You can check it out yourself at http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sci-fis-difficult-genius
The article becomes especially apt in light of the ongoing Hugo Wars.
One of the claims of the Sad Puppies has been that certain writers in our field have been wrongly overlooked when the rockets were being handed out. There is a certain amount of truth to that (please note, that unlike many on the other side, I am capable of conceding a point from time to time). We all know the names of the "overlooked writers" that the Puppies chose to champion.
I have my own list, very different from theirs. At the top of it is the name GENE WOLFE.
Gene Wolfe has never won a Hugo.
Nebulas, yes. World Fantasy Awards, yes. Locus Awards, BSFA Awards, Campbell Memorial Award (not to be confused with the Campbell New Writer award). Even the Rhysling Award for poetry, and something called the August Derleth Award. But never a Hugo. Eight nominations, zero wins.
I would rank Wolfe as one of the greatest SF and fantasy writers of the past half-century, right up there with Roger Zelazny and Ursula K. Le Guin. Yet he remains without a rocket.
The Hugo Awards are not perfect, no. No more than any other award. Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar. That did not mean that the Oscars were in the hands of some secret cabal. Hitchcock, by all reports, would have liked to have won, but he never let it bother him. He just kept on making movies, and Gene Wolfe just keeps on writing great books.
Will he get a Hugo some day? Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. His books will still be being read a hundred years from now. That's the "award" that matters most.
Gene Wolfe: one of the great ones. And a class act.
- Current Location:Santa Fe
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contemplative
Comments
His Wizard-Knight series was some of the best and most original fantasy in the last 50 years.
And if we can't get him a best novel, then hey, is there a statute of limitations on Cambell for best new author? He's always going to be new to some of us, after all.
Truly a he is a classy man oozing talent.
Edited at 2015-04-28 01:26 am (UTC)
(Actually, you may be right)
I have tried to spread the word about Wolfe for a long time, and I find that actually exploring some of his depth helps people appreciate him. I have a few videos discussing him online and have written more than 350,000 words about him ...
On Wolfe part 1 https://youtu.be/VKw_xUI6fDE
Fifth Head https://youtu.be/esAjkChAy7M
Peace https://youtu.be/v_8cybujZjU
New Sun https://youtu.be/dR6XewCfSK0
Gender in Wolfe https://youtu.be/kYPIoyvmsMY
I want the instant household name recognition of Shakespeare, Joyce, or Dickens (or Martin for that matter) for Wolfe ...
I've been reading your blog for years, and it was your posts on Jack Vance that led me to read the Dying Earth novels. I'm really glad I did, as I would not have known what I was missing. There is some gorgeous prose in those books that rivals anything I've read in the classics. I also read his Lyonesse trilogy, which I enjoyed even more (was it an inspiration for your own A Song of Ice and Fire, I wonder?).
From there I searched out similar authors, and that is how I found Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. I was blown away by it. Reading it was the first time I realized the heights that speculative fiction could achieve. I think the only reason it isn't more popular is that it is an extremely challenging read. It isn't called the 'Ulysses' of science fiction for nothing.
So thanks Mr. Martin, for introducing me to two great writers.
P.S. The rich, witty dialogue in Vance's Cugel books would be a perfect fit for HBO. Just sayin'.
Until about five years ago, I would not have expected to read a profile of Gene Wolfe, or an article about Doctor Who, in the magazine. The only coverage of science fiction literature or media at all would have been the occasional condescending film review. Now the New Yorker runs articles that take writers like Wolfe seriously. So, while it's true that Gene Wolfe isn't getting nominated for the Pulitzer or the American Book Award, the very existence of this article shows the increasing interest in, and acceptance of, sf & f in the mainstream.