Quote:
Originally Posted by tomsem
It's interesting that there were abridged editions, presumably with blessing of the publisher. But these exist even now, for some contemporary books (indeed, there are platforms that offer these exclusively). Some great books are very long and there are people without time to read them who make do with condensed versions to at least have some sense of what they are about.
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I didn't realise till I was an adult that the "Readers Digest" multi-book hardbacks are all massively abridged (There was or is a UK version). Since then I've avoided them even at 50c in S/H bookshops and charity shops etc.
We had the actual magazine for over a decade and my dad always put it in the bathroom/toilet room. Years later he mentioned that it was very right wing and we only had it because the subscription was an annual Christmas present from someone he was friends with in the 1950s.
Mind you, I think the publisher should have got some authors to edit shorter before publication (Robert Jordan, Alexander Dumas).