{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/870",
    "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": "whorl",
  "thread": {
    "id": 870,
    "subject": "(SPOILERS) IGJ first impressions",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "2000-07-24T08:37:13+00:00",
    "last": "2000-07-24T08:37:13+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<whorl-v0010-0413@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Alex David Groce",
        "address": "alex_groce at gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu"
      },
      "date": "2000-07-24T08:37:13+00:00",
      "subject": "(whorl) (SPOILERS) IGJ first impressions",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "I finished this on Friday, but haven't had access to email over the\nweekend.  Also, Saturday I talked at length with another Wolfe addict\nwho had just finished it, which clarified my thoughts (I hope).\n\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n*SPOILER SPACE*\n\nSome random points:\n\n1.  The inhumi's secret (maybe) becomes a little clearer, in some\naspects:  Krait's _mother_ drank from Sinew, and I believe it may be\nthat when the inhumi spawn their children take their spirit (in some\nsense) from (a particular, I assume) victim of the parent.\n\n2.  The cover illustration plus a rereading of the description makes\nme think the Neighbors may have borrowed their habits of dress from\nJack Vance's Pnume.\n\n3.  The first half or so of the narration, especially the storytelling\ncontest, was as engrossing as anything Wolfe's written, in my opinion.\nThe last half of IGJ suffered some from middle-book-syndrome, in that\nquestions are raised just so we can get the answers later.\n\n4.  Wolfe does a brilliant job of conveying Horn's feelings via the\nnarrative: in OBW Horn dwells at length on his time on the boat with\nSeawrack, and it is clear that we prefers his memory of that time to\nhis present surroundings; IGJ has exactly the opposite: Green's\nnightmare is the last thing he wants to think about.\n\n5.  The parallels with Severian are growing stronger and more\ninteresting: (1) Horn(/Silk) is now \"accidentally\" enacting sacraments\n(the Eucharist at the Neighbors' table is my favorite scene from IGJ);\n(2) he has his own sword; (3) he's actually been mistaken for a\ntorturer (we're reminded that a Patera's costume is not unlike that of\na torturer).\n\n6.  A further parallel is the storytelling contest; here, however, the\ndifferences are emphasized: Horn is a participant in the contest,\nrather than the judge.  One amusing similarity: in CITADEL, the\ncontest is never judged, while here, if it is, we're not told who won\neach time.\n\n7.  I think that another parallel may exist: it seems possible that\nthis travel-between-worlds thing Horn gets from the Neighbors may have\nsomething to do with the Coridoors of Time.\n\n8.  It's nice to have Oreb back."
        },
        {
          "kind": "sig",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "\"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.\" John 8:32\n--\nAlex David Groce (agroce+ at cs.cmu.edu)\nPh.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department\n8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066\nhttp://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}