The Shadow of the Torturer

Posted on 24 September 2018 by Gene Wolfe

The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four volume series, The Book of the New Sun It is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession showing mercy toward his victim and follows his subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus. New Download The Shadow of the Torturer [ Author ] Gene Wolfe [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr Wolfe has an almost legendary status amongst fellow authors Gaiman called him a ferocious intellect , Swanwick said he s the greatest writer in the English language alive today , and Disch called this series a tetralogy of couth, intelligence, and suavity.You can rarely trust the popular market to single out good authors, but you d think it might be safe to listen to the opinions of other writers especially an assemblage of Nebula and Hugo winners in their own right I will give his fans Wolfe has an almost legendary status amongst fellow authors Gaiman called him a ferocious intellect , Swanwick said he s the greatest writer in the English language alive today , and Disch called this series a tetralogy of couth, intelligence, and suavity.You can rarely trust the popular market to single out good authors, but you d think it might be safe to listen to the opinions of other writers especially an assemblage of Nebula and Hugo winners in their own right I will give his fans one concession Wolfe is an author who defies expectations Unfortunately, I was expecting him to be remarkable and interesting.This book had been sitting on my shelf for months, along with other highly praised works I ve been looking forward to, but I bade my time, waiting for th...RIP Gene Wolfe, who died today.For 38 years I was under the belief that I had read this book and just couldn t remember much about it.I got it from my school library in 1980 I know that much.I am now sure that this is the first time I ve read the book and that back in 1980 I read maybe 10% of it, reaching the first horrific if rather dry and all thehorrible for that torture scene basically the only memory I have of the book I have always found torture, both in real life and in RIP Gene Wolfe, who died today.For 38 years I was under the belief that I had read this book and just couldn t remember much about it.I got it from my school library in 1980 I know that much.I am now sure that this is the first time I ve read the book and that back in 1980 I read maybe 10% of it, reaching the first horrific if rather dry and all thehorrible for that torture scene basically the only memory I have of the book I have always found torture, both in real life and in fiction, deeply disturbing I guess that I read this one scene and assumed that there would be manyin store the book is about a torturer after all It turns out that my assumption was wrong and there are nogruesome torture scenes....A dark jewel.Reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin, Robert Silverberg and Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe s 1980 high fantasy begins a four book series about Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers who shows mercy and is exiled as an executioner.And like most fantasies, it s about a lottoo Wolfe explores themes of honor, guild loyalty and resurrection rebirth This can also be seen as a religious allegory, though his tone is somber and the redemption is subtle and hidden in his intricate A dark jewel.Reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin, Robert Silverberg and Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe s 1980 high fantasy begins a four book series about Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers who shows mercy and is exiled as an exe...First off, the setting is awesome Secondly, there are sentences, paragraphs, and whole sections of this book that are gorgeously written Exquisitely crafted prose.The first half of the book is entirely enjoyable, and builds up a world Urth that is entirely unique among any fiction I ve come across The second half spends some time meandering There are enough mysteries here to keep me very interested in finishing the series, because I really need to know what s going on here It s First off, the setting is awesome Secondly, there are sentences, paragraphs, and whole sections of this book that are gorgeously written Exquisitel...The title of this book really turned me away from reading this book for decades However, it was selected as a club read so I decided to give it a try There are a few torture scenes and the violence is graphic but minimal Overall, it is a pseudo myth story, so the tone is dreamlike, and primarily a meditation on the pain of living as a human being rather than an adventure or coming of age story The language is beautiful, poetic however it s also a touch self conscious Whatever The author The title of this book really turned me away from reading this book for decades However, it was selected as a club read so I decided to give it a try There are a few torture scenes and the violence is graphic but minimal Overall, it is a pseudo myth story, so the tone is dreamlike, and primarily a meditation on the pain of living as a human being rather than an adventure or coming of age story The language is beautiful, poetic however it s also a touch self conscious Whatever The author deserves the kudos he was reaching for.I suggest reading and before reading this novel, but it isn t essential However, I think it will deepen your understanding of how clever the author was in his design of the plot and why he created the dreamy atmosphere and solemn tone, in my opinion This is a hero s journey of the Underworld, a place of death, pain and suffering, but Severian, the narrator and main character who is writing a journal about his past, is not quit...The first volume of The Book of the New Sun, The Shadow of the Torturer, is a traditional picaresque fantasy, in which a young man, going forth to seek his fortune, gains mentors, weapons, magic jewels, and companions along the way But this is a picaresque fantasy with a difference, for our hero Severian is no wide eyed country boy from the shire, but an apprentice torturer, thoroughly schooled in his trade He speaks of his young life as a thing long passed, and relates his adventures The first volume of The Book of the New Sun, The Shadow of the Torturer, is a traditional picaresque fantasy, in which a young man, going forth to seek his fortune, gains mentors, weapons, magic jewels, and companions along the way But this is a picaresque fantasy with a difference, for our hero Severian is no wide eyed country boy from the shire, but an apprentice torturer, thoroughly schooled in his trade He speaks of his young life as a thing long passed, and relates his adventures carefully, guardedly, like someone not completely trustworthy, someone re writing his own history The world he shows us, which at first seems charming... The Shadow of the Torturer is like a Preraphaelite canvas the ancient perishing world, painted in unbelievably vivid but at the same time sepulchral colours, is washed in the sanguine rays of a long fatal sundown.But Gene Wolfe limns his painting with words The necropolis has never seemed a city of death to me I know its purple roses which other people think so hideous shelter hundreds of small animals and birds The executions I have seen performed and have performed myself so often are no The Shadow of the Torturer is like a Preraphaelite canvas the ancient perishing world, painted in unbelievably vivid but at the same time sepulchral colours, is washed in the sanguine rays of a long fatal sundown.But Gene Wolfe limns his painting with words The necropolis has never seemed a city of death to me I know its purple roses which other people think so hideous shelter hu...I tried Fuck it.That was my original review, but not much to go on Then again, if I took up 200 pages with flowery words of why this booked suck, I d be doing the same thing the author of this piece of shit did.The Torture of the Shadower Flowery prose Yes Gene Wolfe has it He s a talented writer that can make a pretty sentence I was often impressed with his word usage and some of the sentences were really enjoyable to read.That said, you don t have to construct pretty sentences to impress I tried Fuck it.That was my original review, but not much to go on Then again, if I took up 200 pages with flowery words of why this booked suck, I d be doing the same thing the author of this piece of shit did.The Torture of the Shadower Flowery prose Yes Gene Wolfe has it He s a talented writer that can make a pretty sentence I was often impressed with his word usage and some of the sentences were really enjoyable to read.That said, you don t have to construct pretty sentences to impress me That won t last but a moment, gone by the time I ve moved to the next sentence But when ...There are certain books that can be considered life changing experiences Gene Wolfe is an author who has written one of those for me The Shadow of the Torturer may very well be my favorite fantasy book of all time if you pinned me down and forced me to give you an answer I first read it in my early twenties, and recently picked it up again because I wanted to visit the world of Urth again In many ways, The Shadow of the Torturer has everything that I look for in a great read awesome There are certain books that can be considered life changing experiences Gene Wolfe is an author who has written one of those for me The Shadow of the Torturer may very well be my favorite fantasy bo...I have no idea what to say about this book I don t even know what I thought of it.I ve heard that it s supposed to be difficult to read I disagree.I ve heard that the writing is outstandingly beautiful I disagree.And so ne...

English
24 September 2018

Gene Wolfe