Talk:H. G. Wells
If someone, such as the original author, does not render this article from the neutral point of view, I will. You might not like the result. You have been warned. --LMS
I don't see what's is so non-NPOV in this article (as of Oct 4, 2002). For instance, what is non-NPOV in the following two paragraphs removed by Minimax on 18:46 Oct 4, 2002 ?
- In his youth he was unhappily apprenticed as a draper--his years in this occupation, he later used as material for his novel Kipps: A Modern Utopia which also critiques the world's distribution of wealth.
- In The War of the Worlds, alien creatures invaded Earth. Wells was an admirer of Jules Verne's writing, which influenced his decision to write science fiction; though unlike Verne he chose to add an element of horror and suspense to his writing.
If the statements there are true, they are facts (they don't even say the wealth distribution is bad, just that Wells critiques it), and look quite innocuous to me.
FvdP 17:17 Oct 4, 2002 (UTC)
Hmmm...
You may be right about the 'critique' part - I'll put that back. But whether he was 'unhappily' apprenticed or not is qualitative, and therefore an opinion. As is whether Wells admired or was influenced by Jules Verne, or the amount of horror or suspense in his writing.
Minimax
If Wells say "I was unhappy when I was an apprentice", can't we take that as a fact ? Same thing about his admiring Jules Verne. The possible influence of J.V. on Well's writing is of course much more elusive. About "horror" and "suspense", they become facts if you bring enough arguments, IMO. I don't remember that Jules Verne lacked in suspense, but he was surely not that much into horror. (I know almost nothing about Wells, though.)
FvdP 17:36 Oct 4, 2002 (UTC)
Wells is certainly into horror, Verne tends more towards fantasy. If Wells said he was unhappy, then why not just state that? I had similar problems with the Ingmar Bergman article: 'Bergman reports,' 'Bergman says,' ad infinitum. --KQ
Can anyone find any proof whether Wells ever said he was unhappy or not? I haven't got a copy of his autobiography, so I'm not going to cast any aspersions about the working practices of this drapers unless someone can find something concrete. As for 'horror vs fantasy' - well, the discussion above already shows that its all a matter of opinion. Minimax
As for 'horror vs fantasy' - well, the discussion above already shows that its all a matter of opinion. ? Not quite so. About "horror", Koyaanis Qatsi and me seem to perfectly agree. We used terms like "surely" and "certainly", didn't we ? -- FvdP
You miss my point. Whether you agree or not is irrelevant - the fact that there is scope for possible disagreement suggests that it is a matter of opinion. Minimax
Sorry, that wasn't meant to sound quite as abrupt as it does, but I hope you get the gist. Minimax