Ursula K. Le Guin: “I keep Asking You Not to Buy Books from Amazon”

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, penny dreadfuls were not books.

Originally Posted by darryl

So what were they? Fish?

People read them just for the Halibut.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Phogg

People read them just for the Halibut.

Sorry, they were a different kettle of fish...

[shalym]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Cool! It's one of my favorite stories!

Ok--I read the story. I agree that the message is powerful, but to me, the story wasn't compelling. It felt less like a story and more like a message.

I wouldn't re-read it, and it didn't do anything to change my opinion of her writing...sorry.

Shari

[kennyc]

Thanks for reading it Shari.

[Greg Anos]

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas has always struck me as Atlas Shrugged boiled down to a short story, with a different political slant...

But that is a very politically incorrect thing for me to point out...

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by tompe

Well, penny dreadfuls were not books.

I'm guessing that you say they weren't books because they were very short. I'd counter that this was simply a facet of the delivery mechanism (much as some people will say that an ebook isn't really a book). The target audience were very poor, so the stories were split into small chunks, and each chunk was sold for a penny. The first penny dreadful came in 60 parts. If each part was eight pages, that's 480 pages in total. Mysteries of London came in 624 parts and was almost 4.5 million words long.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by darryl

So what were they? Fish?

Serials.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by avantman42

I'm guessing that you say they weren't books because they were very short. I'd counter that this was simply a facet of the delivery mechanism (much as some people will say that an ebook isn't really a book). The target audience were very poor, so the stories were split into small chunks, and each chunk was sold for a penny. The first penny dreadful came in 60 parts. If each part was eight pages, that's 480 pages in total. Mysteries of London came in 624 parts and was almost 4.5 million words long.

The point is just because each installement sold i many copies it does not mean that the thing put together as a book/novel would have sold a lot of copies. So it is not an counterexample of a novel that is badly written and sell a lot.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by tompe

Serials.

A Book by any other name would smell as sweet.

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by tompe

The point is just because each installement sold i many copies it does not mean that the thing put together as a book/novel would have sold a lot of copies. So it is not an counterexample of a novel that is badly written and sell a lot.

I completely agree that they wouldn't have sold in such large numbers if they were bound as complete books. However, I would argue that's because at the time, most people (and certainly their target audience) couldn't afford to buy full-length books. I imagine Fifty Shades of Grey wouldn't have been the massive success it was if it cost over £100 per copy.

[ApK]

So penny dreadfuls were the comic books of the 19th century?

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by ApK

So penny dreadfuls were the comic books of the 19th century?

Probably, though I can't claim to know a great deal about penny dreadfuls or comic books

[Alpha o]

Is she just railing about fiction? Non-fiction books and biographies turn up on lists.

Non-fiction isn't for her to judge as literature. More about accuracy.

Since Amazon tracks everything, is it possible the best seller list is geared to local demographics? If more people in your area buy "mommy porn" then Amazon is going to push that market to get sales.

She's from the era of really literate reviewers reading and posting their findings in newspapers. Instant data collection and analytics move faster in this day and age.

I don't like it as it applies to B&M stores. It means I do have to buy elsewhere than local if I want a hard copy. Local merchants scream about the internet taking their business. People should have a choice. If you don't carry it and won't order or make it too hard to special order, people will go where they can buy what they want.

One thing I like about Amazon - the reviews. It seems to post all of them. Good, Bad and Ugly.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Alpha o

If you don't carry it and won't order or make it too hard to special order, people will go where they can buy what they want.

This is what got me to make my first Amazon purchase (a new release book) back in 1999.

[ApK]

We must be getting tired or bored in this thread. Only two fish puns? I'm amazed at how quickly that effort...um....floundered.