Talk:Crime fiction/Catalogs/Prominent writers

Does Ian Fleming count as a mystery writer? I always thought of him as a suspense/action writer. James Bond movies I don't think are really mysteries.--Robert W King 09:36, 11 June 2007 (CDT)

Good question -- well, he's certainly well known; I suppose the question comes down to "classic" mystery writers (Conan Doyle, Christie, etc.) vs. "mystery thriller" or "spy" novelists. I'm not sure what purpose this list is meant for, but since it's just a catalog I guess it can be fairly inclusive! Russell Potter 09:49, 11 June 2007 (CDT)

Additionally, I agree with your questioning of this lists' "purpose"--why, exactly, do we have this entry?--Robert W King 09:50, 11 June 2007 (CDT)

Evidently Larry S. likes lists, which he calls catalogs, and encourages them. Stephen Ewen changed my Prominent Tennis Players to Catalog of prominent tennis players. I have looked at the existing Catalog of famous philosophers and see what is going on there. But I don't understand where the info on Socrates comes from. If you go to Edit, all you see is a {{Socrates}thingee, with NO text! Where does the text come from?! I think that if this (non-Socratic) method, hehe, were applied, say, to Catalog of Mystery Writers, I would simply have Name, Dates, Place of Birth & Death, Nationality, Type of Books (thriller, cosy, espionage, etc.), Most Famous Work, Interesting Trivia (Agatha Christie once had an amnesiac period and famously disappeared for a couple of weeks), Most Famous Detective, Etc. The same thing could be done for the Catalog of prominent tennis players, with Best Stroke, Major Victories, World No. 1 Ranking, What Year, etc. etc. What are your thoughts on this, and HOW is it done?! Hayford Peirce 11:08, 11 June 2007 (CDT)

Well, Larry may be fond of them, but I have no idea what why they're here as independent entries. If, for instance, you search for "Mystery" or "Mystery writers," you get this catalog -- hmm! But where is the entry on Mystery writing as a genre?

The only use I can see for these is as interim filters, enabling those who search for a subject on which we don't yet have an overarching entry to see a few articles which would be related to the main entry if there were one. So, to my mind, the sooner we have a main entry on Mystery (literary genre), or whatever we end up calling it, the better -- this list can then be part of that main entry. Russell Potter 11:28, 11 June 2007 (CDT)