{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/2524",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 2524,
    "subject": "Merry Xmas",
    "messages": 2,
    "voices": 2,
    "first": "2000-12-29T16:25:59+00:00",
    "last": "2001-01-01T23:38:45+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0030-0219@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "akt",
        "address": "akt at attglobal.net"
      },
      "date": "2000-12-29T16:25:59+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Merry Xmas",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Have to disagree with Wm. here. I don't think Steve should start\nwith -Peace-. That is not the sort of book that gets people fascinated\nwith Wolfe; it's the one they tackle when they are already hooked, and I\nthink it's rather off-putting to a beginner (I confess that I've never\nbeen much of a fan).. I strongly suggest 5HC as your starter, that you\nshould take your time with it, and then dip into the short stories in\nthe other books at random as they catch your attention. But 5HC is a\ntruly fascinating book that holds seeds of all the themes Wolfe would\nlater explore more thoroughly. Happy hunting! And Happy New Year!\n\n-alga"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0030-0220@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "William Ansley",
        "address": "wansley at warwick.net"
      },
      "date": "2001-01-01T23:38:45+00:00",
      "subject": "Re: (urth) Merry Xmas",
      "in_reply_to": "<urth-v0030-0219@digest.urth.net>",
      "reply_link": "subject",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "Have to disagree with Wm. here. I don't think Steve should start\nwith -Peace-. That is not the sort of book that gets people fascinated\nwith Wolfe; it's the one they tackle when they are already hooked, and I\nthink it's rather off-putting to a beginner (I confess that I've never\nbeen much of a fan).. I strongly suggest 5HC as your starter, that you\nshould take your time with it, and then dip into the short stories in\nthe other books at random as they catch your attention. But 5HC is a\ntruly fascinating book that holds seeds of all the themes Wolfe would\nlater explore more thoroughly. Happy hunting! And Happy New Year!\n\n-alga"
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "While this doesn't serve as an argument against following the \nestimable alga's advice, _Peace_ is the first book I read by Wolfe \nand it did get me hooked. It did and does continue to fascinate me \nand is still my favorite Wolfe novel. And, yes, I am a fan. 8->\n\nI think _Peace_ also contains seeds of all of the themes Wolfe uses \nin his later works, although they may be harder to spot. Then again \nany novel length (or greater) work by Wolfe is probably going to \ncontain all of his \"pet\" themes.\n\nBy all means start with _The Fifth Head of Cerberus_ if you don't \nstart with _Peace_. It is, in many ways, a more typical Wolfe novel, \nif such a phrase is not oxymoronic.\n\nObviously, both alga and I are expressing subjective opinions and \nyour experience is likely to differ,\n\nHappy reading."
        },
        {
          "kind": "sig",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "William Ansley"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}