Template:Did you know nominations/The Old Axolotl

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The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by 97198 (talk) 13:14, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

The Old Axolotl[edit]

  • ... that the experimental, electronic novel The Old Axolotl is Jacek Dukaj's first novel released in English? Source: http://www.dukaj.pl/en/bio
    • ALT1:... that ...? Source: "You are strongly encouraged to quote the source text supporting each hook" (and [link] the source, or cite it briefly without using citation templates)

Created by Piotrus (talk). Self-nominated at 05:40, 22 March 2017 (UTC).

  • Hook is of appropriate length and NPOV. Article is NPOV with a character count of just over 1600. Article, created March 21, is new enough. No image. QPQ done. Earwig shows no obvious signs of copyvio. The hook is cited to WP:PRIMARY on the basis of which I'd usually exclude it. However, the primary source in this case is the website of a Zajdel-award winning author and is being used to support a fairly innocuous claim, on which basis I think it's okay. The hook is cited inline - but is modified to caveat the claim as "his homepage described ...". I think the hook needs to be, itself, modified so as not to speak in Wikipedia's voice (e.g. that, according to Jacek Dukaj, his experimental, electronic novel ...). There are some issues with use of plurals in the article, however, that's not a criteria for DYK so is ignored. Hook is interesting. DarjeelingTea (talk) 15:19, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
    • @DarjeelingTea: Well, the electronic or experimental can be sourced with other sources (English, like culture.pl, for example). The only thing his website is used for is for the "first book in English" claim, since it collects dates of publications and indicators which works were translated to English, and thus makes it clear that it is the first book (novel/novella) following the prior three translations which are listed as short stories. I don't think we need anu clarification or attribution for this rather non-controversial stuff. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 03:17, 26 March 2017 (UTC)
  • New full review needed; prior reviewer has been indefinitely blocked as a sock, and hadn't bothered to respond here in the past month. Thanks. BlueMoonset (talk) 06:41, 30 April 2017 (UTC)
  • This article is new enough and long enough. The hook facts are non-controversial and are cited inline, the article is neutral and does not appear to contain plagiarism or close paraphrasing. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 05:46, 4 May 2017 (UTC)
  • Hi, I came by to promote this, but I find I agree with the "sock". The hook fact is pretty run of the mill. Other details about the digital-only release are far more interesting: that there is no paper version; or information from the culture.pl article which could be added to the article, that The book ... will feature digital elements that are supposed to engage the reader in an unprecedented way. With different layers of hypertext, illustrations and graphic elements which include logos and diagrams of robots that can be printed on 3D printers. Yoninah (talk) 20:31, 11 May 2017 (UTC)
  • @Yoninah: That there is no paper version is already indicated - that's the very definition of electronic literature, named and linked. And the culture.pl stuff is already paraphrased in the article, plus it is also normal for electronic novel. It's like saying ... is a TV show that appears on TV, has real people who move and say things, and they are called actors. If you'd like to propose a new alt hook, go ahead, but I cannot figure one that wouldn't be redundant repetition of what electronic literature is. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 10:35, 14 May 2017 (UTC)
  • @Yoninah: While the hook is roughly correct, I think it is much less important or interesting than mine. There is a ton of books dealing with this question. But the fact that this is one of the very few, and perhaps the largest, English-language release of this bestselling author is much bigger news. Anyway, now that we have two alt hooks we need a third opinion on which is the best, as the only thing that seems to remain in question is which hook is more interesting (ping User:BlueMoonset). --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 08:00, 25 May 2017 (UTC)
I don't really like either of the above hooks. From the point of view of an English reader (and this is an English Wikipedia), Dukaj is not a bestselling author, he's a debuting author. An obscure author publishes his first book in English, meh. As Piotrus writes, a book addressing a vague philosophical question is not particularly catchy either. I'd suggest the following hook, with some more specifics which I find interesting and still staying within 200 characters. — Kpalion(talk) 10:31, 25 May 2017 (UTC)
I like it. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 07:27, 29 May 2017 (UTC)
  • Me too. ALT2 hook ref verified and cited inline. Rest of review per Cwmhiraeth. ALT2 good to go. Yoninah (talk) 19:53, 29 May 2017 (UTC)