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