Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I think Catlady's position and attitude are being grossly misrepresented. It seems to me that all she's saying, and she can correct me if I'm wrong, is that if people change the text of a book they upload they should note it.
This seems eminently reasonable to me. The words that the author wrote should be sacrosanct. Surely those who love books enough to go to the very great effort of uploading them are not in favor of unnoted bowdlerization! I don't see any sense of entitlement, or that people should do things her way, or any of the rest of it. Indeed, I think she's been made a straw man, since the real issue as I see it should be uploaders who emend texts and taint the pristine works by association. I also don't think it would be a big deal to have a guideline that said something to the effect that, "any changes in the text should be noted" and that would protect the uploaders as well as the readers.
I really do assume everyone's essentially on the same side! I don't understand the acrimony, the shouting, the personal criticisms, or any of the rest of it.
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I very much appreciate your effort to point out the common ground; but if you read my posts you will see that all I've been doing since this thread rose from the dead is pointing out that agreement on this was reached long ago (an agreement, mind you, that doesn't ignore the difficulties which may arise in trying to establish an authoritative text, difficulties which are far from trivial, as Harry has pointed out several times.)
Catlady has been consistently ignoring that part of my posts and insinuating again and again and again that uploaders here will just upload any old text without trying to safeguard the quality. It is not misrepresenting her position to see this as an insult.
ETA: How about you? Are you going to join the proofreaders' squad?