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Originally Posted by holymadness
Perhaps you are being hit by import duties? Books in France are ridiculously cheap compared to their equivalents in North America. I have rarely seen an édition de poche sell for more than 10 €, and the concept of the $50 hardcover first edition simply does not exist as it does in the anglophone publishing world.
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No import duty within EU countries
it's just that books in the UK are on the whole stupidly cheap (and the paper editions are VAT-free). Edition de poche is good value - it's mass market paperback - but there's a lot of stuff that does set you back rather more. Recently bought "Qui résiste à la peste résiste au diable" by Jusuf Buxhovi and that was about €20 for the Kindle edition (paper version only available as Broché at €25.)
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In the 5th arrondissement, which is admittedly the student quarter, you can find bookstores so specialized that they only deal in books on physical geography, or law, or Canadian history and culture. Even when more general in subject matter, there is often an evident care in the selection of titles that expresses a genuine enthusiasm for the medium, not just a ROI calculation. I'm disgusted when I walk into a Borders or a Chapters and the first thing I see is rows of tables covered in baubles and knick-knacks meant for home decoration and last-minute gifts.
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I do find UK bookshops on the whole rather depressing to be honest - it's all the bestselling stuff and not much else. I never quite got used to that
and the general tendency that has been growing in the UK over the years of mostly having chains for everything - restaurants, clothes shops, bookshops, everything is just the same everywhere. In that respect I think I am still very French
