Talk:Lee Child

Untitled
I’ve read in an interview on a new website (www.jackreacher.co.uk ) that Lee Child would have called his biography “Always Lucky... the Most Fortunate Man Who Ever Lived". He seems to be a very optimist man! And my question is how do you think Jack Reacher would name his biography? Bradleyjohn 17:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Pen name
I just read Mr. Child's first book and when looking further into the author's work I found his website notes that Lee Child is not his legal name and the site declines to give his "real name". I think the fact that "Lee Child" is a pseudonym should at least be noted in the article, but I'm not adequately familiar with the subject to feel comfortable just dumping it in without any context. 70.16.72.15 06:23, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

A "Write What You Know" Problem
Novelists are often advised to write what they know because, if they do, the veracity and reality will shine through. The problem with novels by Lee Child is that he has no idea what it is really like in the American military and so his novels are full of small errors which prevent the reader from ever having a suspension of disbelief and really getting into the novel. For example, in Running Blind, Lee Child suggests that one-third of the enemy force in Vietnam was female, which is simply preposterous. These sorts of big mistakes permeate his novels, although Child's novels are otherwise fairly well done.

note: The talk page is for discussion of the article, not the subject of the article. Of course, the subject of the article is Lee Child and, by extension, his books. Obviously, there would be little point in the article if Lee Child were not an author and if people hadn't read his books and reacted in some way to his books. Another aspect of Child's novels is the language. How does every character express surprise and/or anger; they exclaim "Shit!" How does every character become annoyed; they are "pissed" instead of being frustrated or enraged or infuriated or any of dozens of other, better words. This lowbrow language is simply part and parcel of Child's novels.

sales - "a book a second"
Annual sales of over 31 million? I don't believe it! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Saintmesmin (talk • contribs) 12:18, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Well it's a fact so you may believe it. Anyone know why Lee Child is refered to as Grant throughout the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hendrixx13 (talk • contribs) 00:58, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I see it's been removed. That would have no place in the article unless verified.

In case anyone wants to update this.... James Grant (not Jim) is Lee Child's legal name, but as Child is the name he is known by publicly and professionally, that is how he should be referred to. His current sales (as of 2009) are approximately 6 million books per year worldwide (according to the NY Times, a number which is realistic). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.255.43.24 (talk) 19:50, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Other errors
The percentage of enemy female soldiers in Vietnam is not Childs' only error. In one novel he keeps referring to the pastor of a country church as a "vicar". This is a totally UK/Commonwealth tearm. A protestant pastor in rural America is almost universally called "preacher". Other tearms may be "reverend" or "pastor". I have never heard a rural or city pastor called "vicar" in the U.S.

He also refers to model 1911 type pistols holding seven rounds as "junk". That will be news to the millions of military personnel,law enforcement officers and civilians who have carried these pistols and used them successfully for almost a century. In fact, many elite military and SWAT teams choose the 1911 type over any other.

And then there is the statement that the Chevrolet Caprice is the "best" police cruiser ever. I guess that's why 85% of all police cars in the U.S. are Ford Crown Victorias.

I really like Childs' Reacher novels, but maybe his editors should get some blame for not noticing this stuff. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.230.246.232 (talk) 23:02, 30 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Talk pages are for discussing ways to improve the article (see WP:TALKPAGE) - this isn't a good place to post general book reviews. If you can find a notable source that makes these criticisms (e.g. a review published in a noteworthy media outlet), that could certainly be mentioned in the article. --GenericBob (talk) 06:40, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Use of 'spring' and 'fall' as means of describing when various books were/will be released
In the southern hemisphere, the seasons do not match up with those of the northern hemisphere. Accurate release dates with the appropriate country appended would provide more accuracy to the article. However difficult following these up may be, it would be worthwhile as the popularity of the author grows throughout the world. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.119.29.144 (talk) 21:38, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Lee / Grant
As the title of the article is 'Lee Child', the author should be referred to as 'Child' throughout, and not 'Grant'. Acknowledging that 'Child' is the pesudonym of 'James Grant' or 'Jim Grant' should be done in the first paragraph, with footnotes or appropriate reasoning present. Vaughn 178.119.29.144 (talk) 21:45, 25 February 2011 (UTC)


 * I wondered about this. There seems to be an inconsistency within the article, so I have changed the Childs to Grants as most were Grant, with only the occasional Child. Personally, I think it should stay as Grant as that is his name. How do other pages featuring authors with pseudonyms organise their work? I can only think of Ruth Rendell as an example! --90.244.49.149 (talk) 19:25, 9 November 2013 (UTC)
 * If you search for Theodor Seuss Geisel it will redirect you to the Dr. Seuss page. Dr. Seuss is only mentioned as the pen name for Geisel numerous times but the article is mainly referring to the author as Theodor Seuss Geisel and not as Dr. Seuss. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.24.49.245 (talk) 20:19, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Fan of Aston Villa?
Why is the fact that Child is a fan of Aston Villa Football Club in the lead? Wouldn't it be better placed in the bio section? It feels weird to put so much emphasis on it when it doesn't seem, from the rest of the article, to be one of the most important aspects of his life or work... I'll be repositioning that sentence in the biography section. Juniper4589 (talk) 09:46, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

I've also renamed the 'early life' section to 'personal life' because it clearly mentioned events that were much recent that 'early life' would imply. Juniper4589 (talk) 09:48, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

DOB check
29 October 1954 seems to be the consistent birthdate. Coventry source seems reliable, plus some literary blogs which seem more credible than your average non-WP:RS. Dl2000 (talk) 14:23, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

French ancestry
I did not get that part :

"A 2012 interview suggested that many aspects of the Jack Reacher novels (including Child's pen name, and Reacher's partially French ancestry) were deliberately aimed at maintaining the books' profitability"

Maybe someone should explain that.

--Caviar d&#39;Aberdeen (talk) 21:33, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

That was me. For the ancestry, what the interview suggested (although perhaps my paraphrasing didn't get it across too well) was that giving Reacher a French parent was partly in order to help it sell well in France. The suggestion was that the otherwise all-American nature of Reacher's family might hurt the books in France. Similarly, 'Child', beginning with a letter before the G in 'Grant' would be closer to the door in UK bookshops, and would therefore be more susceptible to impulse purchasing by people wandering in without a specific purchase in mind.

Personally I think the bit about the name is a bit weak, (his work seems usually to be under 'crime' rather than 'general fiction' although there could be something in the idea of a French parent. But whether they were commercially good ideas or not, I was trying to say that the author of the interview argued these points.

Sorry for any confusion. Does that help?

fulleraaron

It does help me, but the sentence is still confusing. Maybe you should rephrase it in order to explain the french family part. The author's name was already explained in another section, so you don't need to do it again.

Thanks, anyway. Have a nice day. --Caviar d&#39;Aberdeen (talk) 03:52, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Jim or James
Is his name actually Jim, or is that just a nickname for James?--90.244.49.149 (talk) 19:27, 9 November 2013 (UTC)
 * It appears that his real name is James with Jim being a nickname for it. He's referred to as Jim more often than James when his real name is mentioned in conjunction with Lee Child's. It could be that's how he prefers to be called. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BobM NH (talk • contribs) 21:01, 10 June 2015 (UTC)
 * "James D." Does anyone know what the "D." stands for?  rags (talk) 19:40, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

Thank you
...for the effort to create and sustain a reasonably well-referenced and presented article. This article shines, in particular, alongside the fictional character article that also appears here at Wikipedia. Le Prof. 71.201.62.200 (talk) 21:38, 5 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Two suggestions in any case: The "being made redundant from his job due to corporate restructuring" fails to capture the actual content of the source that is cited, where a later mention of "anger" is more to the point. Grant's skulduggery and machinations for the two years before he was ultimately and precipitously fired — an early message-firing at that — deserves a longer and more careful presentation (esp. given the fine source that was found and cited). Otherwise, the Daily Mail paragraph in his personal life section gives far too much space to the issue at hand, and too much space to the repudiated Daily Mail claim. I think a paragraph half as long, and leading with the trssuth, rather than the falsehood, is a better aim. 71.201.62.200 (talk) 21:46, 5 September 2015 (UTC)

"High Heat"
This short story also occupies pp. 513 to 592 of the Random House edition of Never Go Back. Should I add this parenthetically with the 'electronic' mention? rags (talk) 19:34, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

Lede
"He is especially known for his "Reacher" series ... To my knowledge, ALL of his fiction has included Reacher.  I am thinking to rephrase this slightly.  rags (talk) 20:48, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

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Political undercurrents in the Jack Reacher books
Something should be mentioned about Child's politics &ideology reflected in his writings. He uses the "old white guy" as criminal mastermind quite often, "white supremacist" gangs quite often as opponents for Reacher, etc. Half the time the setting of some villainous plot is a rural western or southern town, with their (white male) inhabitants depicted as total assholes (and quite invested in the aforementioned villainous plot). The character sometimes makes big of supposed racial, political, and institutional "injustices." Reacher, although supposedly a trained ex MP alpha male, never uses a weapon unless some opponent has lost one to him, and generally hesitates toward characters who use weapons - sometimes portraying them in a very biased manner.

In "Die Trying," Child spends LITERALLY HALF THE BOOK selling readers his narrative of what American militias are, i.e., incompetent, violent, suicidal, cults that kidnap women, send out truck bombs, murders people just for the sake of it, establish enclaves without any interposition, act irrationally. He goes to a shitload of trouble to make us dislike the - white fat man - who leads this militia?cult?enclave? - and then has him describe in a detailed manner to Reacher his ideology, for no reason at all, other than to make political statements. Then he drills into the reader the name of the murderous, extremely deluded antagonist group: the "Montana Militia." The Montana Militia. The Montana Militia. The Montana Militia.

Total bullshit. But of course I realize u guys are a leftist site, no point in trying to rectify that, but the political underwritings should be reported in this article.

Jasonbourne033 (talk) 17:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is not a forum for discussion about personal opinions on a subject.--Dmol (talk) 18:21, 30 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Ok, so don't include my opinions about it. But include the facts. Article completeness would benefit from a "Political leanings" subsection. Jasonbourne033 (talk) 02:30, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

Something else I forgot to mention: although he is English (and I'm not sure how exactly much time he has spent in America, particularly in conservative areas) he seems to be quite comfortable depicting the American establishment as somewhat incompetent, and the American infrastructure of quite lower quality than it is in actuality. He also expresses deep anti-gun sentiment notably in "Die Trying," where a character talks about "40 million gun owners who could turn violent against the US government" in support of the murderous "Montana Militia" and their "radical right-wing ideology and terrorism". Jasonbourne033 (talk) 02:46, 31 May 2018 (UTC)

My farther wonted to meet you before  he died. 2 years ago. But never got to thank you for the books. That gave him do much. Hope. 86.166.114.76 (talk) 15:23, 4 March 2024 (UTC)