The Reading Room

9:27 AM

@steelersquirrel everything is going fine :)

Q: Translation Request: Good translations of Dante's Divine Comedy

9:38 AM

0

Browsing the web, I've managed to come across multiple translations of Dante's "Divine Comedy". So is there a standard translation that is considered to be better written or more accurate than the rest?

translation

10:40 AM

0

Q: What does 'pinoc' mean?

What does 'pinoc' in The Man in the High Castle mean? I had the feeling it is someone subordinate but I did not find an exact explanation in the book.

american-literature

yannis

11:39 AM

@Emrakul You don't need a reason to ban and delete everyone and everything. You are a golden god, just do it.

BESW

@yannis I'm pretty sure he's a paper owl, actually.

yannis

@BESW I can accept that, as long as it means I'm an actual pirate.

BESW

I'm definitely a near-sighted bookworm.

user61230

@yannis Everyone knows two diamonds makes gold.

2:01 PM

@Mithrandir so what is the deal with tags for individual works? I feel like I'm seeing a lot of retagging happening that area, especially from active users, but the consensus seems to say we don't want them.

@MartinEnder ...I thought the concensus was that we did want them, and that's how the tags have been for a while - that's how they developed,regardless of consensus...

I'm absolutely in favour of the tags, but if I go looking on meta, all I find is that we shouldn't use them. Maybe another answer to that question would be helpful?

Personally, I think that Helmar's answer is the best one, and it's what will happen anyway.

Anyway, I actually don't have time to talk now, so adieu.

Q: What are these turkeys doing?

2

I recently came across a gif file showing a gang of turkeys circling what appears to be a dead cat. It appears to be a structured formation as the turkeys are trotting at the same pace and spacing between each bird. Is this behavior common in turkeys? Is there any explanation for the behavior?

wildlife animal-behaviour

@Skooba I wonder if you'd get a better answer on biology?

2:16 PM

@MartinEnder it looks like it could make a good opening to Stephen King Novel

haha

I know animal behavior was ontopic on TGO and i already had an account there lol

Q: Should there be some general tags?

2:32 PM

@Mithrandir thanks for the link. that really is the best answer imo. I might readd that [slade-house] tag to my question then, especially since I'm planning to ask another.

Librarian

2:45 PM

-1

As I do not have the reputation to create tags and there was no corresponding tag to the author/book I was asking about, I spent a fair amount of time searching for an appropriate tag and couldn't find any. I think this is a scenario which is likely to happen to new users. So my proposal is, coul...

feature-request tags

Q: Is there any textual evidence to support that Dumbledore was gay?

0

JK Rowling announced in 2007 to an audience at Carnegie Hall that Albus Dumbledore was in fact, gay and always had been... Q: Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself? JKR: My truthful answer to you... I always thought of Dumbledore as gay....

character-analysis j-k-rowling harry-potter

@Skooba there's an lgbt tag

@MartinEnder interesting.....

should it not be LGBTQ tho? i mean we dont want to forget about the Q now do we?

ugh, that discussion...

if anything, the tag should simply be [sexuality], I think

then it would also cover Emrakul's Greek mythology question, which I really think it should

3:01 PM

@MartinEnder i would agree with you

@MartinEnder that's a good idea

Q: Should the LGBT tag just be sexuality?

posted on meta

1

There is currently a tag lgbt that seems to be put on question asking about the sexual preference of characters. However, since LGBT does not cover the "full spectrum" of sexuality, should we just create a sexuality tag to cover all question that relate to the subject?

discussion tags

also, tag created

@Skooba oy, plagiarism :P

Q: Should the LGBT tag just be sexuality?

@MartinEnder I draw my FGITW

Librarian

2

There is currently a tag lgbt that seems to be put on question asking about the sexual preference of characters. However, since LGBT does not cover the "full spectrum" of sexuality, should we just create a sexuality tag to cover all question that relate to the subject?

discussion tags

3:10 PM

tag, not tag :P

@Mithrandir yeah. im no coder

And shouldn't the sexuality tag just be a synonym for untagged? ;-)

can't tell if you're making a joke about generalising a tag or about the fact that "if in doubt, if it's on the internet it's about sex"

@MartinEnder I'm making a joke around the fact that I deem tags like sexuality and religion highly problematic and they simpyl shouldn't exist.

why is that?

3:19 PM

This isn't Everything.SE, it's Literature. General topic tags take things too far and this way you could basically tag every question cars because a car is mentioned.

that's what tag usage guidelines in tag wikis are for.

I'm not saying there's potential for misuse. I'm saying every use is misuse.

I don't think it's misuse, but I'm getting somewhat frustrated with (what seems like) the flood of [lgbt] and [sexuality] questions

then we probably have different opinions on what tags are for

it feels like every time I check the front page or the cv queues I get "is dumble gay -> flagged as off-topic"

3:22 PM

@Riker why is that off topic

how is that question off topic?

ninja'd

@MartinEnder I'm sure we do. That's why it was just a throwaway joke rather than a serious meta discussion.

@Skooba it's not IMO

but somebody flagged it as such apparently

ah

@Skooba capitalize your goddamn execerpts;p

Captain America - LANGUAGE

3:23 PM

►

@Riker review link?

can't right now mobile

i think it might have been edmund not dumbledore

because it was yesterday

...Not seeing anything in the review history

ill look later

bit busy rn tho

HDE 226868

@Randal'Thor I've edited my meta answer. I think you'll still disagree with it a bit, which is fine (I do look forward to seeing an answer from you, if you ever have the time), but I've clarified a bit why I think some cases of lack of research effort may be reasons to close, while others may not.

Q: Is there a way to determine which fonts were used in the original editions of "The Gilded Age" and "The American Claimant"?

4:06 PM

0

My question is in the title - one can "eyeball" the first editions of a book and take a stab at what electronic font would best correspond to the font that was used in the printed book. e.g., one versed in such minutiae might be able to look at they type and say, "That approximates Bookman Old S...

mark-twain classic-literature

6:28 PM

@Bookworm any one have thought about the topicality on this one?

I am uncertain... on the surface it seems okay but then it can also seem like they are just asking for recommendations on font indentification software?

Q: What did George Orwell think of the USSR before travelling to Spain?

7:28 PM

0

We all know he went to Spain and was horrified by the Barcelona May Days... but did he like the Soveit system beforehand?

george-orwell

Q: Is there a way to determine which fonts were used in the original editions of "The Gilded Age" and "The American Claimant"?

8:31 PM

is this on-topic?

0

My question is in the title - one can "eyeball" the first editions of a book and take a stab at what electronic font would best correspond to the font that was used in the printed book. e.g., one versed in such minutiae might be able to look at they type and say, "That approximates Bookman Old S...

mark-twain classic-literature

2 hours ago, by Skooba

@Bookworm any one have thought about the topicality on this one?

even if it's not a recommendation, I don't think questions about the font used (font-id to give them a name) should be on-topic

It's hard to say that in general. I think some writers like Mark Z. Danielewski are very conscious about their font choice so it's arguably part of the literary work and worth being discussed.

user61230

9:27 PM

Again, this is an issue of motivation. A book like House of Leaves or a graphic novel like The Sandman give us reason to believe that font matters. A book like Good Omens, not so much.

9:46 PM

@Emrakul The problem you're going to have with a rule about motivation is that it disqualifies almost all story id questions

How does this question help you understand literature better? Almost none of the story-id questions on the site do this.

2

@Riker we get questions about literary awards and people say that they're on topic. Same thing with questions about the publication process. If those are on-topic, then the question about the original font is on-topic

user61230

@Hamlet There's a "where applicable" disclaimer in there.

I think the real issue is that there's a huge range of opinions about what this site is about. As a moderator I'm having a hard time to come up with a way to reach a consensus.

user61230

If the rationale behind asking for motivation doesn't make sense as applied to story ID questions, it doesn't need to.

@Emrakul what's the difference between a question where motivation is required and a question where motivation isn't required?

user61230

@Hamlet I don't think it's so clearly delineable. We'd have to look at case examples. Theory questions need it, story ID may not, and that's okay. But if I had to take a crack at a vague line...

9:53 PM

@Emrakul if the publication process is on-topic, then I think you could make an argument that font choice helps understand the publishing process.

user61230

I'd probably say that motivation is reasonable to ask for when it's relevant or helpful toward understanding the question and its answer.

@Emrakul that seems even less clear to me

user61230

The ultimate goal is to make guidelines that improve questions. If motivation isn't relevant to or won't help story ID questions, the condition for asking for motivation isn't met.

user61230

@Hamlet I really don't think this is something that can be clearly delineated, and I'm not sure trying to do so will be effective. It's like trying to totally describe reasons to downvote a question: you just can't do it.

2

user61230

It has to be looked at on a question by question, or category by category, basis.

9:57 PM

@Hamlet I'm personally against the publication process, I feel that's more of a question for writers.se

10:17 PM

@Riker maybe bring up the issue on meta?

@Emrakul I guess I see the "provide motivation for asking the question" as an issue of scope. I wish that this site's scope was solely about helping people understand literature.

user61230

10:36 PM

Yeah, I can understand.