Wolfe has published more than twenty-five novels and more than fifty
stories, and has won some of science fiction and fantasy’s most
prestigious awards. But he has rarely, if ever, been considered fully
within the larger context of literature. His books contain all of the
nasty genre tropes—space travel, robots, even dragons—and he hasn’t
crossed into the mainstream on the strength of a TV or movie adaptation.
Wolfe himself sees the trappings of science fiction and fantasy, the
spaceships and so on, as simply “a sketchy outline of the things that
can be done.” But even within fantasy fandom, Wolfe’s work presents
difficulties. His science fiction is neither operatic nor scientifically
accurate; his fantasy works are not full of clanging swords and
wizardly knowledge.
Photograph by Matheiu Bourgois/AP
ABOUT F’ING TIME!
The Real World discovers Gene Wolfe.
It’s because he’s too smart. Reading Gene Wolfe is like standing on the precipice looking down into a strange hidden fairie world. You can pace around and see everything that’s happening–but you can’t quite get in, and you’re secretly kind of glad because you’re a little afraid to belong completely to that world. Even standing on the boundary, it can reach you enough to mark you for life.
