h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.h2g2.com/A487226

My second entry written. Your feedback is appreciated, as always.

Yours,
Jake

This seems comprehensive, balanced and well-ordered to me, although I was only able to give it a once-over. I can't see you would have any trouble getting this into the Guide. It's obviously more than good enough.

I hadn't heard of Jarmusch before, but he sounds like an interesting guy. I'll look out for one or two of those films, especially Dead Man. Maybe you could try establishing a wider context for his work - he sounds close to postmodernism, with all the talk of deconstructing genres and multiple narratives, but from what you're saying I imagine he might be a step or two on from that movement?... That's just a small point, though. Nice work...

Hello,

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. Much appreciated. He is an interesting guy (although not to everyone). I like a lot of the stuff he does. And I think "Dead Man" is his best work, but it's not for the faint of heart or the short of attention span (hence his critics)...

It is an interesting suggestion about postmodernism. It is true that a lot of his themes (like the deconstruction of Grand Narratives and the interest in outsider views) mesh quite nicely with Postmodern theory. Of course, sometimes nothing sends people running to the exits like the mention of Postmodernism.

Yours,
Jake

Hmm... I see what you mean. Anyway, if I just bump this back up near the top of the queue there's a chance some passing Scout might see it and recommend it to the powers-that-be. Shame if they don't - as I say, it's a good piece of writing, more than adequate for the Guide.

Lear.

Lear,

Thanks very much for the input and compliments. You're making me blush.

Have you seen any Jarmusch films since your last entry? Live up to the hype or rather disappointing?

Yours,
Jake

Dead Man is on my 'Must See' list, but unfortunately I only get around to watching films in concentrated bursts once or twice a year. Next time I do the rounds Jarmusch will be in there somewhere.

Hi! Just thought I'd drop by and mention that I thought this was an interesting entry.

I did, however, find the text a bit heavy -- anytime there's paragraph after paragraph of text, with the paragraphs almost as big as my monitor screen, I have an amazing tendency to jump to another entry. I think this is pretty common among h2g2 browsers, so it might be a good idea to break up the text a bit? There are even a few places in there where using or lists might help the flow quite a bit.


Mikey

Hello,

Yeah, I suppose it is somewhat heavy, but I don't really know what to do about it now. I've been rather dense lately, and I'm not really good with leaving information out. Let me think about it a bit.

Yours,
Jake

Maybe just breaking your paragraphs into shorter chunks might do it. You wouldn't necessarily have to edit anything much out - just make it look a bit easier on the eye. I might suggest cutting down the introduction to one, snappier, paragraph, maybe getting rid of some of the quotes and just concentrating on one pro viewpoint and one negative.

Another idea would be to develop the Tarantino connection a little - you touch on it in the introduction - because, with Tarantino's name being familiar to most people, people could use that as a reference point as they read through the rest of the article.

While I'm on that subject... I watched Mystery Train a while ago and I thought it looked a little like a less glamorous prototype for Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Do you have any info on Jarmusch's view of Tarantino's films (and his success, both commercially and critically)? If I was in Jarmusch's place I'd be pretty narked about having some of my best ideas lifted by someone else.

Dead Man impressed me, by the way - it's a film that repays repeated viewing. Jarmusch develops a powerful meditaion on mortality without getting all saccharine and sentimental about things, as directors often seem to feel obliged to do when they're dealing with the subject of death (eg, the end of American Beauty, an otherwise enjoyable film). I liked the calmness, a sense of the inevitable, in the film - it's an intelligent kind of mythologising. Next I'll look out for Ghost Dog.

All the best, Lear

Hi Jake,

Congratulations on a fine entry (and thanks too to Lear for his contributions to reviewing it). This one went down a storm at The Towers, and I'm pleased to make here the formal announcement that it has been accepted for the next stage in the Editing process: all that you can do now is wait for the e-mail that will tell you you've placed your personal stamp on the Guide once again.

Cheers!

GVI

Editorial Note: This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review forum because this entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

If they have not been along already, the Scout who recommended your entry will post here soon, to let you know what happens next. Meanwhile you can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!