# A living torturer

*The Urth list — 3 messages, 2 voices, 06 Jun 2003*

<https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/4019>

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### David Kirby
*06 Jun 2003, 22:43*

Folks,

There's an interesting article on a real-life torturer in the
gossip column of today's WASHINGTON POST:

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20993-2003Jun5.html

(I didn't bother to track down the original article, though a
thorough look through OpinionJournal.com should let you do so.)

As I read the article, I of course couldn't help but think of
Severian -- maybe the Severian of Earth-12, who lets his family
"help me clean my sword."

A telling comment from today's Severian: "[T]here are many people
who faint when they witness an execution. I don't know why they come
and watch if they don't have the stomach for it. . . . Me? I sleep
very well."

This is worth a quick glance. For me, it put into focus some of
what Severian does, and not in the positive, sympathetic, or even
neutral way much of Wolfe's writing portrays the acts. An eye-
opener.

(If you're going to look at the article, do so quickly; the POST
removes much of its Internet content from free public view after
two weeks.)

And if you want some of the general public's reaction to today's
Severian, check out the gossip columnist's weekly Web chat at:


http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/03/r_style_source060603.htm?nav=hpt
oc_lol

(This should be available for more than two weeks, for those of
you reading this message in the Urth archives.)

      -- David

===============================================
"It is possible I already had some presentiment
of my future."                    == Gene Wolfe
===============================================
     David B. Kirby, dbkirby at pressroom.com

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### matthew.malthouse
*09 Jun 2003, 08:30 · follows David Kirby*

> On 06/06/2003 23:43:27 David Kirby wrote:
> There's an interesting article on a real-life torturer in the
> gossip column of today's WASHINGTON POST:
> 
>      http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20993-2003Jun5.html
> 
> (I didn't bother to track down the original article, though a
> thorough look through OpinionJournal.com should let you do so.)

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,971528,00.html
reprinted from http://www.arabnews.com/

I don't know the Washiton post so I'm not sure of the purpose of the 
"Reliable Source" is.  But if it is "gossip" then the trivialiasation of 
the matter - even though by then it is third or fourth hand - seems crass.

Matthew

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### matthew.malthouse
*09 Jun 2003, 08:40 · follows matthew.malthouse*

On 06/06/2003 23:43:27 David Kirby wrote:
[Re beheading article]

> http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/03/r_style_source060603.htm?nav=hpt
> oc_lol

Now I'm even less impressed:
  Contributor: "They help him clean his sword" I couldn't help chuckling 
at that!
  Lloyd Grove: Fun for the whole family!

Here is the published reponse from our reprinting of the article:
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,973366,00.html


Matthew

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