Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun: A Chapter Guide (Sirius Fiction Chapter Guides)

Maybe I set my expectations too high but from the description of this book I expected something that might not be on the level of Cambridge U. Press's "Landmarks of World Literature" series but might at least rise to the level of Sparks Notes or Cliff Notes. Instead this appears to be one reader's personal reading notes journal, full of underdeveloped thoughts, incorrect notes, short-hand, and a lack of coherent direction. I cannot say if the rest of the book is any more useful than the first part covering "Shadow" because I set the book aside in frustration before I ever got past Andre-Driussi's "Shadow" chapter. The problems are at least three:1. A-D does not really provide plot summaries or anything of the sort for each chapter. Instead he just mentions one or two points that he found interesting about the chapter, followed by lengthy descriptions of other people's books that A-D has read that may have vaguely similar plots, settings, or scenes and a point of trivia (often false).2. A-D's level of interpretive analysis is shockingly shallow. Through much of the early part of his "Shadow" notes he constantly wants to draw attention to what he sees as deeply meaningful parallels between scenes in Shadow and Dickens' Great Expectations, without any broader discussion about why he thinks the connection is meaningful or relevant (or even convincing to other readers). I found this to be tedious and maddening. I read Great Expectations in high school. I have read Shadow. And I honestly did not once find myself saying while reading Shadow "wow this book really has a 'Great Expectations' vibe." Even more absurd is A-D's first "Shadow is like X book..." comment, claiming that he sees some deeply meaningful similarity between the first chapter of Shadow and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Another absurdity: A-D tries to claim that Wolfe had in mind and wants us to have in mind the relationship between the narrator in Proust and the lover Albertine - especially in The Captive - when we read about Severin's relationship with his prisoner Thecla. I have read Proust. And the connection seems tenuous, pointless, and vapid. As if intelligent reading just consisted of compiling random lines and links between the book at hand and other books the reader has read. That is a very banal approach to reading and an even more banal approach to anything that might try to pass as "interpretation".3. The third problem is that A-D is simply wrong on many trivial factual claims he makes. For example, in his notes to Ch. 6 of Shadow he notes that "Ultan recalls rosemary" and notes that rosemary means "remembrance". Rosemary comes from the Latin name for the herb: "ros marinus" which means "dew of the sea." Even English speakers ought to recognize that the "marinus" part probably has something to do with the sea ("marine," "maritime," etc). I don't know what kind of dictionary A-D is using, but I am certain that the word "rosemary" does NOT mean "remembrance" and therefore whatever greater point A-D was trying to point us to about Ultan or about Chapter 6 or about the broader book falls apart to the extent he thinks the allusion to "remembrance" in the mention of rosemary is proof of that point. And this is not the only example, just an illustrative one. There are numerous trivial inaccuracies that could be fact-checked with ease through an Internet search.Overall this book was a waste of time and a waste of money. My advice: save your money, make the effort to grind through the books, keeping your own reading journal if you think it helpful, and look elsewhere for further clarification. My suggestion for a good starting point is Peter Wright's brilliant 2002 book review "Mapping a Masterwork: A Critical Review of Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun" which can readily be found in the public domain for free on the Internet. Wright makes a very intelligent case for what he thinks is really "going on" in the Book of the New Sun. Much of what he wrote in that book review I found very compelling if not convincing.

Two caveats: First, I have read _The Book of the New Sun_ (tBotNS) several times. Second, I am mildly acquainted with Mr. Andre-Driussi, but I don't think that will affect my review tremendously.Michael Andre-Driussi is the author of several previous books on Wolfe, and in particular of the _Lexicon Urthus_, a fundamental secondary text in Lupine studies. That book explicates most of the obscure words and names of tBotNS, as well as providing information geographical, thematic, interpretive (limited), and so on._This_ book is more limited in its ambitions. It is intended as a companion for a (first time?) reader of tBotNS who finds it challenging even to figure out, in places, what exactly is happening in the text. Andre-Driussi summarizes each chapter in a paragraph or three - carefully avoiding major spoilers in case the reader consults this book first - and provides some commentary on most of them, including topics like echoes from other points in the text, references (some a little iffy to my mind) to the work of other writers (Proust features heavily!), animal and floral references, including the "language of flowers", and - my favorite - evidence that either (a) the protagonist's memory isn't as perfect as he says it is, (b) the protagonist lies, or (c) ... something else.It does the same things, also, for the sequel (_The Urth of the New Sun_) and for several short stories Wolfe wrote which are also set on Urth.It does marvelously what it sets out to do. I would recommend it highly to anyone who struggles with tBotNS, which can be a rather puzzling book in places, and to anyone who wants some idea of what all the fuss is all about but isn't sure whether he or she wants to actually read it.

With a growing number of communities and resources available for decoding Gene Wolfe's novels, did we really need another guide to the Book of the New Sun? YES!I haven't encountered much here that wasn't covered on Alzabo Soup or on r/genewolfe, but it's SOOoo nice to have it all systematically organized and provided in shorthand form. This book doesn't compete with Alzabo as entertainment and fun theories, but it does comprehensively outline the plot synopsis, symbolism, mythological references, literary influences, mysteries, etc. And it's refreshing to cover the scope of an entire book in one hour, rather than the scope of a single chapter as you would in a podcast.My only complaint is the author's stated intention of not providing spoilers. Not only is that impossible as spoilers couldn't be avoided, but that's exactly why fans purchase books like these. Fortunately, he does spoil everything enough to provide value for the purchase. (Heck, in chapter 3 he reveals the true nature of the Matachin Tower).I would love to see the same treatment for Long Sun, Short Sun, Wizard Knight, Soldier of the Mist, etc. Great work!Essential for fans. Buy it now.

A fascinating summary of The Book of the New Sun and it's related materials that will give me a lot to think about when next I read it.

Fantastic and I would say essential knowledge for first time readers.