Talk:A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

message: "...as when Merlin makes a "veil of invisibility" that actually does not exist. When the veil is worn, people act as if they did not see the wearer, even though he is in plain view."
It was my understanding that the veil only hid one from their enemies, but to everyone else they were plainly visible. Fishopolis 23:46, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll try to explain - save for time traveling there is no other fantasy element in the story whatsoever, as it's not a fairytale but a satire (regardless of what Hollywood adaptations try to convey). Merlin's "veil of invisibility" isn't meant to be described as his actual power. It's meant to show how weak and susceptible are/were the minds of common people (the ones that believed what Merlin said) and to show their unwillingness to question imposed authority. It is more or less the reiteration of famous "Emperor's New Clothes". --Zoran M (talk) 20:04, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  the veil 

message: "the main thrust is a satire of romanticized ideas of chivalry and of the idealization..."
I believe the above statement to be slightly - if not mostly - wrong.  The book's "main thrust" is far more of a jab at blind faith and the power of this faith, especially when wielded by the early Christian church.  Twain surely makes plenty fun of knights and their seemingly eccentric and ridiculous lifestyle, but the theme of the book as a whole puts far more of an emphasis on the exploitation of the gullibility and perhaps naivete of the Medieval mind by other "magicians" and, ultimately, the church.  Fishopolis 23:44, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Main Theme 

message: Is there any? And which one? Every single version I saw (including the one with Bing Crosby) deals mainly with the main premise and a couple of more or less benign motives from the novel, mostly for comedic effect. By "justice" I meant that a movie should have overly satirical tone instead of slapstick or musical. And if there is one I think it should be noted in the article itself.   Zoran M 06:50, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: A movie that would do the novel justice

message: I majorly edited the plot summary yesterday, removing most of the statements which sounded like opinions to me and adding as much of the plot as I could remember. However, it has been a year and a half since I last read the book; someone who has read it more recently really needs to add to my summary. Also, if someone could make a list of characters I would be grateful; for the life of me I couldn't remember Hank's wife's name. Bkwrmgrl1 (talk) 23:55, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Plot enhancement 

message: I deleted the claim that it was the first story involving travel backwards in time.  It was preceded by "The clock that went backwards" by Edward Page Mitchell, published in 1881.  The full text is online. -Fagles 14:35, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: first story involving travel backwards in time?

message: For example:
Constsntinopolitanischerdudelsackspfiefenmachersgesellschafft = 'The Bagpipe Manufacturers Company of Constantinople.' The phrase is no gibberish, just an exaggerated German compound noun. Stop reverting now. 141.166.154.178 (talk) 02:54, 23 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  At the end of several long German langauge phrases 

message: Has anyone made a connection with this book and that of Nikola Tesla? Maybe during his time in Edison's lab? Any links would be appreciated. J. D. Redding 02:38, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Relevance to Nikola Tesla? 

message: It is pointed out that "Connecticut Yankee" predates Wells's "The Time Machine". Why? Is the implication that Twain, rather than Wells, invented the time travel story ? Several time travel stories were written before either man's work. Did Twain influence Wells? Wells's time travel short story "The Chronic Argonauts" was published the year before "Connecticut Yankee", and the tone and subject matter of the two novels are very different. I'll edit the article, unless someone has any further points to make. Mabzilla (talk) 10:51, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Bible, big boss says 'I am that will be', implying hesheit´s manipulating the past from the future. The major difference between Wells´ and Twain´s time traveller I see: man builds the device / man gets subjected to effect from unknown source. --User:Sign1984  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.78.249.120 (talk) 08:00, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

text: I recently added some clarification as to the originality of the "time travel" narrative.  I think there was already a pretty good list of books in place under this theme of the technically proficient protagonist going back to an untechnological age, but any more would be appreciated.  --Gwythoff (talk) 23:31, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "A Connecticut Yankee" and "The Time Machine"

message: It is politically incorrect to point this out but the history of the world since 1492 shows conclusively that Western technology was superior to the technology of other cultures. Had it not been superior to the technology of other cultures the Western/European nations would have not been able to impose their rule on the rest of the world.
Whether or not superior technology equals superior culture is another issue. (66.162.249.170 (talk) 10:50, 13 November 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Could the above contributor explain the relevance of his assertion to the novel in question? --Mabzilla (talk) 18:28, 13 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Western culture inherently superior... 

message: *This article contains a rather large amount of unsourced material, so I've placed fact templates where I could and slapped a refimprove tag on the article itself. There is also a section containing what some have intimated as original research. This article could use a good reference-checking. bwmcmaste (talk) 10:15, 6 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: References

message: Wasn't some part of this book based on Mark Twain's visits to the Kingdom of Hawaii?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 22:58, 25 November 2012 (UTC)
replies: text:  I believe so, 6 years later and nothing has been added. Hopefully I can get consensus for this. Inspirations of major literary works like this most certainly enhance articles.JC7V-constructive zone 23:55, 19 August 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Influence 

message: The book never says that "Clarence"'s name is "Clarence".
At the beginning, it is clearly written that the name "Clarence" was just something Hank used to call "Clarence."  
quote: "Now, Clarence, my boy, If that might happen to be your name...
Also, "Clarence" never really says his name in the book, leaving it unknown.
Marty Jefferesson 14:13, 4 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Clarence" 

message: Surprised to see no mention of the inflation designed into the boss's money in this article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.8.27.140 (talk) 20:59, 16 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  economic theory of designed inflation 

message: According to this source, elements of Ragsdale's life partially inspired this book. But no mention of it is in this article. So would it be ok to add that to this article???  JC7V-constructive zone 23:46, 19 August 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inspiration of William P Ragsdale 

message: Since the addition of isekai as a genre or category has been batted back and forth, it probably wants a section here. My personal take, to kick off discussion: language is formed by usage and "isekai" in particular has been seeing wider application in recent years. It's not a term of English origin, but as pointed out in change notes, English has plenty of loan words and this is a perfectly cromulent one. Granted, Connecticut Yankee isn't a slam dunk for "Anglophone isekai work" the way that Out Of This World is, but if people keep adding the tag, why not assume that that's a good-faith assertion about the current usage of the term and its applicability to the novel? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Krinndnz (talk • contribs) 06:05, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: So, the spate of edits recently comes from this Twitter thread, which went viral...I don't know if that makes it good faith or not, but it's something to consider. I personally don't think isekai works as a genre because it is a generic term that comes specifically from Japanese subcultures. Additionally, there is the issue of sourcing to consider. I mostly work in WP:ANIME, and for our Wikiproject, we have strict sourcing guidelines for genres; that is, any genre listed in the infobox most be backed up by a reliable source. I'm not sure what it's like for the project at WP:NOVEL, but considering it is still Wikipedia, I would think WP:RS and WP:OR still apply. So, if there are any reliable sources listing this novel as isekai, feel free to add it as a genre. Otherwise, it's pretty questionable. Sandtalon (talk) 18:23, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:  I find your line of argument compelling; thank you for explaining. Krinn DNZ (talk) 22:11, 27 August 2021 (UTC)

text: Yankee is timeslip/portal fantasy (in reality that's also all isekai is, but with the qualifiers of "in Japan" and "in the 21st century", but attempts at a merger were not met with enthusiasm). Isekai is a contrived term for a longstanding genre that has recently gotten popular with mediocre light novel authors in Japan just as it became popular with pulp writers in Russia. Paragon Deku (talk) 18:27, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is ''Connecticut Yankee'' an isekai work? 

message: Nice, encyclopedic turn of phrase. It's also good that the gibberishness of "BGWJJILLIGKKK" is pointed out. Otherwise the Wikipedia reader might feel confused.2A02:AA1:1003:D61E:F9B7:54DB:59D1:CFD3 (talk) 13:41, 6 September 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed it Paragon Deku (talk) 04:38, 10 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  "which is simply a load of gibberish" 

message: I noticed that  has been adding "isekai" to the list of genres on this page, which I have been reverting. To prevent any further edit warring, I wanted to discuss here (also see a similar discussion above on this talk page). I disagree that this novel should be categorized as isekai: Isekai describes a specifically Japanese subgenre of portal fantasy, one that could be said to emerge in the late 20th century or even the 21st century. Connecticut Yankee is neither Japanese nor written during this time period, so I think the genre classification as isekai is inaccurate. In addition, since the classification of Connecticut Yankee as "isekai" is likely to be challenged, I think any addition of it as a genre should be cited with reliable sources per Wikipedia's policies on Verifiability and original research. Nushug, please reply so that we can work this out and not edit war. (I also welcome any comments or thoughts from third parties.) Sandtalon (talk) 23:10, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Someday anime fans are going to realize isekai is a contrived spin-off of portal fantasy and that adding it to pre-existing work isn't funny. Paragon Deku (talk) 05:02, 5 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Isekai again 

message: Slovo lidu 193.179.60.160 (talk) 17:33, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: A question in Czech, translated is “Hello, CAN YOU CONTINUE TO DESCRIBE SPECIFIC PEOPLE, MAYBE ALL THE WRITERS”. I have no answer to this question. Writers or Wikipedia editors?  - -Prairieplant (talk) 00:18, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dobrý den MŮŽETE DÁL POPISOVAT KONKRÉTNÍ LIDI TŘEBA VŠECHNY SPISOVATELE