Template talk:Novelyr
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[edit] Books
It is okay having links to the relevant books category, but not part of a hierarchy implying that all novels are books. Most are delivered that way but the novel is a prose form that can be carried by a number of medium, the most popular is still the book. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 09:02, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
- And which category one should put e-books in? All novels are books; book is not a medium, book is a format. GregorB 13:02, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
- And in plain english please, what is you destinction here. The Book is an much abused term which is used to mean many things. Its "fundamental" meaning is the phisical container, with paper pages. A novel is not a book and can never be one, novels are normally made available in book form. However e-books are a misnomer, anyway. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 13:42, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
- Novels can be made available in book form (the most common, certainly in 21st century so far), electronically, as series in newspapers, periodicals, and other sequential publications (more popular in the past). :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 13:46, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
- According to Book, an e-book is a kind of book. But then again: if it isn't, what is it? Which Wikipedia category holds e-books? And why would this distinction be important? I'm arguing here that "book" is a generic term that describes a format and a function, not the method of delivery. All novels are books, in a sense, simply because they are book-length texts (unlike e.g. poems and short stories).
- By the way: this is relevant to WikiProject Novels, so I left a note pointing to this discussion on their talk page. GregorB 15:40, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
- It is so relevant , thanks for doing that. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 16:05, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
- As you raise the length issue, we will continue on it. When does the length element kick in? At "Novel", "Novella", "Novelette" or "Short story" stage. If you think about this the Book aspect becomes largely irrlevant. A book is either a physical thing you can hold or it is an amorphous idea of a piece of writing that actually says very little about it. "Oh I've written a book" is the kind of vagary one might hear from our latest author. But, what has been written, a science textbook, a political essay, an article, a letter, a poem, a novel, a short story. The subject and literary form is everything; the notion of Book has become almost meaningless the usage is so vague!. :: Kevinalewis : (Talk Page)/(Desk) 16:05, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
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- Well, definition of a book may be vague, but that does not come into equation here because: a) I know it when I see it, and b) the real question here is that, for any sensible definition of a book, is there a novel that is not a book. Out of written forms you mention, I don't think that a letter, a poem, or a short story (or say, a 4-page instruction manual) would be considered a "book" by anyone, so that would not be a "sensible definition". GregorB 21:01, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
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