Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Novels/Novel categorization

Novel categorization

 * /Novel categorization - Novel categorization discussions (only use the page talk for page related discussion)

categorization ideas
Just trying to start conversation here, as this should be started soon. Options I see are.
 * Genre and sub genre
 * Period when book was published.
 * Or some combination of the two.
 * Note we also need to figure out how the stubs are going to work with the categories.Eagle (talk) (desk) 21:09, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Good progress, no response...
What is up now looks very good, but I am curious about the lack of ideas mentioned on this page....Eagle (talk) (desk) 22:03, 24 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Not enough people watching? I'm curious as to whether it's possible to use the template itself (what links here page?) to gather statistics on what people actually put into the "genre" field... --Alvestrand 22:09, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

drop categories that are guaranteed to require multivalue?
When looking at "frame story", I was thinking of Dan Simmon's "Hyperion". Definitely a frame story, but also definitely a science fiction story. I think books shuld be marked with the genre of the stories, not the genre "frame story".


 * haven't looked at frame story myself - certain consider what you have said. :: Kevinalewis  :  (Talk Page)  22:28, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

I'd also like to drop some less-useful categories - like separating "whodunit" from "mystery". --Alvestrand 22:13, 24 February 2006 (UTC)


 * We are pointing the "Whodunit" to Mystery as a Category anyway - so that's covered. :: Kevinalewis  :  (Talk Page)  22:28, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Children's?
Is there a reason we don't have Children's Novels as a category? I know there can be grey areas, but at the same time it seems like an obvious missing area? I'm going through categorising stubs at the moment and would have thought a children's-book-stub category was worth having, too. Thoughts, anyone?


 * Update - my bad - I've just discovered the childrens-books-stub. --JennyRad 22:00, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Gothic vs. Horror
I asked on another page but any clarification on horror novels vs. gothic novels? PeregrineV 18:49, 12 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I can across these definitions on the web I hope they help.
 * GOTHIC NOVEL: A type of romance wildly popular between 1760 up until the 1820s that has influenced the ghost story and horror story. The stories are designed to thrill readers by providing mystery and blood-curdling accounts of villainy, murder, and the supernatural. As J. A. Cuddon suggests, the conventions include wild and desolate landscapes; ancient buildings such as ruined monasteries, cathedrals, and castles with dungeons, torture chambers, secret doors, and winding stairways; apparitions such as phantoms, demons, and necromancers; an atmosphere of brooding gloom; and youthful, handsome heroes and fainting (or screaming!) heroines who face off against corrupt aristocrats, wicked witches, and hideous monsters. Conventionally, female characters are threatened by powerful or impetuous male figures, and description functions through a metonymy of fear by presenting details designed to evoke horror, disgust, or terror (see Cuddon's discussion, 381-82).


 * HORROR STORY: A short story, novel, or other work of prose fiction designed to instill in the reader a sense of fear, disgust, or horror. The modern and postmodern horror story, as typified by H. P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite, and Anne Rice, grows out of the earlier conventions of gothic literature from the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries. See gothic, gothic novel, and gothic literature.


 * Trust that is clearer, there is not a clear distinction is is one of emphasis and character. As with many things in life categorization is an imprecise art. :: Kevinalewis  :  (Talk Page) / (Desk)  15:57, 15 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Within that last category is also Erotic/Horror/Fantasy. I just came across a novel by a horror writer (LHK) that is a stub in Horror but is really more of an Erotic Dark Fantasy. Do we have an offical Library listing of categories? If not, then perhaps the ISBN agency, which I believe is Bowker.com may be a good place to begin in terms of adopting a standardized category list. If I can find it, I'll post. Oroboros 1 10:57, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

More Novel Categorizations
Is it just me or have more categories been added? I only ask beacuse I now see something called "Invasion novels" which I don't believe was there before. Is this our new list to use? PeregrineV 16:35, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


 * As I recall this genre was in the first of very early list I put together from a number of source throughout wikipedia. It is really on the main WikiProject Novels/Novel categorization discussion page so others can review it - debate it - add to it, etc. Then as each is seen as significant add to the list on the WP:NOVELS main project page for categories and stubs etc. Do you have any particular though I haven't touched this subject for some time myself. :: Kevinalewis  :  (Talk Page) / (Desk)  16:46, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Library of Congress Subject Headings (2006)
I found the official "red book" for Subject Headings |here. Unfortunately, it's huge and costly. Perhaps there's an online version available. I plan to look into this on my next visit to my local library. Oroboros 1 11:14, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
 * One work-around is to go to the LC website and browse or search by subject using the term you think is most likely. Another would be to go to WorldCat and search by subject, and see what libraries are using.HTH, Pegship 22:21, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Writer novels vs. Novels by writer
Discussion has begun here about whether to conform to one or another of these forms for purposes of category naming. Her Pegship 01:08, 15 November 2006 (UTC)