Talk:In the Lake of the Woods

Quotes

I have removed the "analysis" (it is OR) and am now wondering if there is a reason to have a "Quotes" section...any thoughts? Levi P. 00:44, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

add the anaylsis and take out the quotes.

Pulitzer Prize

The article correctly states that O'Brien was nominated for a Pulitzer, but he won a National Book Award for Going After Cacciato. Might we want to list that instead? I've always considered them roughly equivalent in prestige among novelists.

Neutrality

This article seems awfully biased, almost like an advertorial by the book publisher. I'm not interested in what one reader thinks of the book. Phrases and words like creatively, masterfully, very interesting give the impression this is a book review not a encyclopedia article. It would not require a significant rewrite, just a few changes. Can we leave the 'glowing reviews' to amazon and keep wikipedia factual?

John Wade's Dwarfism Theory

This theory seems, to say the least, to be somewhat unstable. I really can't take this theory any more seriously than the List of conspiracy theories.

• "His unwillingness to fight Tony Carbo" -- he has just been defeated at the polls, he does not want another fight.
• "John Wade chooses to burn small household plants " -- you can't kill a tree which is planted in the ground with boiling water no matter how tall you are.
• "Being a good stalker during his college years" -- tall people wouldn't stalk? His stature would affect his ability to be discovered?
• "John Wade was also said to be hiding in an irrigation ditch" -- this was the same ditch that was fill with bodies of the people at My Lai. These people were also midgets I suppose?
• "Maybe because in the standing position, John cannot reach any higher than her hips" -- I'm sorry but the hips are common place to focus on when having sex, even if you are 6 foot. He also talks of the softness of her skin.
• "fine young penis" -- I don't see the link that was made here. Does "young" have to mean pre-pubescent? I don't see why it couldn't be anywhere from 20ish down.
• "It may in fact be a small bar-fridge" -- it may also be a double-doored fridge, you can't seriously just make something like that up and pretend that because in could, possibly be a particular type fridge John is a midget.
• "was not tall enough to reach the bench" -- it could also have to do with the idea of isolation that John & Kathy moved into the Lake in the Woods for.
• "found in the bin, a small household bin" -- who said it was a "small" bin? Can I ask how he reached the kettle to start with if he was too short to put it back?
• "John Wade would sometimes look up to see" -- can I finish the quote? "John Wade would sometimes look up to see the wooden hoe spinning like a baton in the morning sunlight". He was sitting down against a fence at this time.

I won't bother with the quotes but I thought I'd highlight this one:

"At one point during the night he stood waist deep in the lake" (p.51) (It was a shallow lake.)

Thanks, Monkeyblue 13:45, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Gah, who re-added the "Dwarfism Theory" and why? Could someone please remove it? 124.168.27.181 (talk) 06:33, 29 October 2009 (UTC)