Talk:A Perfect Vacuum

Latest comment: 4 years ago by Staszek Lem in topic "Opinions about "A Perfect Vacuum""?

Untitled edit

I question whether a compilation of reviews of imaginary books can be categorized as a "novel." While this book is one of my favorites, it is simply not a novel. Muldrake (talk) 04:08, 15 April 2010 (UTC)Reply

condensation edit

Ezra Pound introduces chapter 4 of his ABC of Reading with a quote: 'Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree'. He goes on to discuss the discovery, in a German-Italian dictionary, of the translation pair "Dichten=Condensare", i.e. 'to write poetry' (in German) is equated to 'to condense' (in Italian). Pound, of course, was focused on poetry, He did concede that prose was more efficient in some ways in modern literature, but he did not go into it. What I want to point out is that fictional reviews of imaginary books is a new form of condensation in prose. It is efficient, and especially good in conveying complex ideas to a non-specialist reader. I do not think that Lem is the first or only practitioner of this art, but he is a master. I am particularly fond of Non Serviam because, from my own background, I can appreciate just how well he performed his art in this case. --AJim (talk) 13:46, 6 July 2012 (UTC)Reply

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"Opinions about "A Perfect Vacuum""? edit

Never seen such a section in Wikipedia. Is it appropriate? (I guess it's not that different from the common "critical reception" section...) GalPedy (talk) 08:05, 19 August 2019 (UTC)Reply

You are right. Fixed. Staszek Lem (talk) 16:35, 19 August 2019 (UTC)Reply
Great, but the structure and content of the section itself is still pretty weird. The "Reception" sections I've seen were written as a paragraph and included more critical reviews. This sections seems like it could have been copied from the promotional text on the back cover of the book... GalPedy (talk) 10:25, 28 August 2019 (UTC)Reply
Now you are talking like a disgruntled customer. Sorry, Wikipedians are not Service desk. Also, we are not writing articles out of our head. In order to write a section, we have to find reliable sources which discuss the subject. If you know some, you are welcome to BE BOLD, that's all what I can say here now. Staszek Lem (talk) 20:26, 28 August 2019 (UTC)Reply