{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/396",
    "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'"
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  "archive": "whorl",
  "thread": {
    "id": 396,
    "subject": "Answers--Mint's mysteries",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "1997-07-11T07:12:47+00:00",
    "last": "1997-07-11T07:12:47+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<whorl-v0007-0512@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Patri10629",
        "address": "patri10629 at aol.com"
      },
      "date": "1997-07-11T07:12:47+00:00",
      "subject": "Re: (whorl) Answers--Mint's mysteries",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Mantis--\n\nThanks much, Gene, for the enlightening and charming answers to our pestering\nquestions. And thanks Mantis for being the engineer.\n\nSomehow, it is extremely amusing to me that the great mystery of Mint's 5\nsacrifices is obvious. She's a cloistered nun, right? She's taken certain\nvows. We all knew that. Why do we bend ourselves into such knots?\n\n\n<<20.  \"Mint states that she had to give up many things, `five of them\nvery great,' to become a sibyl.  Can you tell us what those five\nthings were?\"  I can try, knowing I will be accused of banality.  In\nno particular order: freedom, marriage, the right to own property,\nthe companionship and support of her family, and motherhood.>>\n\nOn a more general note, I've begun rereading the Long Sun books for the forth\ntime and stopped after oh 3 pages. Look at them again. I can hardly believe\nhow much Wolfe has packed into these several dozen paragraphs. Knowing the\nrest of the story I am treated to a catalog of subtle delayed detonations, in\nwhat at first read is deceptively clear or merely puzzeling and estranging\nnarrative. Just one example... (p.1, second line) \"Maytera Marble, who was\nalso Maytera Rose.\" And thus we are introduced to his major theme of\ndualities, dual identities, dual names, odd naming conventions, Robots who\nare stone, Women who are plants--dualities that are sustained throughout\nuntil the two aligned planets on the last page.  The head reels, the jaw\ndrops.\n\nWe were there when this masterpiece was published. How incredibly lucky for\nus.\n\nbest\n\nPatrick\n\nPatrick"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}