4 ms·
It's always fun to read about things that have come to be believed about famous authors, without a basis in fact, whether through hoaxes or by more innocent mea
by theobeers 6y ago
It's always fun to read about things that have come to be believed about famous authors, without a basis in fact, whether through hoaxes or by more innocent means.
The following line from the linked blog post stood out to me: "As a Tolkienist I would love [for] many cities A, buildings B or persons C to have some sort of link to my favourite author…"
That reminded me of the hoax surrounding a purported 1862 meeting between Dickens and Dostoevsky, which came to light in the early 2010s.[0] The story gained legs because of how badly many Dickensians wanted to believe it. It was a less sentimental Dostoevskian who took it upon himself to unravel the whole thing.
There has been some discussion on HN of the Dickens-Dostoevsky affair.[1]
[0]: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2013/07/true-story-behind-meeting-between-dickens-and-dostoevsky-never-happened/313381/ https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2013/07/true-sto...
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21150906 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21150906
- bloak 6y agoThe blog post currently says: "I would love a many cities". I would guess that "a" should be replaced with "so" rather than "for". Perhaps the author will correct it and we'll find out.
- Kaibeezy 6y agoI can see why the comment seems, prima facie, inappropriately nit picky for HN, but there’s a link in the article to another article where the author dissects the details of rhyming meter in the “Not all those who wander are lost” poem, and, having read that heroic exercise in pedantry, applaud this courageous commenter for epic drollery. How many syllables in “fire”? How do you pronounce “again”? Huzzah!
- bloak 6y agoThis has since appeared on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26061637 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26061637 Coincidence?
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoOne I read was Galileo visiting Harvard. Apparently they were co-temporal (overlapped anyway; Harvard is old) and it would have been possible during his house arrest, should friends have spirited him to the New World.
- solveit 6y agoFounded in 1636! That's a lot older than I had thought!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]