The Death of Patient Zero • Hacker News Board

Re: The Death of Patient Zero

#11

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 29, 2015, 6:34 AM UTC

rquantz wrote: post #8

tvawnz wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and the author has failed to adequately communicate that person's story. I didn't say a thing about the subject of the piece. Is it poor taste to criticize everything associated remotely with something tragic? What about poorly done WWII documentaries? Can I criticize them? Just saying Nicholas Sparks probably shouldn't be writing news articles.

You're welcome to criticize it. But comparisons to The Lord of the Rings, of all things, were tone deaf. This is not some epic fantasy for your amusement.

[deleted]

Re: The Death of Patient Zero

#12

Post by cperciva » Wed, Jul 29, 2015, 7:14 AM UTC

rquantz wrote: post #3

tvawnz wrote: post #2

Author lays it on a little fucking thick don't they? Couldn't wade through the tidal wave of forced narrative. Who starts a story with a 3 minute hero shot? Just poor. "she never lost the awareness that she had honed over a lifetime—her daunting gift for seeing people and situations plain—nor the voice that always said the right thing, the true thing, the honest thing, the thing that cut to the bone." "she spoke as i…

I agree that maybe a more objective angle would have conveyed the information a little better. However, your comment is in poor taste. This is a real person they're talking about, someone who suffered and died. Not a character in a movie.

comment is in poor taste. This is a real person they're talking about, someone who suffered and died. Not a character in a movie.

I agree that there's poor taste, but I think the poor taste is in writing about a person as if they were a character in a movie, not in pointing out that horrific writing style.

Re: The Death of Patient Zero

#13

Post by fightlikeacow » Wed, Jul 29, 2015, 7:44 AM UTC

teh_klev wrote: post #7

stephengillie wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to quote the guidelines, but I've recently been rate-limited on this site for failing to follow them: Please don't submit comments complaining that a submission is inappropriate for the site. If you think a story is spam or off-topic, flag it by clicking on its "flag" link. (Not all users will see this; there is a karma threshold.) If you think a comment is egregious, click on its timestamp to go to its page, t…

Parent wasn't complaining about whether on/off topic, they were being critical of the writing style which sadly suffocates the reader. I may not agree with all their complaints, but the article is somewhat over elaborate in its exposition. I found myself skipping over tens of words and sentences to find out what actually happened to this unfortunate soul.

Agreed, the writing was so badly structured, I couldn't follow the narrative and skipped whole paragraphs

Re: The Death of Patient Zero

#14

Post by rquantz » Wed, Jul 29, 2015, 2:03 PM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #12

rquantz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that maybe a more objective angle would have conveyed the information a little better. However, your comment is in poor taste. This is a real person they're talking about, someone who suffered and died. Not a character in a movie.

comment is in poor taste. This is a real person they're talking about, someone who suffered and died. Not a character in a movie. I agree that there's poor taste, but I think the poor taste is in writing about a person as if they were a character in a movie, not in pointing out that horrific writing style.

Yes, exactly. Thank you.