{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/3871",
    "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": 3871,
    "subject": "Introduction and Questions",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "2003-03-03T03:48:54+00:00",
    "last": "2003-03-03T03:48:54+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0303-3000@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Che Monro",
        "address": "flirt at technologist.com"
      },
      "date": "2003-03-03T03:48:54+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) Introduction and Questions",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "1. Introduction\n\nI am new here. My name is Che Monro, you can find a picture and some \ndetails about me at http:\\\\www.chemonro.com .\n\nIn order to communicate successfully, it seems to me that it is necessary \nfor the question and answers and statements of a dialogue to be understood \nand to mean the same thing to both parties. Although I will admit that \nwhile unintentional mistakes in meaning can be funny and enjoyable, usually \nthey are a pain.\n\nTo this end I intend to give you some information about me so that you can \nformulate your responses in a way which you feel will be easy and simple \nfor me to understand, and which, I hope, will give me enjoyment and \ninterest. Alternatively you can use the information to formulate answers \nwhich will be deliberately incomprehensible and painful, I can't stop you \nfrom doing this, but I tend to ignore messages that I don't understand \nbecause I'm not receiving any advantage or enjoyment from them. My \napologies in advance if your conversation proves impossible for me, I \npromise to do my best.\n\nTherefore:\n\nI'm male, 32 from Australia, where I have lived all my life. I am neither a \ncrypto-mormon, a Chem or a being from either or any dimension. My \npersonality is quiet, respectful and peace seeking, with a wicked sense of \nhumor. I am mentally ill - I suffer from depression and anxiety, brought on \nby stress. My tendency both conscious and unconscious is to avoid stress \nand conflict at all costs. Peace, happiness and calm, and dark melancholia, \nthese are the air I breathe. Plus gently satirical humor.\n\nMy mother was raised Catholic, and I'm familiar with Christian philosophy. \nI've made some informal studies of Eastern religions. I don't know much \nabout the Aztec or South American cultures.\n\nAs a reader I'm both lazy and thoughtful. Lazy in that I don't put a great \ndeal of effort into unravelling details and puzzles, and thoughtful in that \nI obsess over connections and spiritual/symbolic links and unities. I \nprefer to read more for feeling than for \"pointless\" detail.\n\nThus, I'm not interested in the color of the ships of the Pelagic Argosy, \nor whether they were powered by rockets, light sails, or oars. I don't \nreally care how many alternate Severians were are in TBOTNS, or who's faces \nare seen where or in what mirror. Cunning little paradoxes and puzzles are \npretty, but I'm interested in the shades and feelings of the deep dankness \nbehind and between the pages of the book.\n\nFerinstance: I love Dorcas for her purity and innocence, and I love \nSeverian's love of her feel the pain of his faithfulness and faithlessness \nof his relationship to her. The way he saved her and was unable to save \nher, this moved me. As such I am interested in her. Was she Severian's \nmother? Did Silk and Co Materialize near her house in RTTW? Why? Is she \nrelated to Silk too?\n\nSuch questions interest me much more than the details of the particular \ncircular time-path used by the Claw of the Conciliator to reach the moment \nof her resurrection, although it's movements are arguably more fantastic \nthan her character. However I'm interested in even the trival details of \nDorcas's existance because of all the women in TBOTNS I love her the most.\n\nI guess that my obsessions/interests in Wolfe's work are perhaps unique and \nindividual, that's why I chose to talk about myself here, to give you a \nguide to my feelings so that you could slant your answers in that \ndirection. More about feelings and relationships, less about details and \nparallel universes and Big Questions, please.\n\n2. Questions:\n\nTwo things have puzzled me greatly about Wolfe's work.\n\n2a. The Fifth Head of Cerebus. I never understood this story at all. Who's \na clone of who? What service does the house provide, just what's going on \nhere? Lovely story, but I can't make head or tale of it. Classic Wolfe, that.\n\n2b. I read somewhere recently that the lies Severian tells are critical to \nunderstanding some of the mystery of TBOTNS. I've tried searching for lies \non the list without notable success. There is a lies listing somewhere? I \nwould like to read this.\n\nI'd like to find out what important lies Severian tells. I'm not interested \nin cute or trivial lies - whether he went to a whorehouse once or many \ntimes, whether he ever went back to a river or not, they don't seem very \nimportant unless I'm mistaken. But, Severian doesn't feel like a liar to \nme, So, there must be reasons or feelings behind his lies. It's said he \nlied about how he came to power, yet, why? Did he do something terrible? \nHe's told us honestly about many terrible things that he's done, so what's \nhe so ashamed of that he would lie to us? I'd like to know what Severian \nlie about, and why.\n\nThank You,\n\nChe\n\n\nChé Franz Joseph Monro -- http://www.chemonro.com\nche at chemonro.com    --     flirt at technologist.com"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}