Talk:A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy

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[edit] Reference from another work

User:Stbalbach judged the following to be unworthy of the article. However, it is possible that some readers of both authors might find it interesting that Nabokov referred to Sterne's starling in his Lolita. It is my opinion that it should have a place in the article. This opinion is especially strengthened when I see so many Wikipedia articles filled with trivial references to popular culture without complaint from User:Stbalbach as to the prudent use of article space.

In Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Part Two, §25, the following lines occur:

Where are you hiding, Dolores Haze?

Why are you hiding, darling?

(I talk in a daze, I walk in a maze,

I cannot get out, said the starling).

This is a reference to the following sentence in A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, "The Passport, the Hotel De Paris."

"… and looking up, I saw it was a starling hung in a little cage. – 'I can't get out – I can't get out,' said the starling."

--—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lestrade (talk • contribs) .

You are right, many Wikipedia articles are filled with trivia. That's not a good reason to break new ground with a trivia section here. It is not clear that the reference your quoting is indeed a derivative or just coincidence. Even if it is, it is just simple literary analysis, if you were to go through Lolita or any other similar work that has many cultural references (say for example The Picture of Dorian Gray) you would litter Wikipedia with 100's of cross references - think of the number of cross references in all of literature it would be millions - that is why we have a "notability" clause, there has to be a good reason for it. This just seems like a weak link at best and not even that notable or important in either work. If you are serious about finding connections in Lolita or SJ, then why not find other similar cross references and create an article for it, like List of cultural references in The Picture of Dorian Gray. -- Stbalbach 02:59, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

I wouldn't want to litter this Wikipedia article with 100s of literary cross-references, "coincidental" or not. But if I find any mention of this book by Bart Simpson, in a Matrix film, or in a rap "song" by 50 Cent, I'm sure that such references will be acceptable.Lestrade 17:23, 30 November 2006 (UTC)Lestrade