Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the story:


Redbeard by Gene Wolfe

This story is part of the The Best of Gene Wolfe: A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction group collection discussion.

★1/2

Synopsis
A mass murderer's victims weren't found because his wife respected his privacy in form of a special room in the basement.

Review
I didn't like this straightforward story at all. Blame shifting seems to be the point - an inversion of French folktale Bluebeard.

The narrator's voice is actually the opposite of the authorial position - the "old" way of doing things, were the people responsible were blamed, is better ... see the surrounding metaphor of the new houses with old trees as the old people and the dilapadated unlivable houses with new trees at the start and end of the story.

Andreas wrote: "★1/2


Review
I didn't like this straightforward story at all. Bla..."

I think it was more about the wife being raised with a very narrow worldview and her inability to comprehend anything outside of her upbringing. I have a good friend who grew up in a town of about 500. Even though she lived and worked in a large city as an adult, the small town always influenced her thinking. Change is harder and the world is more incomprehensible.

I liked the story.

Andreas wrote: "I didn't like this straightforward story at all...."

It wasn't that it was straightforward that bothered me, it was that it seems rather dull & pointless. Certainly none of the characters in the conversational but dry retelling of a series of murders were interesting. Nor did the final revelation add anything to it. Just seemed a boring story to me. (Too bad, because it's also one of the few where I understood the plot! :)