Quote:
Originally Posted by zespectre
What? Darnit! I'd have read that version if I'd have known.
|
In 2005 Dorchester/Leisure Books published an "uncut" version using the original manuscript found in the collection of the Ohio State Historical Society. Apparently the cuts made by the editor are "drastic and alter the entire perspective of the story" according to Jon Tuska
In 2004 Leisure also published The Desert Crucible which is an uncut version of Sage's sequel The Rainbow Trail again from the original found in the special collections of BYU. "Upon examination, it was found to be significantly different..." again according to Tuska
The Tuska quotes come from the forward of the uncut version of Purple Sage that I just checked out from my library (I'm toying with the idea of reading it). He's a literary agent and writer who specializes in Westerns.
Which begs the question. Are the new versions "classics" or were the cuts and alterations made by Ripley Hitchcock (Sr editor at Harper Bros.) to Purple Sage to "make the novel more generally acceptable to readers" part of what helped the book to gain classic status?