Talk:Alan Garner

"privately run" manchester grammar school
I'm going to remove the 'privately run' from 'Manchester Grammar School', since it confuses rather than illuminates. When Garner was there the school was a Direct grant grammar school, where virtually all funding for less well-off children was paid for by the state, and where at least a third of governors were appointed by the local education authority, and where entry was entirely based on the results of a competitive examination. Cooke (talk) 09:40, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

Folktales series: reception
In the United States, Kirkus gave Fairy Tales of Gold, Garner & Michael Foreman, the harshest review I have ever read, albeit I haven't read many. (book one, 1981-11-01 review).

And Kirkus gave A Bag of Moonshine, Garner & P. J. Lynch, an exceptionally good review. (book three, 1986-09-15 review).

Although the text by Garner gets more attention than the illustrations by Foreman and Lynch, these remarks pertain to both. Others agreed broadly with Kirkus, I infer from the drastic change in format, from 200-page picture book of merely 4 tales to 160 and 144-page illustrated collections of 21 and 22 tales. (Reviewer #3 strongly approved Garner's part in book two, it is clear, with no implication about its illustration.)

--P64 (talk) 00:19, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

British, English, Brythonic
Here we cite 2010 praise from British novelists, fantasy writers, etc. We actually call three of four "English" in the lead sentences of their biographies. (Susan Cooper, Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman; contrast David Almond)

In the lead we mention "British folk tales", later British folktales (one word); one of Garner's titles is ... British Fairy Tales'. Do these refer to "recent" and English material --middle, early modern and modern? Or clearly Brythonic material in some sense? The Owl Service basis is Brythonic in all three senses of our disambiguation, I understand. Years ago I understood the Alderley Edge novels to have Brythonic basis, without secure knowledge. Now that I check a few of our articles, I see that the Morrigan has Irish roots and Brisingamen Norse. (Are there genuinely Irish and Norse elements in Alderley folklore, or only in name Garner borrowed?)

Bottom line: While covering The Owl Service book awards here, I have not changed "British folk tales" or anywhere wikified "British". But I wonder whether we can do better and pass it on here. I have uncertainly added the Portal:Mythology shortcut, suspecting that there is something more appropriately Celtic/British/Welsh but I don't know the Garner or the portals well enough.

--P64 (talk) 01:23, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

Boneland
Thought it was worth a source dump for Boneland before it is started:


 * , Fourth Estate page

Interviews:
 * , The Guardian
 * , The Scotsman
 * , The Independent

Reviews:
 * , The Guardian
 * , The Independent on Sunday
 * , The Independent
 * , Daily Telegraph
 * , The Herald
 * , Daily Express

Anything else? (Emperor (talk) 23:17, 1 October 2012 (UTC))

ISBN columns
Not convinced of the value of ISBN columns in the tables. They take up room, and they are uninformative to the point of being misleading, as every edition - even of the same text by the same publisher (maybe it's some tiny format change) - seems to have a new ISBN. Since we should either list all or none of them, and all is essentially hopeless, I suggest none. Chiswick Chap (talk) 05:51, 21 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree that the tables add nothing. Span (talk) 10:20, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Bibliography again
The bibliography still looks to be a bit of a mess. It seems it started out as a source list for the references but editors have since added publications about Garner. Some of the items link to the ref section; much of it seems like a collection of external links. Span (talk) 13:24, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Mmm. Should separate actual 'Sources' from 'Further reading' then. And external linkoids should either go to the ext section or get a decent burial. PS - it's your turn. Chiswick Chap (talk) 13:33, 21 May 2013 (UTC)


 * The changes to the bibliography and the intro of the table of works seem to be made by Midnight Blue Owl in 2011. It's a bit of a puzzle. I'll have a go. I vote for - sources, further reading and a decent burial for the rest. Span (talk) 13:37, 21 May 2013 (UTC)


 * The deleted sources, not yet used in the article, are eleven online sources "Retrieved 20 August 2011" that appear consecutively in the "Bibliography" version 2013-05-20. (more information above, ). --P64 (talk) 18:41, 21 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree these might be useful in the future development of the article. They are not 'sources' as they do not source anything yet, if I understand rightly. More 'pre-emptive sources'. The word 'bibliography' is a bit ambiguous to be useful in WP as it just means 'book list'. It is variously used to mean the publications of the subject, books about the subject and sometimes sources used in the article. The headings refs, sources, works, further reading and external links, I think, make matters clearer. Span (talk) 20:55, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Alan Turing
Is Garner's acquaintance with Turing worth a mention? I think it probably is.

http://www.turing.org.uk/book/update/part7.html

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/11/alan-turing-my-hero-alan-garner

Khamba Tendal (talk) 18:12, 28 July 2016 (UTC)


 * I agree, and have added a sentence into the article mentioning this. Midnightblueowl (talk) 16:31, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

Familial?
In "I had to get aback [to familial ways of doing things], by using skills that had been denied to my ancestor..." is "familiar" meant rather than "familial"? 31.52.252.200 (talk) 17:39, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

Missing BBC Radio programmes…
There was a 2015 radio documentary - Bringing Holly from the Bongs - which reunited cast members from the Goostrey Primary School class which performed the nativity play in 1965, with Alan Garner. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (in four episodes) and Moon of Gomrath (single play) were adapted by David Wade in January 1989. There was also a 2011 adaptation of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, dramatised by Peter Thomson and starring Robert Powell, on Radio 4 in the Saturday Drama slot. Jock123 (talk) 15:13, 8 October 2022 (UTC)