The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by issybird

And yet the flip side is that the publisher can make money at low price points on ancient ebooks and I can't help thinking that no one is buying at these absurd prices. Sure, keep it at that price forever; there's no inventory cost. And no profit, either. Also noting that once the original readership of old "popular" books ages out of it, there won't be a market at all. Dead men read no ebooks.

You certainly get the feeling that certain publishers would rather sell ten copies of an old book a year for $12 each than sell 500 copies for $3 each. Don't ask me why.

[jackm8]

Talking about old books. Does anyone know if uncensored Greek Memories from Compton Mackenzie is available in e-book format anyware? Either as original scan of 1932 edition, or a modern ebook with censored content restored? If not, where could I get 2011 Biteback edition in paper that's not upwards of 100€?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

You certainly get the feeling that certain publishers would rather sell ten copies of an old book a year for $12 each than sell 500 copies for $3 each. Don't ask me why.

Clueless. Especially when there is no paper version. Also the wholesale price of paper books now makes POD viable, yet titles go out of print!

Also actually unpublishing ebooks while they plan a re-release that's unchanged:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OFI6IAY/
History

£6.35 v £4.53 v£3,81 ^£5.41 v£3.81 ^£4.20 ^£5.39 v£5.34 ^£8.32
Priority: high
Item added 19 December 2024

Translator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthea_Bell
Author https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_K%C3%A4stner

Greed and stupidity.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by jackm8

Talking about old books. Does anyone know if uncensored Greek Memories from Compton Mackenzie is available in e-book format anyware? Either as original scan of 1932 edition, or a modern ebook with censored content restored? If not, where could I get 2011 Biteback edition in paper that's not upwards of 100€?

There is one at 39.35, on ebay.com: https://www.ebay.com/itm/205478654376
Or a download option on the Internet Archive..

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by nana77

There is one at 39.35, on ebay.com: https://www.ebay.com/itm/205478654376
Or a download option on the Internet Archive..

Is it still available on Open Library? Lots of "preview only" since the lawsuit

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by nana77

There is one at 39.35, on ebay.com: https://www.ebay.com/itm/205478654376
Or a download option on the Internet Archive..

The IA version will be a poor PDF that's technically pirated. He died 30 November 1972.

Morally it ought to be PD.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Quoth

The IA version will be a poor PDF that's technically pirated. He died 30 November 1972.

Morally it ought to be PD.

It is public domain in some countries. New Zealand for example.

[jackm8]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Is it still available on Open Library? Lots of "preview only" since the lawsuit

Ebay link, and ones on Open Library are censored. 1932 version had a very limited run.

[DNSB]

The 1939 Chatto & Windus version is available from the Internet Archive in a rather poorly scanned PDF. I wouldn't bother with even looking at the other versions since they seem to be based on the images used to generate the pdf.

Greek Memories by Mackenzie Compton

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The 1939 Chatto & Windus version is available from the Internet Archive in a rather poorly scanned PDF. I wouldn't bother with even looking at the other versions since they seem to be based on the images used to generate the pdf.

Greek Memories by Mackenzie Compton

When I was in elementary school, schoolboard was so poorly funded that they didn't have enough books and relied on photocopies (students weren't even allowed to keep them, it was bad). Looked pretty much like that.

[Quoth]

The UK Official Secrets act. Very blunt instrument. You don't have to have "signed" and if you do they don't give you a copy of what you signed.

I'm not sure what Compton Mackenzie was thinking to quote from an official document, but I see on the preface he was advised he couldn't sanely plead "not guilty". I've a few of his books on paper, but none of the memoires, though they are the sort of thing my dad collected.

[ownedbycats]

novel I'm reading they sent out an amber alert over missing kids that were suspected runaways. amber alerts are only for abductions...

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

novel I'm reading they sent out an amber alert over missing kids that were suspected runaways. amber alerts are only for abductions...

Here in the Netherlands they are issued for all missing children (if deemed serious enough), not just abductions.

[Quoth]

I've never heard of coloured alerts in Ireland for anything other than weather, and that is a Europe-wide scheme.

There would be news items on radio, TV and web sites.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I've never heard of coloured alerts in Ireland for anything other than weather, and that is a Europe-wide scheme.

There would be news items on radio, TV and web sites.

IIRC 'Amber' was a child abductee that the alerts were named for.
Many lighted highway emergency signs display a vehicle description as well as radio announcements. Time is of the essence in these cases.