His brothers words at the crematorium were, "quick lets get out of here, its gonna blow."

Heh... Right up there with: "Are you absolutely sure they remembered to take out Mum's pacemaker?" Really what you want to overhear when you're sitting in the first row...

My Granddad used to drink a minimum of a liter of Whiskey a day, drive to and from work and around the country.
The term is plateau-drunk.
His brothers words at the crematorium were, "quick lets get out of here, its gonna…

Really? Surely, actually, Penguin recalls book, pulps everything, and invoices Ihimaera against his advance/fee/royalties. The same thing? Yes, but no..... nice spin.

Also, in an attempt to clarify a point for myself, at an academic institution do the same, or different, standards…

I think we should make [Veronelli] the patron of the book club.

Pierre Menard as secretary, of course.

I was trying something radically new with forum commentary, experimenting with hybrid forms.

And I might have been slightly drunk at the time.

I knew we could rely on you, Giovanni.

Oh. I thought you said "books I've read" not Box of red.

Nice! Can we get a call from the resident linguist on whether these two phrases are, in fact, identical in New Zillund English as she is spoke?

Book club format: read, red, whine. (Goes to our head).

Craig dont be rude ;)

I don't know what you were thinking of, Missy, but "stop digging" always sounded pretty damn sensible to me. :)

Of course! Because on the internet, nobody knows you're a-drinking a fine glass of cab sauv while typing :-)

Oh. I thought you said "books I've read" not Box of red.
;-)

Or should we hang him high?

Waste of good rope, IMO. What's getting on my tits is this: I've learned the hard way (and not too far from here) that when you've fucked up, the best thing to do is just say "sorry" then put your teeth together and leave…

What to make of this exciting new approach to historical fiction??!

I eagerly await the English translation. That is all.

Or wipe up any spilled wine... I'll come, as long as it's not a teetotal group.

Of course! Because on the internet, nobody knows you're a-drinking a fine glass of cab sauv while typing :-)

I'd buy the "exciting new development in literary technique" explanation if it had come out first, before the "dog-ate-my-homework" explanation.

On top of that (apart from the plagiarism) no-one who has read this book has found it be radically…

if I started a PA book club, would anybody come? We'd have to meet in the ether, alas, but the good news is, no bookings or babysitting required, and nobody has to vacuum up the crumbs afterward.

Or wipe up any spilled wine... I'll come, as long as it's not…

It just doesn't ring convincingly, does it?

What to make of this exciting new approach to historical fiction??!

When accepting the laureate award yesterday, Ihimaera explained to Stuff.co.nz, the unacknowledged use of other authors' material in his book came about as he struggled to create a new form of fiction.

"I believe that what I am…

Seriously, Witi, do not let the words " less than 0.4 per cent" pass your lips again because that's so far from the point it will need serious air points to come home again. Just stop trying to mitigate or minimise what you did. Please.

To be fair, there's no…

so far from the point it will need serious air points to come home again.

Air Points fairy may take pity? But agreed, that number should be retired.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get my hands on a copy of this suddenly collectible item. All I have…

Just saw that The Trowenna Sea is the number one NZ fiction bestseller — not just for the week ending Nov 7 but also for the week ending Nov 14. The second week being the period when the Listener cover was everywhere and the story was widely discussed.

And then:…

He apologised for the oversight, which he said amounted to less than 0.4 per cent of what had been published, and promised any future editions of the book would include proper acknowledgments.

Seriously, Witi, do…

This is a very interesting development. And, for all concerned, probably a welcome one.

Just saw that The Trowenna Sea is the number one NZ fiction bestseller — not just for the week ending Nov 7 but also for the week ending Nov 14. The second week being the period when the Listener cover was everywhere and the story was widely discussed.

Not for…

Ihimaera to buy back all copies of controversial book.

Crikey.

Amazing that the Arts Foundation "discussed" withdrawing the honour but opted not to.

And there goes the sympathy I had for the Arts Foundation this morning.

Now, little over a week later, the "plagiarism row", as at least one paper calls it, starts to appear like something traumatic that happened…

wouldn't join any group that would have people like me as a member.

Oh, we wouldn't have to have people like you as a member. We could just have people not feel particularly strongly one way or the other about you as a member. Would that work?

No, that's more cult-y (cf Love bombing). Isn't the next step that we isolate him from his existing peer group?

I'm a bit of a Groucho Marxist about this: wouldn't join any group that would have people like me as a member.

group hug for Philip — unless that's too cliquey

No, that's more cult-y (cf Love bombing). Isn't the next step that we isolate him from his existing peer group?

The Herald was interested in my views, but mysteriously did not end up using my reply about how delighted I was to see this renaissance man and complete original (Mr Knox, I mean) finally recognised at the highest level.

Heh...

Modelled on the MacArthur Genius Grant, I'd wager, although smaller…

though I hope it will do Chris Knox and the family a lot of good.

The Herald was interested in my views, but mysteriously did not end up using my reply about how delighted I was to see this renaissance man and complete original (Mr Knox, I mean) finally recognised at…

Life improved substantially for prominent author Witi Ihimaera this week

Feh...

I'm trying to figure out WTF a "$50,000 no-strings attached donation to celebrate their past achievements and invest in their future" is, though I hope it will do Chris Knox and the family a lot of good. Ihimaera I…

I do think we should reserve the right to wank on about other books other people might not have read, though – that's how I find out about what to read next.

Quite honestly, showing off the fact that I am well read* is all I've got. You can't possibly…

Life improved substantially for prominent author Witi Ihimaera this week.

Ihimaera, who was at the centre of a plagiarism row last week, was today named one of New Zealand's Arts Foundation Laureates for 2009.

The author of Whale Rider is one of five artists to…

And yes to short books, magazine articles, and colouring in. I do think we should reserve the right to wank on about other books other people might not have read, though – that's how…

With all due and sincere respect, I would suggest that referring to various participants in this thread as closed minded tools of the PA "clique" was less than entirely helpful. Jus' saying...

Hate doing a climb-down but while everyone else is diverted by Cactus Kate's APN conspiracy, and while no…

if I started a PA book club, would anybody come?

Would there be a colouring in section?

And in other neologism news, Oxford University Press USA has made "unfriend" its word of the year.

Saw that. We'll see what PA readers say in our Word of the Year in a couple of weeks' time.

if I started a PA book club, would anybody come?

I quite fancy a Magazine Club. I would travel some distance to share the pleasure of a good piece from the Atlantic or Vanity Fair or The Word.

philipm – *snort* very funny!

(I started a 900+ page tome on Bobby Kennedy at New Years, hoping to finish it by Xmas).

Hope no one's ruined the ending for you.

if I started a PA book club, would anybody come?

Also it would need to ban "references to other books/authors which people who read a crapload more than me will have already read". Expecting me to get through one book is enough.

(I started a 900+ page tome on Bobby…

(Also, derigailleur, n. 2. what you wear to de graduation ceremony).

And in other neologism news, Oxford University Press USA has made "unfriend" its word of the year. Sadly, someone describes it as having "lex appeal". Also a few anti-Obama-inspired words in the list and that phrase "tramp stamp" for…

if I started a PA book club, would anybody come?

I would. Long as it's not too fancy pants.

What kind of turnaround do you have in mind?

Infinite. Rolling. Overlapping. Centuries rather than weeks.

In other words, readers' pace. The threads wouldn't disappear and could be returned to ad infinitum.

Slow thinkers, re-readers and late bloomers welcome, because I am all of the above.

does that make someone a derailleur?

Not sure, talk later, I'm off to host The Derailey Factor.

Switching gear once again: if I started a PA book club, would anybody come?

It's a genuinely good question. I'm a monstruosly diligent person and as such I am afraid of what a…

fab gear dat regalia
especially with peaches
frankly...

a popular derailing

derigailleur, then? Which is a very useful word, because derailing is practically de rigeur round these parts, and we do it with the smoothness of a well-tuned Shimano.

(Also, derigailleur, n. 2. what you wear to de graduation ceremony).

Re-derigailling things: Giovanni spent his weekend crafting this…

derailleur

a popular derailing

derailey (okay, not a word
Works for me – and for Philip by the looks.

does that make someone a derailleur?
or that other 'creme de cog' Disraeli gears?

derailey (okay, not a word

Works for me – and for Philip by the looks.

Pied Beauty

Joe, G M "lightning" Hopkins nails it!

Gawd _ _ _ _ _ (insert preferred deity here) forbid
we ever lose our sense of wonder and awe...

– shine on you crazy diamond...

*sadly Syd Barrett burnt his out, but…

Jus' saying...

... as someone who has turned occasionally opening his mouth and babbling in fluent Fool into a fine art. :)

understanding lies in the inferential interstices...
... a personal space of dappled meaning...

Aah. Nice. Apropos of that, and without meaning to derail from any possibly fruitful Shihad metaphors:

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in…

Don't know if we needed the personal abuse.

Philip: With all due and sincere respect, I would suggest that referring to various participants in this thread as closed minded tools of the PA "clique" was less than entirely helpful. Jus' saying...

Incidentally, I didn't think your post on Second Sight was terribly impressive.

Gee, I would never have guessed. For what it's worth, the post has been radically revised. I've realised, via this discussion, that some things weren't as clear as they should/could have been — my question being rhetorical or…

Related (at least tangentially) and delicious reading in the UK papers this weekend:

Who to praise or blame in theatre, when a play goes right or wrong?

[[http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/15/changing-my-mind-zadie-smith-review|A stunning review of Zadie…

(an aside – here's a link to a 1930s animation…

I figured that with your expertise, you might have a view on whether it could have worked as a po-mo treatise on originality, shared history, authorship, etc, had Ihimaera presented it as such.

If what you wrote seemed provocative to me, it's because flies so directly against what we know…

I actually never saw much of a problem with Baldwin's films, for much the same reasons as Rob Stowell elucidates above (in fact I love the idea.)

Craig Baldwin's a genius in my view. The thing about Spectres of the Spectrum and other recent films is that he is now…

Philip, I haven't read Geoff Dyer's Jeff in Varanasi/Death in Venice, but am I right in supposing that all the allusions he makes are all to Thomas Mann?

Actually, here's Dyer himself, as interviewed on the Amazon page for the book: "Yes, the first part is a version of the…

So the great NZ hat-tipping, cock-snooking, conventions-of-plagiarism-challenging, pastiche-mash-up-novel-of-collective-genius remains to be written. Perhaps we can have a crack at it here?

Cos, as they almost certainly didn't chant in the Castro during the great authorship-rights rally of 1978: "we're here/ we're intertextual/ get use from it!"

Philip, I haven't read…

However, I think the reason there was no real definitional debate about plagiarism is that most people would regard David Cauchi's comments as fairly self-evident (and his "po-faced motherfuckers" probably didn't help either, but never mind).

Yes, you are allowed to…

One of the bi-products of this system

Heh. Thread-merge. (If you say Emma's name three times backwards she will appear and furnish a list of famous bi authors, which is to say, all the great ones. Shakespeare in the house!).

I would chime in at length but am stuck in…

The nature of the book

Adrian Johns argues that early-modern print culture did not spring fully formed from the press of Gutenburg. The qualities that we normally associate with the printed word — reproducibility, broad distribution, fidelity to the source, and authorship — were absent from printing for the first three…

Well, if he bought the rights it isn't really a comparison, is it?

to what?

I actually never saw much of a problem with Baldwin's films, for much the same reasons as Rob Stowell elucidates above (in fact I love the idea.)

I guess I naively thought I might be able to get one going.

We've tried that conversation a few times hereabouts and it has only got so far.

"yeah, intertextuality, we dig that"

We do, to be fair.

Interesting. I take it from the first sentence you've read the book?

Oh Philip don't be a dick for God's sake. It's a historical novel that has been described to me by more than one able reviewer with three pages of stated sources that yet fails to reference a number…

A more apposite example might be something like Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet a 1965 Corman production which consists largely of sequences from the 1962 Russian film Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms), the rights to which Corman had purchased.

Well, if he bought the rights it isn't really a comparison,…

Could it be that it's a great deal easier to match words than images? And that's what some commenters took exception to I think, the blindness to the obvious differences in the media.

I don't think "blindness" is fair, personally. As someone who's made a living at times writing about…

So if Ihimaera had been able to argue that his use of what he called "correspondences" was a strategy intended to critique the status quo of the publishing industry and academia, to challenge ideas of authorship, ownership and originality, would your view of his new book be different?

The nature…

the ways in which originality and appropriation in contemporary art and originality and appropriation in film are perceived differently to originality and appropriation in writing

This is an interesting question, but De Palma's allusions to Hitchcock's works are a red herring. A more apposite example might be something like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_to_the_Prehistoric_Planet|Voyage…

That a possible case of plagiarism in a film is much more nebulous than a case of plagiarism in a book is that basic point..

Could it be that it's a great deal easier to match words than images? And that's what some commenters took exception to I think, the…

the ways in which originality and appropriation in contemporary art and originality and appropriation in film are perceived differently to originality and appropriation in writing

That sounds like an interesting topic for a broader conversation. But isn't "plagiarism" a more narrowly literary rather than artistic or filmic concept? That seems…

But I also struggle to see how it correlates with the unintended 'correspondences' – to use Ihimaera's own definition – that Jolisa spotted in The Trowenna Sea.

The correlation is that both David Cauchi and myself came into this discussion interested in talking about the ways in which originality and…

He works at a public university that is part of an international academic community of practice with expectations and conventions about handling the usage of other people's works (and in this case, words).

Admittedly that appears to count less…

What that tells us is that there are ways in which plagiarism is subjective.

I would say that's blindingly obvious personally, and blindingly pointless. Yes, plagiarism is subjective, and you have successfully proven that the chap who has a mathematical formula for this is wasting his time.…

Some have called this use of the Potemkin scene in The Untouchables, and De Palma's extensive use of Hitchcock throughout his career, plagiarism. I wouldn't — citing Robin Wood above — and it seems that you wouldn't either.

No, of course I wouldn't. But I also struggle to see how…

(The tendency to take a naive definition of a concept, prove the naive definition is incapable of dealing with a pathological case, and then announce that the concept is bankrupt isn't particularly impressive.)

No idea what this means, sorry.

You asked whether in order for it to be plagiarism the source had to be unacknowledged – that's what I was referring to.

The question was rhetorical following the example of Geoff Dyer.

I am "clear" on the standard definition of plagiarism.

Er, you asked if attribution was essential to the issue of plagiarism; given that yes it really rather is, I can see why Giovanni was a bit suspicious. (& the refusal to acknowledge deceit as important to plagiarism makes me wonder.)

Part…

Giovanni: I am "clear" on the standard definition of plagiarism.

You asked whether in order for it to be plagiarism the source had to be unacknowledged – that's what I was referring to.

Danielle: I'd have to watch Rushmore again — and Full Metal Jacket again — to see how…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_QSFtoMOEQ

Philip Matthews has added his reflections here.

Oh for goodness' sake. No one is 'willing to take up' the film quotation thing because it's NOT THE SAME ISSUE. In Rushmore, Wes Anderson uses a shot reminiscent of one from Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. (Not-as-clever-as-I-sound-nerd-alert: I admit I picked that up by…

When I have said 'intertexuality', people have looked at me funny

Probably misheard you. :)

Yes. You were probably at a party talking to them about it, and you thought they were listening. But no! They were actually doing a gadgety internetty thing communicating with others online instead. How rude!…

When I have said 'intertexuality', people have looked at me funny

Probably misheard you. :)

[Never mind her somewhat antediluvian politics]

Crikey, I feel a blog post coming on too, Jolisa.

I'm so glad! It's all very well to talk about how historical novelists should do it, but extra lovely and illuminating to hear directly from them how they do do it.

I am particularly interested in the wondering about novels…

In other words, there are ethical reasons not to borrow other people's words, but also artistic ones. (I could write at length about the other examples, but might save that for a follow-up blog post.)

This is the crux of the issue for me. All this talk about…

Personally I can't stand it when novelists have pages and pages of acknowledgments – I have always felt that it screams 'see! I did my research! I didn't make it up!' , when…

Astonishing that someone (was it Jolisa? I didn't squint at that bit) actually described it as a 'great book'

Spike, if it was me, I might have said (on the radio?) that it was a "great story," which is crucially different. In fact, you might be thinking of this phrase…

who knows where human creativity is going to jump next?

Banksy.

This whole system seems designed without forethought or consideration towards the finiteness of language in practicable terms. There is an end point. That end point will be reached within the next 1000 years when the mass of appendix, references, bibliography,…

I'd like to say it's been fun, but instead of proper argument there's just been boring point-scoring.

I would say say enjoy playing with yourselves, but it's obvious that's all you do.

Mark Taslov, I think your idea really really silly – who knows where human creativity is going to jump next? (And your example was really really tame. I've been playing with sound/pikkies/vibration stuff lately – will fit in with writing believe you me.)

Which silly idea are you referring to…

Oh, very well put.

geddit?

Plumbing the depths...

(*That's used up my quota of "really" for the next 3 hours and 26 minutes.)

O RLY?

Do you dowse for it?

Oh, very well put.

(Well, geddit?)

OK, that's my monthly allocation of reallies all used up.

Really?

I ultimately just feel like this idea that writing has about itself, and that its readers has, of AUTHENTICITY is just a pretense.

(Be sure I am talking about 'creative' writing, not academic work).

So if the writers and the readers aren't valid judges of authenticity...who is? Do you dowse…

I ultimately just feel like this idea that writing has about itself, and that its readers has, of AUTHENTICITY is just a pretense.

And..? In an imperfect world, is not a pretence of authenticity better than no sense of authenticity at all? ;)

Also, you are (a) imposing particularly naive standards of attribution --- not all attribution consists of footnoted bibliographic reference, and…

In which case it suddenly got way easier to write one. Back in half an hour with my first draft.

Oh, that is a spectacularly crappy pun!

just being scatty... ;- )

Going through the Motions...

Oh, that is a spectacularly crappy pun!

...here's an illuminating quote from the Mirror article

Shephard's A War of Nerves contains the line: "War from behind the lines is…

Really? Are you actually asking if attribution plays a role in the distinction between plagiarism and quotation?

Yes, I am. Take the case of Sherrie Levine's After Walker Evans for example. She rephotographed Walker Evans photos and presented them unaltered. There is a clear attribution in the title of the…

(You DID mean it literally, didn't you?)

Yep, quaint it may be, but when I sit down to write fiction, no matter how thoroughly researched, I clear the desk(top) and write on a virtual or literal blank page. Other fiction writers of my acquaintance do the same on principle.

I…

That's what the good ones who have a horror of inadvertently plagiarising other people's work do, anyway.

I'm having a hard time with this, in the context of modern thought about originality, influence, determinism, nature v. nurture, subjectivity v. objectivity and so on. I can hardly believe that such…

I'm down with Sturgeon's Law: “Ninety percent of everything is crud” Doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try to be in the minority.

As for Ihimaera in particular, well... let's just say his best work is well behind him, IM(not at all)HO, but even the most wretched ink-stained hack…

I'm always surprised when people post something on the internet and then discover they don't have absolute control over it.

So am I. But before you start racing around and flashing your Internet Society membership cards and congratulating each other — it was a dig. Read Cauchi's words again in…

Them's fightin' words, mister

Yes, I know. But everyone has their own tastes don't they. Did somebody (upthread) mention Barbara Kingsolver? *choke* *gag* *falls about laughing at own wit* *etc.*

I've long liked to think of the British Isles as The Antipodes.

But, realistically, what part of a tiny planet in a galaxy – somewhere- in this…

I mean,

If she hadn't included the original artists' name in the titles, would…

Calling someone an "arsehole" because they linked to your blog post is beyond ridiculous.

I'm always surprised when people post something on the internet and then discover they don't have absolute control over it. That would be the internet at work.

the historical novel is mostly a worthless (sub-)genre

Them's fightin' words, mister.

The point, my dear Mr. Clover

And my response, my most darling Craig, is to point out that Ihimaera is a shitty writer, that the historical novel is mostly a worthless (sub-)genre, and to wonder why you would bother considering buying it in the first place.

If my next PAR…

But why would anyone believe them? All but a few tradespeople cut corners. They just hope not to get caught.

You think we need a Target episode on historical writers? Hidden cameras in the offices of Jenny Pattrick and Deborah Challinor?

she talked to other historical writers and they said no, what you do is do your reading, and then make sure those texts are off your desk before you start writing, specifically so you don't use the exact same words, but put them in your own.

.. And if you…

As far as I'm aware, they…

He wrote in response:

Le matin took great pride in showing on their front…

Almost anyone who writes historical fiction is going to cut and paste, tweak, and put it into the voice (or thoughts) of a character.

Actually, what Jolisa said on the radio was that (from memory, hope I'm not being misleading) is that she talked to other historical writers and they…

All these cries of FOUL and overly-sentimental descriptions of blood running cold, scalp tingling, "weeping" at the shock horror discovery of oh god say it's not true PLAGIARISM, and so on, are getting a bit overdone.

How about fucked off, angry and I'd rather eat shit that contribute a penny…

It's kind of simple, really. This is about taking credit for a skill of writing, when what one has actually demonstrated is the skill of cutting and pasting.

Actually, I'm not sure that it is. Almost anyone who writes historical fiction is going to cut and paste, tweak, and put…

What does 'the intentional element ... mean for plagiarism'?

You're raising points, but not making an argument. I suspect you do have a good argument to make, and I'd like…

Pastiche. We loves it. When done well, it's a beautiful thing.

But that implies imitation. I'm think of something more like a cross between sampling and sub-editing — of the original words.

Possibly this is because my idiosyncratic response to reading fiction is often to want to edit it.

The only way this makes sense to me is if you'd read the opposite of what I wrote. I thought I'd quite clearly opted for both.

Gee, sorry David, I read your comment as a sarcastic criticism of people for abusing you. I guess you wrote those first three paragraphs…

(See difference between `quotation' and `plagiarism'; originality is not the only important issue here.)

ETA: and also the art work as an intentional object, see Danto & Brillo…

Dish. Take. It's a both or neither situation.

The only way this makes sense to me is if you'd read the opposite of what I wrote. I thought I'd quite clearly opted for both.

Yeah, man. If I wanna paint something that looks exactly like a Goldie, nobody's going to…

Then let's see, there's the intentional element — i.e. what is the art work, and if the art work isn't simply the…

I thought editors were the unicorns of publishing — legendary beasts that you can only catch if you can rustle up a virgin of unimpeachable piety from God only knows where who's willing to sit around in a fairy glade until her arse turns blue with cold? :)

I'm fairly…

Oh wait. It is.

I thought editors were the unicorns of publishing — legendary beasts that you can only catch if you can rustle up a virgin of unimpeachable piety from God only knows where who's willing to sit around in a fairy glade until her arse turns blue with…

Sigh. If only that…

To be honest, and this might sound wanky, but the only people's opinions who matter on this subject are those who produce creative work of their own and put it out there. Not the critics.

Oh, bullshit. How about those pesky readers who might not appreciate getting Professor Ihimaera's (or…

a piece of art (whether it's a piece of writing, a painting, a film, whatever) really belongs to the viewer once the artist puts it out there?

That whatever "meaning" or message the artist originally intended to make is necessarily coloured and re-defined by the person viewing it

And I'd…

Wondering why you'd bother...

Wonder on, Mr. Miseryguts. One thing you can be certain of, this'll be the last time I'll be bothered to engage with your infantile tosh.

FYI stephen, my post was in response to David Cauchi's pretentious drivel. That said, I couldn't give a rats about your fanboy musings.

Oh so it was just a pithy wee taunt, was it, that you didn't actually mean? Wondering why you'd bother...

That said, I couldn't give a rats…

. . . I find your defensiveness just fucken stupid.

FYI stephen, my post was in response to David Cauchi's pretentious drivel. That said, I couldn't give a rats about your fanboy musings.

The ability to rile the terminally pretentious, without even deliberately setting out to do so. One of Jackson's lesser talents, but in itself greater than any that his envious detractors are able to muster.

COMPLETELY OT but do you REALLY have to be terminally pretentious to find his LOTR films…

But I'm not nearly as pessimistic as you seem to be. I reckon we'll continue generating fresh content for millennia to come. Ideas are plentiful, and new combinations thereof even more so. Leave them alone, and they will come home, wagging their footnotes…

Could appreciation of this book by one not culturally attuned to the politics at play sway your mother's taste Jolisa?

Sorry, what? Got distracted by your swingin' internal rhyme (play/sway, hey hey hey) and had a bit of trouble parsing that sentence.

You mean, if someone else truly madly loved…

I quite like the idea of remixes and mash-ups of written works.

Pastiche. We loves it. When done well, it's a beautiful thing.

As I re-read The Trowenna Sea over the last few days, I was thinking that there's definitely a place for a mash-up novel deliberately and explicitly composed…

To be honest, and this might sound wanky, but the only people's opinions who matter on this subject are those who produce creative work of their own and put it out there. Not the critics.

You're right, it does sound a little wanky. But I do see your point. I…

connectors are being blocked.

I quite like the idea of remixes…

And what about the plagiarised artist's opinions of the plagiaree? Do they matter? Cos you did say yourself in your blog piece that it pissed you off when someone else nicked your upside-down NZ idea.

Homage to Ian Brackenberry Channell, presumably?

To be honest, and this might sound wanky, but the only people's opinions who matter on this subject are those who produce creative work of their own and put it out there. Not the critics.

OK maybe the critics don't matter, but what about the comment that I've heard many…