If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
I own two versions of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory and
taking them both out I noticed that they had some odd discrepancies. Even in the first sentence, one edition had a comma and the other a colon. And in the next sentence there are "vultures" referred to and in the other edition "buzzards." I was sort of taken aback. Is this common? Who makes these changes? Thanks for the help. |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
Ferris92 wrote:
I own two versions of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory and taking them both out I noticed that they had some odd discrepancies. Even in the first sentence, one edition had a comma and the other a colon. And in the next sentence there are "vultures" referred to and in the other edition "buzzards." I was sort of taken aback. Is this common? Who makes these changes? It sounds as if one is a British English edition and the other an American edition. Is that right? John |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
I will expose myself as a naif: Is it common for books written in English to have an American edition and a British edition in which there are differences in text besides the idiosyncrasies in spelling? |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
Ferris92 wrote:
Is it common for books written in English to have an American edition and a British edition in which there are differences in text besides the idiosyncrasies in spelling? I don't know how far back the practice goes, or how universally it applies, but I think it's fairly common. For example, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone became Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when it was "translated" into American, and there were other differences in the text, reflecting American usage. I suppose there might sometimes be other changes than the strictly "necessary" ones, either because the author sees a chance to edit his/her work in preparation for an edition on the other side of the Atlantic, or because such changes are made (or recommended/requested) by the publisher's editors. John |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
On May 24, 9:31 pm, Ferris92 wrote:
Is it common for books written in English to have an American edition and a British edition in which there are differences in text besides the idiosyncrasies in spelling? I spoke with Rick Gekoski about this phenomenon a few years ago. His recent collection of book-dealing tales was entitled TOLKIEN'S GOWN in the Brit edition but NABOKOV'S BUTTERFLY in the U.S. edition. The publisher told him that Americans wouldn't understand that the reference was to Tolkien's academic gown and NOT to his dressing gown or bathrobe (although, with Tolkien's popularity, why even that mattered I don't know). Rick said he hates the U.S. title--I think more on principle than because it's a bad title, which it isn't. But it has led to the weird circumstance where Amazon UK offers to sell you both editions as if they were two different books: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845292391 wklimon |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
And there's a P.G. Wodehouse book which has a different first chapter
in its American and British incarnations! |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
"Ferris92" wrote in message
ps.com... Is it common for books written in English to have an American edition and a British edition in which there are differences in text besides the idiosyncrasies in spelling? Yes. Anthony Burgess has written bitterly about the readiness of US publishers to change the content of books published elsewhere. Burgess complains the US publisher of A Clockwork Orange suppressed a whole chapter of the English book (without telling the author?) Canadian authors often complained 1950-80 that US publishers told them to revise books about ordinary rural or urban life in contemporary Canada so that they purported to be about US cities and places. Before 1950 it seems the (few) Canadian authors complied, as the price of publication: and more recently US publishers may have found it unnecessary. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene edition
On May 25, 12:17 pm, "William M. Klimon" wrote:
I spoke with Rick Gekoski about this phenomenon a few years ago. His recent collection of book-dealing tales was entitled TOLKIEN'S GOWN in the Brit edition but NABOKOV'S BUTTERFLY in the U.S. edition. Rick said he hates the U.S. title--I think more on principle than because it's a bad title, which it isn't. But it has led to the weird circumstance where Amazon UK offers to sell you both editions as if they were two different books: I saw the U.S. version, and almost bought it, thinking it was a "sequel" to the one I already had! |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Graham Greene bibliography? | William M. Klimon | Books | 2 | November 7th 06 01:10 PM |
Review of Graham Hogg's The Parker Ballpoint Pen, second edition 2004 | James Goodwin | Pens & Pencils | 1 | October 4th 04 12:45 AM |
04 greats of the game auto and blue border and glory and glory bat cards | opgodin | Baseball | 0 | July 4th 04 04:27 PM |
End of the Affair - Graham Greene dust jacket | Kevin | Books | 4 | March 13th 04 02:53 AM |
Graham Greene, Journey without Maps (1936) | John Yamamoto-Wilson | Books | 5 | February 22nd 04 11:43 AM |