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4:31 AM

@Randal'Thor If we can bring this question here, it would be better

Q: Is The Shawshank Redemption based on a Leo Tolstoy story?

The 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption is based on Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Now this Wikipedia article says the King’s novella “has been thought to be loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's 1872 short story "God Sees the Truth, But Waits"”. But this Wikipedia arti...

Bookworm

4:53 AM

Q: What is the intention and purpose behind the "dash style" book format compared to the "quote style" one?

I'm reading a book which is formatted like this: -- No! said Gandalf, looking around. We must not go further before we have had a sip of the elf water! The old wizard looked very worried. It's possible to "interpret" this if you spend enough time and effort, but it's anything but obvious where ...

style writing-process

2 hours later…

user185131

6:53 AM

@Bookworm Not sure about the tags on this one...

Knight

7:16 AM

@Brahadeesh Hi

You really had a good number of votes in Elections.

user185131

7:35 AM

Hi @Knight

user185131

Yeah, I was actually surprised that I even received 10% of the first choice votes

user185131

It's natural that more users will vote for those who are more visible, who happen to be those who are more active in answering, commenting, etc., on both Main and Meta. I'm quite sure most people didn't have much of an opinion about my candidacy compared to the more polarizing candidates in the election.

Knight

@Brahadeesh To be honest, my statement was intended to be a positive one :)

user185131

Oh yes yes, I understood it to be positive. :)

Knight

@Brahadeesh Reputations and Votes on MSE is really a matter of how much time you spend on the site.

It really helps a very little of how much kind and generous (like you) a user is or how much knowledge he/she have. It’s all about time

user185131

7:45 AM

True, but it's curious how it varies. For instance, heropup was a high rep candidate who somehow slipped under the radar of many users. I have had no interaction with them at all, somehow.

Knight

I never knew that someone with name “herocup” was there.

(I mean before the elections)

user185131

@Knight I'm humbled to have left such an impression upon you. With time, I suppose I can reach more people in the same way, that is more valuable than a mod position anyway :)

Knight

Yes, that’s really what a living being should try to achieve.

Rand al'Thor

8:25 AM

@Knight Why - is it off-topic for M&TV?

@Brahadeesh If others were more polarising, maybe you got a lot of votes simply for not having pissed anyone off :-)

user185131

@Randal'Thor Hehehe, quite possible. I think Paramanand took the position of the "moderate" candidate, with Matt Samuel and Xander Henderson the opposite polarizing ones. I was just kind of there. :P

Rand al'Thor

I wasn't following that election in much detail, but didn't Paramanand have more comments on his nomination than anyone else?

Ah no, that was Matt Samuel, followed by Paramanand.

user185131

Though I say there was polarization, the election was still quite controversy free by Math SE standards, I think.

user185131

Who knows, maybe most people just vote for a familiar face rather than reading the questionnaire responses and all.

Knight

@Randal'Thor I thought it was basically about a novel and a short story (because everyone knows The Shawshank Redemption is an adaptation of King’s novel) so if we can resolve that issue, the question will be solved.

Rand al'Thor

8:37 AM

If LotR had been written by someone else. Featuring Mark Twain, H.P. Lovecraft, Ayn Rand, Dr Seuss, John Milton, and others.

(unrelated to the discussion, just wanted to share it)

user185131

I started reading that, but there's a ton of messages on that board! Quite witty too, most of them. :P

user185131

Should have said "a lot of them", no way could I have read "most" in such a short time.

Rand al'Thor

I happened across it while searching for the source of the quote in this question, which I'm guessing is LotR fanfiction.

Rand al'Thor

8:57 AM

@Knight In any case, I'm not the person to do anything about that. If you reckon it's off-topic at M&TV and should be here, you need to convince the M&TV mods of that.

Tsundoku

9:07 AM

@Randal'Thor If Lord of the Rings had been written from the point of view of Mordor: The Last Ringbearer. (There is a French translation: Le dernier anneau. I couldn't locate an English one.)

Rand al'Thor

That's been on my to-read list for years.

Napoleon Wilson

9:42 AM

@Knight I'm afraid that's none of Mr. al'Thor's business, though.

Rand al'Thor

10:02 AM

Oh, it's here now.

Amusingly, the tag wiki excerpt on this site for rita-hayworth-shawshank-redemption actually says it's based on the Tolstoy story.

Tsundoku

Wikipedia says "thought to be loosely based on" and the text of its source was changed to "is similar to". Sufficient reason for a question.

Rand al'Thor

Sure, it's just funny that the tag wiki seems to (but doesn't because it's unsourced) answer the question.

Tsundoku

10:29 AM

King's novella may have more similarities to The Count of Monte Cristo. Dantès actually escapes, unlike the main character in Tolstoy's story.

1 hour later…

Knight

11:52 AM

@NapoleonWilson :) yes I understood it lately.

I shall write my first answer today.

2 hours later…

Knight

2:11 PM

@Tsundoku Can you please help me in understanding a paragraph from An outcast of the islands? I don’t know why I cannot get from it what I want to get.

CONTEXT: Willems is sleeping with his head on the lap of Aissa (his lover and daughter of Omar). Omar, a blind man, is coming near to him (fire is burning by the Willems and he is a little awake now) with a weapon to kill him.

What I don’t understand is if it was Willems who saved himself by sliding out of Aissa’s arms (or lap) or was it Aissa who saved Willems by throwing his head on the ground?

2 hours later…

Tsundoku

3:49 PM

@Knight First she grabs him ("[he] felt the convulsive pressure of her hands pinning his arms along his body"), then she pushes or throws him aside ("His head struck the ground heavily as she flung him aside"). So it's she who saves him.

Knight

4:37 PM

Thank you so much.

Knight

5:11 PM

So, finally I have written my very first answer (which I don't think answers the question)

3 hours later…

Bookworm

8:38 PM

Q: Does anyone know of "alternate histories" that envision a world in which indigenous Americans successfully rebuffed European colonists?

Charles C. Mann's 1491 has me considering the possibilities for how indigenous Americans might have succeeded against European colonists and conquistadors. I'm wondering if any fictional authors (or filmmakers, playwrights, etc.) have dealt with this subject?

historical-context politics

user185131

9:14 PM

@Bookworm This reads like a list question, but maybe it's fine if there are actually only a handful of such authors/works?

Rand al'Thor

10:03 PM

@Brahadeesh It's a classic off-topic recommendation question IMO.

I haven't closed it because I'm waiting for non-mods to use their votes too ;-)

Alex

10:21 PM

@Bookworm Same type of question.

user185131

10:41 PM

@Randal'Thor Done, commented and flagged for closure :)

user185131

Sorry, voted for closure. I kinda forgot that my privileges have levelled up for a moment there.

Bookworm

11:57 PM

Q: How is Enoch's story relevant to the rest of Wise Blood?

I understand Enoch's character arc somewhat, some vague notion of missing human connection and having a more animal nature, and the parallel between putting on the gorilla costume and the Biblical Enoch being taken up into heaven. But as far as I can tell, this has very little impact on the "main"...