Talk:Not Quite Dead Enough

Infobox image width
When the spine of the book jacket is included in the infobox image, I've sized it at 260 pixels wide instead of 200. — WFinch 14:56, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

The reason is not because
I was reviewing Booby Trap yesterday and found (for the first time in my experience) a problem with Stout's diction as expressed in Wolfe's dialog. Not quite halfway through chapter 5, as Wolfe and Archie drive Shattuck to Van Cortlandt Park, Wolfe says this:

"The reason you shouted," Wolfe went on to Shattuck, "was because the first glimmer of a fact darted into your brain . . ."

Now that's not what I would call a clear error. Both Jonathan Swift and George Eliot used variations on "the reason is because" and that's pretty good company. The usage is tautological nevertheless (see Fowler's Modern English Usage, for example) because the darting of that glimmer is itself the reason and can be paraphrased into the noun clause ". . . was that the first glimmer . . ." but not into the adverbial clause ". . . was because the first glimmer . . ."

That surprised me because Stout was so careful about the words and grammar he put in Wolfe's mouth. I've always been impressed that Stout followed established idiom and used "doubt if" when doubt existed (as in "I doubt if it's worth the trouble.") and "doubt that" when it didn't (as in "There's no doubt that . . ."). It may be that idiom has shifted over the past 70 years -- I personally have trouble with "doubt if" and "doubt that."

As to "the reason is because," my guess is that Stout briefly lost his bearings because of the interpolation of "Wolfe went on to Shattuck" as often happens to less careful writers. I wonder if anyone else has encountered unintended solecisms in the Wolfe stories. TurnerHodges (talk) 16:23, 2 September 2012 (UTC)

Only stories when Archie is in the US Army?
This statement is incorrect. Achie is also in the US army in _Help Wanted, Male_ a short story which is part of the collection _Trouble in Triplicate_. Lacreighton (talk) 06:52, 22 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, "This statement" does not claim that these are the only stories in which Archie is in the army. Rather, it says that in these stories only, Archie ". . . wears the uniform of the United States Army." The sixth paragraph of Help Wanted establishes that Archie is not in uniform. TurnerHodges (talk) 15:43, 22 August 2014 (UTC)


 * This statement was challenged on the talk page for "Booby Trap", so I checked. Archie puts on his uniform in chapter 3 of "Help Wanted, Male". I've modified or trimmed the statements. — WFinch (talk) 15:32, 1 March 2015 (UTC)