Talk:Washington Irving

Missing work?

The adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A. in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West , digested from his journal and illustrated from various other sources George P. Putnam, New York (1849) catalogued here at Hathitrust. FloridaArmy (talk) 12:51, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

Could you clarify what you're asking? How is it missing? It's referenced both in the main article text as well as in the bibliography. --Midnightdreary (talk) 20:43, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

Use of the name "Washington Irving" in Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The name "Washington Irving" features prominently in the well-known novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (chapter "The Texan" and others). In the novel, reference is made only to the name, not the person behind it. I don't know about the Joseph Heller's intention to use this name, but it seems unlikely to be accidental. I think it would be interesting to add to this page, given the fame of the novel. But I have little experience with editing Wikipedia (especially good articles). What do other people think? Mittem (talk) 12:11, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

I'll answer with a question of my own: Would it aid in a casual reader's understanding of who is Washington Irving and his work? Or is this just an example of cruft? Or a variation of "I like it"? --Midnightdreary (talk) 14:14, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

I think that it would inform the casual reader about Washington Irving's position in the literary community; would help the reader connect dots on the literary landscape. Specifically, that Washington Irving was valued enough by Joseph Heller to prominently feature in Catch-22. The novel is well-known and the readership of this article (covering a literary person) might know it, so I am not sure that it's cruft.

But I am unsure, hence my question. Mittem (talk) 12:39, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

And thank you for engaging in the conversation. To me, the article makes it extremely clear that Irving was an important figure. Heller's mention seems trivial by comparison. Perhaps the article on Catch-22 could explain the reference and why Irving was important to Heller, assuming a worthwhile source gives that information. --Midnightdreary (talk) 16:30, 25 April 2023 (UTC)