Talk:Huntingtower (novel)

message: "The novel contrasts the domestic characters, heroes and villains, with their more alien Russian counterparts. Huntingtower is characteristic of Buchan’s novels, particularly in its class-based paternalism; its xenophobic prejudices, which are mitigated by instinctive humanity and dry humour; and its shrewd common-sense understanding of personality and motivation.[citation needed]"
What in this context would be regarded as a "citation"? All critical assessments of literature are subjective as soon as they begin to interpret a text rather than state what it contains. In order to provide a "citation", does one need to refer to the published comment of a professional reviewer, or would it suffice to provide one's own critique, referring to textual evidence straight from Buchan's novels?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fleeming (talk • contribs) 00:50, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

message: Ditto for "citation needed".  The article is larded with Fleemings's opinions, which may or may not be valid but are certainly not citations of the novel itself, nor citations of published criticisms of the novel.  No original work - or personal opinions! Them's the Wikipedia rules.  Edit or be edited!  Express your opinions here, on the talk page, like I shall:
I just finished reading the book, and have a very different impression of it.  It is indeed a product of its times ("Jews" mentioned perjoratively by Heritage and Saskia, though not protagonist McCunn), and like many Buchan novels, a story of timidity overcome and men, women, and boys banding together to fight evil.  After a horribly bloody world war, with the boldest dead (like my great-grandfather) and the lucky fretting that they were cowardly, the aftermath of that war was what Buchan vicariously wrote about and what his readers wanted to read.
For example, "dour"; there's no citation of that in the criticism (spammed link repaired) or in the novel itself.  Dickson McCunn is gregarious, informally teaches literature at his church, and strikes up friendly conversations with strangers met on the train and on the road.  A successful grocer, dealing with the public all day, could not be otherwise.  The novel characterizes McCunn as an irresolute romantic who found courage, as was Buchan himself (IMHO).
"Paternalism?"  Only the "upper classes" helped the poor better themselves?  Sorry, "paternalism" sounds like "decent human being" to me; in my limited Yank experience, that is almost every Brit I've met.  Perhaps I have just met another who isn't.
I do not read Buchan because he is "true", but because he is one window (of many) into pre-world-war-2 Britain, warts and all.  History from one who lived it, myths from one who manufactured them.  My 1958 Penguin paperback edition has a 3 page rags-to-riches mini-bio of the author.  If Fleeming has a better source, I would enjoy reading the book or academic journal he forgot to cite.
Still, Fleeming put the first stake in the ground, and when I get time someday, I hope build a solid (and well-cited) structure to replace it. KeithLofstrom (talk) 05:05, 13 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  No Original Work 

message: What does "imprisonment under false pretenses by Bolshevik agents of an exiled Russian noblewoman" mean? Can one be imprisoned under correct pretenses by foreign spies? And aren't "class" and "paternalism" two different things? The rambling description reads as if written by a member of the Young Communist League!Royalcourtier (talk) 04:06, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Confusion