Talk:Limes inferior

Issues with the article

I haven't read the book this article is about, but the following paragraphs are problematic, and so have been moved here:

The book evaded censorship barriers by using SF camouflage and, though it described the most shameful and sinister niches of communist society, it was republished several times.

It isn't up to wikipedia to decide whether communist society/ies contain/ed shameful and sinister niches. Specific examples of what Zajdel regarded shameful and sinister would make excellent replacements for this sentence.

(read, communist society where ownership of hard currency meant wealth)

It isn't wikipedia's job to do literary criticism. If a notable literary critic or Zajdel himself has said that this is meant, then it would be more appropriate to start a section on literary criticism of this novel and include that information there, with appropriate references. If necessary, I can help out with how to add references to an article.

(= commies)

Same as above. Plus, this is very much not encyclopedic style. 'Commies' should be 'communists', and '=' should be replaced with something that is actually language.

The idea for this novel came to Janusz during one of the workshops in Soczewka when, sitting at a bonfire, we discussed who of us is the best writer. The best won. Janusz wrote a short story entitled Lifter that he read to us and we all were delighted. Adam Snerg, too.

First-person accounts are not encyclopedic in style. Plus, no reader has any idea who 'we' refers to. Additionally, any anecdotal information such as this should be referenced to some book, speech, or whatever. Finally, "Adam Snerg, too." isn't even a sentence, and it doesn't seem to be pertinent.

The following parts I left in the article, but they need work, too:

The hero, Adi Cherryson, also known as Sneer (named after one of Zajdel's fellow science fiction writers Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg), tells how a lifter (a science fiction name for black market and illegal hard currency dealer) upgrades people with low IQ in a world where people are assigned to good or bad posts depending on the results of computer controlled exams.

What does "upgrades people with low IQ" mean? He increases their IQ? If so, the article needs to make this clear.

A cheating computer allowed them to get not only better posts but also coupons for goods hardly available to average citizens.

What is a "cheating computer"? A computer designed to help people cheat the system? A computer that cheats? This needs to be explained more clearly. Plus, it isn't clear from the context who the "cheating computer" allowed to get better posts, etc.

That is similar to the situation in Communist countries where luxury goods were available from a state-run chain of shops dealing with hard currency only.

It isn't at all clear from the context, and the experience of the average English speaker why or how this is at all relevant. Why does it matter that these shops only dealt with hard currency?

Examples are Pewex in Poland or Baltona in Russia from so-called yellow curtain shop.

Examples of what? Stores where luxury goods are only avaliable with hard currency? This isn't immediately clear from the context. I'm guessing the sentence should read Examples of so-called "yellow curtain shops" are Pewex in Poland or Baltona in Russia., but I can't quite make out what meaning is intended.

I'm going to do some more copyediting, so the sentences above may not look quite the same as they do here, but the issues will no doubt remain. I very much hope that someone with more knowledge of the book will fix them. -Seth Mahoney 01:59, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

You are correct the style was very bad. I'll see what I can fix (I have read the book some time ago and I know Polish :>).--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus ^Talk 02:40, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Undoubtedly a lot of the issues with the article are fluency-related, but if my above criticisms come off as harsh, I'd like to say that I am really appreciative of the author(s)' efforts to bring information about a nearly-untranslated author into the English speaking world. -Seth Mahoney 02:51, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Major problem with the article

The article distorts and simplifies the underlining message of the book. The social system of the Agroland is not merely a description of life under communism in Poland - it is in fact a though-provoking tale of how would a merger of the two competing systems (communism, capitalism) look like (if aided with advanced technology). Looking at it from this prospective it is nearly prophetic, given the fact that it was written in 1982 when existence of post-cold-war world seemed utopian. EU of today (and US too I think) is much closer to the Zajdel's Agroland in many ways than 70-ties Poland was. AndyBrandt (talk) 10:15, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

BTW - the plot summary was overly simplistic and in places wrong. For example Alice did not help Sneer recover his Key in any way. Edited to correct that and give the article more balance. AndyBrandt (talk) 10:59, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Update 2019?

I would welcome newer literary criticism of this book. Zezen (talk) 10:51, 16 June 2019 (UTC)