1. A few Good Friday thoughts on a great writer who died this week, Gene Wolfe. Never read Gene Wolfe? You're still in his debt if you've ever enjoyed Pringles stacked potato chips. He helped invent those.
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4. Korea, so forgotten in popular memory, was horrific beyond belief. 20% of the North Korean population was killed, making it one of the most lethal wars in human history. Wolfe was in the thick of battle witnessing some fearful reprisals.
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5. Wolfe came back from Korea, in his own words, "a mess" -- prone to nightmares and quick to drop to the floor when he heard a load noise. Much of his work is about the hidden trauma of war, hidden because society doesn't want to talk about.
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6. Can those who have committed horrific acts be redeemed? That's the question The Book of the New Sun, whose narrator is a torturer, takes up. It provides no easy answers.
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7. The philosophical questions Wolfe took up are only interesting, of course, because of his literary prowess. He was an amazing writer, who somehow synthesized the plots of pulp fiction (aliens & man-apes) with a Proustian tact & sensitivity. Le Guin called him "our Melville."
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8. Wolfe's day job for many years was as an engineer for Proctor and Gambles, where he helped develop the Pringle's stacked chip. Amazingly, he also looked like Mr. Pringle.pic.twitter.com/sASRhWo9LW
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9. Anyways, here are my deeper reflections on the life and work of Gene Wolfe (RIP). Perhaps of interest to anyone who cares about Catholicism and/or science fiction.
@ebruenig@michaelbd@DouthatNYT@MichaelSwanwick@neilhimself@pnh@EllenDatlowhttps://newrepublic.com/article/153615/gene-wolfe-proust-science-fiction …Show this thread
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