Quote:
Originally Posted by spindlegirl
Quoted because it bears repeating.
I often get confused when people say they don't like "the classics". The classics are not "a genre". They are many genres. There's mystery, comedy, plays, poems, romances, sci-fi, vampires, non-fiction. There are some that I do like and some that I don't.
Prior to discovering PG and MR, and calibre, I was actually BUYing print copies of many classics. I am looking around my shelves now and see Jude the Obscure, The Brothers Karamazov, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Mrs Dalloway, Animal Farm, Anne of Green Gables, Our Mutual Friend, Jane Eyre, 3 copies of Pride and Prejudice, .... etc etc (and far more), because I wanted to catch up on all the "greats" The estimated total I have spent on those books is over 200 dollars, even with a vast majority of them being used or being discounted because they frequently go on sale when school starts.
My first Kobo came with 100 gutenberg classics pre-installed, and I was like wow. I gave my first Kobo (wifi) to my stepdaughter who felt like she had been given the world when she saw the list of free classics on there.
Now, I read quite a bit of modern literature, but very little of it, upon borrowing repeatedly from the library, has captivated me so much that I am just so sad to return it.
Hard for me to say how I feel about copyright length. If I can afford a book, I buy it, if I can't I read it at the library. Not hard for me to work out. There are many books out there that have a sticker price of 15-30 dollars that I have read. I just don't own them. I'm very grateful for libraries for allowing me the chance to experience and taste all kinds of literature.
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Not sure who was using "classic" as a genre - it certainly wasn't me. I like a number of genres, some of them could be described as classic. I prefer writers who write well, not just tell a good story - that tends to mean that most of my favourites are not recent. I spent my early years living in an old Manor House in a little village in Hampshire. The village was East Meon and the house was known as Glenthorne. The reason for mentioning this is that the house was seven hundred years old and had a comprehensive library that had been added to over several centuries. As I child I read my way through much of it. I often wish that I still had access to it.
I also bought print copies of many classic books, but generally at a low cost. I haunted (still do) junk/thrift/charity shops in every town or city I visit looking for "special" finds. My Grandmother is French and I strive to find books for her. They are difficult to find in Australia, but in the UK and Canada I have much more success. I still find exploring old bookshops to be a very pleasant way to pass an afternoon. I have just found a complete collection of Anais Nin at a very good price. Some pre-fifties, the rest posthumous.
I have no reason to want copyright duration changed - either lengthened or shortened, but I do regard most of the reasons being quoted as spurious. There will be no rush to re-publish out of copyright "classics" as many of the existing copyrighted works have negligible fees attached to licensing and they are not being released - there is no market.