Talk:Charles Gidley Wheeler

Comments on original article

The original article Charles Gidley Wheeler was not written by me. It remained on Wikipedia for several months with the note that it needed Wikifying. My recent changes to the article were made with this aim in mind.

As you will see, it is not true to say that all my works are self published. Only two out of the total of eight are.

I've also inserted my television credits.

I apologise for spamming. I didn't realize I was doing so!

Best regards,

Chgwheeler 10:20, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Reviews

Further to the above: For the last twenty years I have been aware that, because of their tendency to hint at failures of leadership among senior officers of the Royal Navy, some of my novels, particularly The Raging of the Sea, The Crying of the Wind and the self-published Jannaway's Mutiny are strongly disliked by the editors of the Naval Review and most senior officers of the Royal Navy. There's no doubt in my mind that if the article on Charles Gidley Wheeler is deleted, there will be some in the British Ministry of Defence who will see it as a tactical victory.

I'd like to add that The Raging of the Sea was favorably reviewed the New York Times, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and the Los Angeles Times; and Armada was favorably reviewed in The Washington Post. Chgwheeler 14:06, 14 May 2007 (UTC) Chgwheeler 14:00, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

If you could find verifiable sources for those reviews, you would meet Wikipedia's notability criteria under the following clause: "The person has created, or played a major role in co-creating, a significant or well-known work, or collective body of work, which has been the subject of an independent book or feature-length film, or of multiple independent periodical articles or reviews.". Linkable sources are preferred but newspaper clippings are acceptable. You could use Template:Cite news and add a sentence like "CHGW is a _________ author and _________ whose work has been acclaimed in the New York Times, Publishers Weekly and the LA Times.<ref>{{cite web}}</ref>". If this is done, there would be no controversy over whether this article should be deleted. Regards, Skomorokh ^incite 14:48, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Sources

I'm using this page to assemble refs as you suggested. This one is the review of The Raging of the Sea in the New York Times. You'll see what I mean from it about my unpopularity in the MoD!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E4DC123BF934A15752C0A963948260

THE RAGING OF THE SEA. By Charles Gidley. (Viking, $17.95.)

In the course of this 543-page novel about the British Navy since World War II, Charles Gidley's protagonist describes a night of shipboard revelry and a traditional song for such occasions that, he says, reflects much of what is worst about the navy. It is a ritualistic scene, bestial, incestuous and finally boring in a fascinating way. Mr. Gidley, a 25-year veteran of the navy and the author of one previous novel, ably reflects this dim view of the service through the story of Steven Jannaway, whose father died a hero after a blemished naval career. Steven enters the navy out of a sense of duty not only to his father's memory but also to his older brother Alan, who was so severely injured as an infant that he was unable to carry on the family naval tradition. Steven's ascent in the naval hierarchy brings him into contact with a raft of odd characters: there is the troubled son of an admiral, who commits suicide after his first homosexual experience; the nymphet daughter of the same admiral, whom Steven impregnates and dutifully marries, and who does much to further his career; and an effete slithy tove of a career officer who glides up the naval ladder without suffering so much as a sliver, but who is terrified that his dark secret, which involved the admiral's son, will be revealed by the nymphet, who regards him as the love of her life. The Raging of the Sea is filled with dark secrets of this sort. Its factual descriptions of naval life and glittery, sophisticated surface notwithstanding, it is less a modern historical novel than a Gothic romance. The counterpoint of characters' lives as metaphors for the navy (and vice versa) is just one of the devices Mr. Gidley uses to sustain dramatic tension, and, while none of the characters effectively strikes an emotional chord, their romantic intrigues are fascinating. Although long, the book is never ponderous; in fact, its many serpentine entanglements will keep readers engaged throughout. - James Haskins

Thanks for your help. I'll keep searching for the other reviews.

Chgwheeler 08:58, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

I've been working on the page, adding references, but have now lost the whole page excepty for the first few lines. Have I been killed off? Is it worth persevering? Chgwheeler 17:28, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

No, it has been shaping up well, I think. Have another look when you have time. — Athaenara ✉ 05:11, 19 May 2007 (UTC)