Talk:Life Against Death

Life Against Death

Hello there Polisher of Cobwebs! Thank you for getting in touch with me; I've had a look at the Life Against Death page – for which I congratulate you, as it's really rather good – and have a few tips that I hope shall be of benefit to you. If I may, I'll post them here on your user talk page, although feel free to copy and paste them to the Life After Death talk page (attributing them to me), if you like:

Introduction:

• As it stands, the introduction currently consists of only a single paragraph; ideally, it should really be divided up and expanded into three or four paragraphs (see the example over at Dreamtime (Duerr book), which I put together pretty much single-handedly).
• "is a book by Norman O. Brown, first published in 1959, with a second edition in 1985" – what kind of book is it: a novel? a psychoanalytical study? a historical study? This needs to be clarified. And who is Norman O. Brown and what is his nationality? Who published this book, and who republished it ? Was it originally published in the English language, or was it translated into it ? If so, who was the translator ? All of these things should be included in your first introductory paragraph.
• In your second and perhaps third paragraph, provide a very basic synopsis of the book, describing its primary arguments.
• In your final introductory paragraph, discuss the reception, legacy and influence of the book.
• Why use the 1970 edition in the photograph ? Ideally, use the first edition cover.

Background

• Who is Brown and why does his opinion matter ? Give a little bit of biographical information about this author.
• Similarly, who is Freud ? Again, a sentence of two of biography would be of help; always assume that the reader knows basically nothing about the subject.
• Again, who is Marcuse and why does he matter ?
• Who is Paul Robinson ?
• Are these psychoanalysts arguing that Freud was a social conservative, fiscal conservative or an all-round conservative ?
• "Jakob Böhme and William Blake" need to link somewhere.

Synopsis

• Much of this page could do with being linked; words like Nietzche, Eros and Thanatos should be linked to their Wikipedia articles.
• Would any images be relevant here ? Does the Life Against Death book actually contain any pictures, one of which could be used here ?

Could other quote boxes be employed in later parts of the article ? They add a bit of colour and are aesthetically pleasing for many readers, myself included.

Hope this helps! Midnightblueowl (talk) 17:00, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for your response. It does help. I'm aware that the article has problems that need ironing out, and I'm ready to make whatever changes are required; I value other editors' criticism. I'll certainly take your comments into consideration. As for the picture of the book, the 1970 edition is there because, frankly, I happen to like it, and prefer it to other editions of the book. I would be perfectly prepared to change it to a different edition, however. Polisher of Cobwebs (talk) 20:23, 18 August 2012 (UTC)