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

Name: Awix

Researcher Number: U97008

Page Number: A615250

Project Title: The Life and Works of John Wyndham

Description: A reasonably comprehensive look at this popular English author of the mid-20th century, most famous for writing 'Day of the Triffids' and 'Village of the Damned'.

Proposed Area of Study/Entries:
General overview.
Biography.
One entry per major novel (4).
One entry per minor novel (4).
One entry covering early works (1933-1951).
One entry covering later short stories.
Entry examining recurring themes/writing style.
Entry looking at film/TV adaptations.

Proposed start date: 20th August 2001.

Proposed finish date: 1st October 2001.

Hi Awix,

Superb choice or author for a project! He's one of my favourites as well, so I look forward to reading it on completion.

I've added your project to the English Department of the Faculty of Arts here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A611218. Let me know if you need help finding a Sub - I can probably attract one by posting on the Subs' mailing list.

Sorry, Chris -

The project is still 'go' but I've become rather preoccupied by keeping up with and discussing recent global events. Would it be possible to extend my closing date to the 8th of October?

(I'd like to apologise to the literally nonexistent swarms of people eagerly awaiting the conclusion of this project. Rest assured I shall be most harsh with myself.)

No problem - I quite understand. Take all the time you need.

Have you had enough time yet?

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What kind of answer would you like to receive...? Options would be nice.

I was hoping for an answer along the lines of 'I've decided to put these entries into Peer Review, as h2g2 needs more entries on John Wyndham, having only got A5718486 John Wyndham - Writer at present.'

He's one of my favourite authors.

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Mine too. Unfortunately I have never been able to face the prospect of putting anything into PR, as I'm allergic to too much rewriting - I'm happy to work with a single editor and a specific brief, but all my EG entries are either collaborative or predate the PR system. The attraction of the university system was that it circumvented the PR process. Oh dear, I must sound very negative about a central element of h2g2. Sorry. If someone wants to take these over I'd be happy to sign over possession...

I have done University Projects within the last couple of years, so if you'd prefer to do things that way you should still be able to. Head over to the <./>subeditors</.> page and leave a message there and see if anyone is interested. University projects do take a bit longer than Peer Review, and there is often a little bit of Peer Review involved (normally officially 'at least one week'), but don't worry, the people in Peer Review are friendly, especially once you get to know the familiar names, and most of the time it only involves a minor tweak here and there.

Have you read 'Plan For Chaos'?

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Yes. I suppose I should add it, though my vague recollection is that it doesn't add much to Wyndham's reputation. He made the right choice to go with Triffids instead.

Well, I'm about to go on holiday for a couple of weeks, so I'll give it some thought and let you know. I think I'd have to approach it from scratch, as it's 13 years since I originally embarked on this and haven't read some of the books since then.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'The University Admissions Office' to 'Faculty of Arts and Entertainment'.

Researcher: U97008 - Awix

Project Page: A615250 - The Life and Works of John Wyndham

Entries:
A615241 - The Day of the Triffids - Novel
A618617 - The Kraken Wakes - Novel
A654707 - The Chrysalids - Novel
A660007 - The Midwich Cuckoos - Novel
A620010 - Chocky - Novel
A615214 - Web - Novel
A618248 - John Wyndham - Common Techniques and Themes in his Novels

No Edited Entries

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Have you had any thoughts about this project? I'd still very much like to see it in the Edited Guide.

(I moved the Conversation from the old University area to the University area that is in use).

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Would it involve going through PR?

If I did proceed with this, it might be a while, as it would basically mean starting from scratch...

There are two options – put all the entries individually through Peer Review, or keep it as a University project, find a sub-editor – probably either Galaxy Babe or SashaQ, who I know from experience won't make any changes without discussing it with you first. The entries will then go into Peer Review very briefly, for a minimum of a week, before they become Edited and on the front page.

If you're unsure of Peer Review, have a look over there, join a few conversations and see the sort of thing that they say. The way Peer Review works is that other readers offer suggestions, which are suggestions and not orders. So someone might say, for example, 'have you considered mentioning 'Night of the Triffids' by Simon Clark?' to which you could then say 'I'll mention it briefly over here' or 'No, it isn't in the same class as 'The Day of the Triffids' and not by John Wyndham, so is largely irrelevant. It doesn't really fall under the scope of the project so I won't be looking at it in detail.' depending on your personal view.
So other people on h2g2 can make suggestions, but not give orders, about what you could include. Then as long as you politely acknowledge what they have said you can feel free to agree or disagree with your suggestions as you see fit. Sometimes someone might suggest something irrelevant, (so if I said, say, 'Day of the Triffids' mentions a battle at a house on the Isle of Wight – that house is Appuldurcombe House, so why not go into long, drawn out detail about the history of Appuldurcombe House, its construction, the alleged orgies that took place there and its destruction during the Second World War as well as the falconry centre there today?' You'd quite rightly think that all that is unnecessary waffle and politely reply and tell me that what I've mentioned is nothing to do with the story). So just reply 'thanks for your suggestion, but I don't think I need to mention that...' Other times you might think 'Actually, that's a good idea'.

Any questions, feel free to ask! But please do have a think about this again as it certainly has potential.

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Well, of the options you mention the second one sounds much more appealing.

I'm not saying no, but we're looking at a protracted timescale - my copies of JW's books are all in storage and it may be a few weeks before I can find the time to extract them, let alone start re-reading them.

So consider this a 'yes, but...' sort of answer. Sorry not to be more positive...

A 'yes, but..' answer isn't a no, so I'll happily take that.

And the project's waited a decade, what's another few weeks and/or months?
If you have any questions at all about Peer Review etc, feel free to ask.

<BB<

Okay, I'll keep you posted.

Did I mention that you get a shiny badge for your user page when you do a Uni project?

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I probably get so few visitors that I'm not sure anyone would get to see it. Surely the work should be its own reward, anyway?