Talk:John Dickson Carr

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Comment

Did 30s critics prefer the HM novels? Not that I know of, though I don't know all about it. Maybe there can be a specific source for this claim? In any case, this fact it needs to be worked in better than it has been, since the sentence it is part of does not read well. Bds yahoo 19:53, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I've put a couple of references into the article, which is all I could turn up at home (I got rid of several thousand books and related items in the mystery field 10 years ago and my resources aren't that great.) When I was a young teenager attending prep school a long time ago my favorite author was JDC and my favorite literary personality was Sir Henry Merrivale. The school library had a marvelous reference book section that contained many volumes of a thick annual whose name has long since escaped me and that contained reviews from various newspapers and magazines about most of the books that had been published the previous year. A Carr or Dickson book would generally be good for excerpts from 4 or 5 different sources, particularly during the 1930s. I was fascinated by these volumes and wasted many valuable school hours thumbing through them looking up all of my favorite authors. I distinctly remember a number of other reviewers mentioning how they preferred The Old Man to Dr. Fell but can't pull up any quotations -- I'd sure love to have a complete set of those books sitting in my home right now! I think that both Anthony Boucher and Ellery Queen expressed that preference -- wish I could track them down.... Hayford Peirce 20:19, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The section on Fell vs. Merrivale contains many POV statements that are unattributed and are presumably the opinions of the editor. They should be removed or changed. 68.1.181.54 23:06, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I've read the article very carefully and I'm baffled as to what POV statements you mean. There are attributed statements that are very POV but are clearly quotes from Amis, Haycroft, and Philmore. Hayford Peirce 02:13, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Don't be disingenuous. How about this one: "Hilarious as these episodes frequently were..."? The whole section is unnecessary anyway, beginnign with the silly heading, since this is an encyclopedia article and the only thing people need to know is that H.M. and Fell were two detectives in his books. One might just as well have a section devoted to people's favorite characters in Alice in Wonderland. These are not facts, no matter who gets cited. 68.1.174.46 20:16, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Sir Henry Merrivale and Doctor Fell are very hard to tell apart, blustering fat guys with brains. Any preference would be based on minor differences. One of them wears a "shovel hat", if I recall. Ortolan88 20:14, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Note on usage: "is often regarded as" doesn't really make sense as a phrase: not to be pedantic but how on earth could you quantify how frequently something is "regarded" in a certain way? This expression should be eschewed in favor of "is regarded by many critics/scientists/something else specific" OR "is often cited as" or similar. Bds yahoo 22:05, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

"criticism"

I don't like the section name, "Criticism", as it does not deal with criticism (i.e. mainly negative comments) on JDCarr's work. Any suggestions as to a different name? For example "Critics' reception of John Dickson Carr's work" or "Critics' opinion" or anything like that? Is there a need for a separate section at all (the first paragraph can easily be moved into the preceding section, "Dr. Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale"). 131.111.8.98 19:33, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Deathwatch.JPG

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Fair use rationale for Image:Four false weapons.JPG

Image:Four false weapons.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Fair use rationale for Image:Graveyard to let.JPG

Image:Graveyard to let.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Novel as by Fenton Carter

I've removed this reference: Novels as Fenton Carter

Death has Four Faces - 1948, mystery

because, sorry, I just don't think it exists. I searched Google, no hits, Alibris, no hits, ABE, no hits, etc. If someone can give publication data for this book, that would be a way to get it back into the article but, frankly, I've never heard of it (and, as I recall from reading his reference book, Joshi hasn't either). If someone can offer information about thism, that would be great. For instance, why did Carr use a one-shot pseudonym at this stage in his career? Accounting4Taste 16:19, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First Full-Length Historical Novel Claim

The Bride of Newgate (published in 1950) was not, in fact, the first full-length historical whodunnit. Agatha Christie's mystery Death Comes as the End was published in 1944 and set in ancient Egypt. Margaret Donsbach (talk) 02:10, 16 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sot-Weed Victim?

Did he die from the effects of tobacco? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.245.114.202 (talk) 12:19, 24 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]