Talk:R. M. Ballantyne

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edit

Rewritten

"Today, if you were to ask the typical man on the street if he had heard of the Christian author of 19th century boys' literature, less than one out of a thousand could respond positively."

I suggest that this particular passage is rewritten... Dreap 20:00, 18 September 2008 (UTC)Dreap

Added slave trade

I added a quote from the author about the American Slave trade. Truly inspiring. Enjoy!!!

Oct, 05, 2008, 11:37 AM

thoroughly healthy in tone

"His stories had the merit of being thoroughly healthy in tone" - what is meant by this and can such an assertion possibly be NPOV? Mutt Lunker (talk) 23:11, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Coral Island is the only one of Ballantyne's novels still read and remembered today

This is unverifiable, particularly as reprints of other Ballantyne novels such as "Martin Rattler" are still being sold. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.19.11.28 (talk) 08:54, 12 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Other of Ballantyne's books are obvious still read today... just look for reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

My edit to remove this claim got reverted by someone claiming that the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography makes this assertion. It's obviously wrong, and it is contradicted the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and an article in the Journal Children's Literature Review.

Any issue with me removing this claim? Jehorn (talk) 13:14, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The ODNB is a very reliable source and definitely backs up the statement as given in the article; reviews on Amazon or Goodreads are not reliable and are pretty well meaningless here. I'm not sure exactly where the contradiction is within the Canadian biography unless it's "Ballantyne’s books ran through many printings, several were issued in new editions, and some remain in print. None of his later fictional works were as popular as the first three; ..., which isn't really a contradiction? Do you have a link to the Journal Children's Literature Review? SagaciousPhil - Chat 13:29, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

On my reading that would be a contradiction. The article currently says "The Coral Island is the only one of Ballantyne's novels still read and remembered today." The corollary of that would be that no one today remembers or reads any of Ballantyne's novels other than the Coral Island. Since the Dictionary of Canadian Biography says that more than one of his books remain in print, some of his books other than the Coral Island are remembered, and presumable, read today. The online reviews obviously aren't a reliable source, but they do show that people today remember other books. You can read a copy of that journal article without a paywall here. Jehorn (talk) 15:02, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I've also just checked an article by Forman in the Victorian Studies journal which states: "Although critics and readers over the last two decades have re-discovered Ballantyne's work, attention has centred on his Robinsonade The Coral Island" (p. 462). My suggestion would be to consider changing the article to read "The Coral Island is the most popular of Ballantyne's novels still read and remembered today" Eric, any thoughts? SagaciousPhil - Chat 15:57, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Clearly should be softened. The ODNB (entry written when exactly?) is far from infallible, & there are recent editions of many titles. Johnbod (talk) 16:47, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's the 2004 ODNB entry that I've been looking at. As the Childrens Literature Review includes wording such as: "it remains the most enduring work from Ballantyne's extensive canon" I'll tweak to the wording I've suggested above and use the Victorian Studies article as a ref unless any one has any objections? SagaciousPhil - Chat 17:09, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No objections from me. Eric Corbett 17:13, 18 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]