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Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Poor Folk/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by GrahamColm 19:19, 16 January 2013 [1].

Poor Folk edit

Poor Folk (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): Tomcat (7) 16:02, 15 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The debut novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I feel it is very comprehensive, using English, Russian and German sources. It is well-written thanks to User:MathewTownsend, User:Yomangani, etc. I used high-quality sources only. The structure is interesting. Unfortunately, non-contemporary commentaries about this book are rare (there was a Guardian article which gave it an unpleasant review). The work was (and perhaps still is) almost unknown outside of Russia. Tomcat (7) 16:02, 15 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Source review - spotchecks not done

  • Quotes longer than 40 words should be blockquoted
  • FN4: pages?
  • FN14 should include translation info
  • Added the translator--Tomcat (7) 12:05, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • FN27: formatting
  • Be consistent in whether you include publisher locations
  • FN30: should include original publication info
  • FN35: publisher?
  • Publication information for Writer's Diary?
  • It was published by several publishers--Tomcat (7) 12:05, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Compare formatting of the two Frank bibliography entries
  • Both are different books.--Tomcat (7) 12:05, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: I've been looking at the lead prose. Some issues:

  • "Inspired by the works of Gogol, Pushkin, Karamzin and similar stories from English and French authors..." You have mentioned authors, not stories
  • "...written in epistolary form, consisting of letters between the two main characters, Makar Devushkin and Varvara Dobroselova, who are poor second cousins". This is verbose: why not: "...written in the form of letters between the two main characters, Makar Devushkin and Varvara Dobroselova, who are poor second cousins".
  • "As is the case with many naturalistic books..." This reads like an editorial aside, and is inappropriate.
  • "...their relationship with rich people of the upper class..." This phrasing excludes rich people not of the upper class, and upper class people who are not rich. Is this your intended meaning?
  • What do you mean by a "classical clerk"?
  • "can not" → "cannot"
  • What were the Fatherland Notes?
  • Added short description--Tomcat (7) 12:05, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Who published the first English edition?

Reading on Brianboulton (talk) 21:12, 17 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - There seems to be some mis-wording in the translation of Nikolay Dobrolyubov's quote: "The book's compassion [...] did not escape the truth of life, and he highly straight put the edge between official temper, ..." MathewTownsend (talk) 14:19, 23 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • I rewrote to indirect speech. Regards.--Tomcat (7) 12:05, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Note: This is a WikiCup nomination. The following nominators are WikiCup participants: Tomcat7. To the nominator: if you do not intend to submit this article at the WikiCup, feel free to remove this notice. UcuchaBot (talk) 00:02, 1 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Cryptic C62 · Talk 22:21, 12 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

  • The first sentence of Themes and style tries to present too many details all at once, making it somewhat overwhelming to read. I am of the opinion that it should be split into two sentences, and that "Poor Folk explores..." should come before "Largely influenced by...".
  • "He later visited Dostoyevsky in the Pesky district after asking the Fatherland Notes journalist Andrei Kraevsky for the location of Dostoyvesky's home." Why does it matter how Sollogub learned the location? For that matter, how does this visit inform the reader's understanding of the reception of the book? Sollogub could have visited Dostoyevsky for any number of reasons.
  • "The following is a list of English versions (publication date in brackets)" False. The publication dates are in parentheses.
  • On a slightly more substantial note, I find it a bit odd that there are 8 known English translations of this book without any indication of why so many exist. Which version is regarded as the most authoritative? What did Garnett set out to achieve in 2007 that had not already been achieved in the previous 7 efforts?
  • That is a hard task considering the prohibition of original research. If I have luck, I find worthy information in prefaces of the noted books.--Tomcat (7) 13:21, 16 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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