The elephant in the room for Gene Wolfe books is obvious. Been there, read that (twice!), and with an itch on my shoulders I could not scratch no matter how hard I attempted to reach, the only method at my disposal to finally reach back and then some was to also go back into the man’s impressively long history of writing and start from the very beginning with his first novel, Peace, a book some say is unlike anything else he’s wrote and possibly unlike most anything out there. Did I bite off more than I can chew or are what is at one glance philosophical musings by an old man just the thing I, someone who pens reviews often accused of being philosophical musings, need to really make that itch go away?
Right off the bat, we get a book that’s deceptively complex. Musings of an old man, maybe, but as each chapter seems almost at random to jump across various point of views (Old man? Young man? Is he now a girl or did I misread something?) and places not to mention time periods, Peace at first is going to be a book that may make a cautious reader raise an eyebrow, wonder “what did I get myself into?” and consider putting it down…for good. But don’t! If you’re of the timid type who prefers stories that follow the well-trodden path, here’s one by a master even from day one that will challenge you and the result is worth the journey.
Drip, drip, drip something changes and only becomes all the noticeable as Peace runs its course. What can that be? The dialog! This is a spoiler-free review, don’t worry, but in a conversation-heavy book, something began to gnaw at me that only became apparent three-quarters in: these conversions are just too perfect! I don’t mean this in a “this was Gene Wolfe’s first book so he just can’t write good dialog” way, but rather, “they just really fit the odd vibe of this book” way. An easier to digest comparison for us moderns would be the dialog Edward Bloom took part in when visiting Spectre and having tea with its odd mayor and poet Norther Winslow. Odd, yes, but somehow it works.
Are the oddities the result of this—a confused old man and/or a child with a larger than life imagination? Or simply a bad editor not catching mistakes? Pay attention. Wolfe even as far back as Peace, knew what he was doing and echoing the afterword, you will be rewarded. That Peace may not be the more familiar ground of SF & Fantasy may turn away some readers who only expect that from the man is a given, but what we get here is something both Americana and perhaps “American Gothic”, a tale of a time long gone, hazy recollections, characters who may appear major fading in and out, love interests that suddenly pack up and leave, questionable decisions galore, riches and poverty, local fame, fortune on the horizon, and a lady with no arms (really). This one’s odd, but worth it.
5/5
by kobushi