The Fifth Head of Cerberus slowly unravel a chilling plot about colonialism. Did the colonisers who go to Saint Anne kill all the aliens there (the shapeshifting abos) or did, as some people believe, the abos kill the colonisers and assume their forms and identities? Even at the end, I was left with so many questions and wanted to begin the text again. The most literary science-fiction I've read in a while.
My friend and fellow-booklover, J, who once studied under Abdulrazak Gurnah, recommended me this book. I've owned a few Gene Wolfe novels over the years but never read him. He told me this was a good starting place. J is completely disillusioned from academia (he was once a lecturer himself) because of the elitism and narrowmindedness he found in the field. He tried for a long time to write papers and get Wolfe's name considered seriously among his peers, but to no avail. J promised me this book is complex. He even promised a near-on 'Proustian' beginning. I could not refuse.
And for 220 pages or so, it is insanely complex. The beginning is Proustian, or at least nods its head to the Frenchman, 'When I was a boy my brother David and I had to go to bed early whether we were sleepy or not', and throughout the other novellas I was reminded of countless other books, Darkness at Noon, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . . . The three novellas collected as The Fifth Head of Cerberus slowly unravel a chilling plot about colonialism. Did the colonisers who go to Saint Anne kill all the aliens there (the shapeshifting abos) or did, as some people believe, the abos kill the colonisers and assume their forms and identities? Even at the end, I was left with so many questions and wanted to begin the text again. The most literary science-fiction I've read in a while.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Many times on Goodreads I've been baffled by the sheer number of 5 star reviews for a book, and this is no exception. These three loosely connected stories left me unsatisfied as none of them seemed to really have a point. Likethe final story itself, this seems to be a bunch of loose notes, trying to explain an alien culture, rather than any kind of coherent story.
I have to read this again to make better sense of it.
As Neil Gaiman commented, "Reading Gene Wolfe is dangerous work. It's a knife-throwing act, and like all good knife-throwing acts, you may lose fingers, toes, earlobes or eyes in the process."
Eek!
As Neil Gaiman commented, "Reading Gene Wolfe is dangerous work. It's a knife-throwing act, and like all good knife-throwing acts, you may lose fingers, toes, earlobes or eyes in the process."
Eek!
I might have to read this five times to fully wrap my head around it, but don't doubt I'll find the dogged determination to do so.
I gave it four stars. But it is still cooking my brain and I've been reading analyses of the book online. I know I'm going to read it again, so it gets five stars now.
"I have written to disclose myself to myself, and I am writing now because I will, I know, sometime read what I am now writing and wonder. Perhaps by the time I do, I will have solved the mystery of myself; or perhaps I will no longer care to know the solution."
-Number Five
My first Gene Wolfe. All 3 are great stories, "A Story" by Marsch being the weakest, but serving as a key in connecting them all together.
I was debating whether I should give this 4 or 5. After truly thinking about the novellas, the connections and then reading the afterword in my copy of the book (written by Pamela Sargent), I have to agree: this is a major work of fiction.
Wonderful.
-Number Five
My first Gene Wolfe. All 3 are great stories, "A Story" by Marsch being the weakest, but serving as a key in connecting them all together.
I was debating whether I should give this 4 or 5. After truly thinking about the novellas, the connections and then reading the afterword in my copy of the book (written by Pamela Sargent), I have to agree: this is a major work of fiction.
Wonderful.
Well, I'll be honest and say I have zero idea what this set of three short stories is about. I get that there are tons of subtexts going on here, about colonialism, identity and self-identity, slavery, the line between childhood and adulthood, etc. But what seems to be sorely lacking is any actual primary text. Where is the story? I quickly became frustrated, because while the writing is fine (if a little cold and disinterested), there is truly no plot. And while I like an abstract conundrum as much as the next reader (?!), it is simply not enough to present me with a "story" in the form of a puzzle. This is precisely the kind of writing I don't like because there is the implication that if I as the reader don't "get it" then the fault must be my own lack of understanding or inability to grasp subtlety. Baloney! If you want me to fathom the deep meaning in your writing, then be clear in your writing.
I have heard the term "picturesque" attributed to Gene Wolfe's writing multiple times recently - first from the "Shelved by Genre" podcast with respect to "Shadow of the Torturer", and most recently by the lovely Ursula K. Le Guin regarding "The Fifth Head of Cerberus." I now believe that no other term can best describe Wolfe's writing, and that is a big part of why I will continually visit his work.
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" includes three novellas that are connected in...ways. I enjoyed all three, and the ways in which they're connected. Wolfe wrote them all beautifully and crafted this weird, awful world to explore mature themes. It doesn't all land, and there are some confusing bits, but that comes with the picturesque.
"The Fifth Head of Cerberus" includes three novellas that are connected in...ways. I enjoyed all three, and the ways in which they're connected. Wolfe wrote them all beautifully and crafted this weird, awful world to explore mature themes. It doesn't all land, and there are some confusing bits, but that comes with the picturesque.