|
I interviewed for an editorial position with one of the largest Croatian book publishers. They wanted to know two things, how I felt about cookbooks and what were my favorite romance novels. I didn’t get the job. One of the weird quirks of the local market is, the Ministry of Culture subsidizes new literary translations and that makes them just about profitable with the minuscule print runs. So everything new and interesting gets translated immediately, but god forbid you should want to read a classic or a forty year old title, better hope the library still hasn’t scrapped the 1985 Yugoslav edition.
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2021 12:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 15:30 |
|
|
Take the plunge! Okay! posted:I interviewed for an editorial position with one of the largest Croatian book publishers. They wanted to know two things, how I felt about cookbooks and what were my favorite romance novels. I didn’t get the job. The one weird trick discovered by local publisher (WS Bookwell hates them!) here seems to be "print in the Baltics" because it's in the EU, it's cheap (I guess they don't have unions or something?), and while it's across the sea, it's not a long way across the sea. Also quite a bit of subsidies and grants. We also have three or four pretty well-working on-line second-hand book shopping sites (which, while it makes it marginally slower to find a certain book because you have to check several sites, is preferable to just having One On-Line Book Store). A lot of the sellers on the sites are on-line only which makes sense nowadays. I hear a certain foreign entity has been expressing great interest in acquiring the business of these sites. But anyway for a reader it's dead easy to find older books, often for quite cheap. e: But yeah if you don't do cook books, you'd better have a really strong hand otherwise. 3D Megadoodoo fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Apr 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2021 12:29
|
|
|
3D Megadoodoo posted:One publisher started out with yoga books and has continued with that and other "rip off the dumbs" books but also publishes nice translations of solid classics. I'd bet the former bring in the money. Basam? I was baffled to see they've put out the first finnish translation of the book of disquiet
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2021 14:54
|
|
|
Ras Het posted:Basam? I was baffled to see they've put out the first finnish translation of the book of disquiet Yeah. They also published Bartleby & Co. which is still available new for the high price of 2€ - I guess it failed to find a Finnish audience. e: I actually almost bought O Banqueiro Anarquista last time I was at a book shop but it was 15€ and because I'm poor I bought three 5€ books instead. 3D Megadoodoo fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Apr 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2021 15:25
|
|
|
The next question is "why do booksellers insist on taking an order of fifteen books and mailing each one of them separately, how is that efficient?".
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2021 23:44
|
|
|
I just started reading Love in the Time of Cholera. 17 pages in. I know nothing about this book other than it’s very well regarded. First impressions - this guy knows how to write. It’s good, folks. Real good.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 03:04
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:The next question is "why do booksellers insist on taking an order of fifteen books and mailing each one of them separately, how is that efficient?". IDK, never had that happen. But in general - i.e. not just with books - the answer is "logistics costs vs. logistics".
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 06:37
|
|
|
Lucas Archer posted:I just started reading Love in the Time of Cholera. 17 pages in. I know nothing about this book other than it’s very well regarded. You're in for a treat
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 13:27
|
|
|
Today I noticed belatedly that The Count of Monte Cristo got a release in the standardebooks package - beautifully put together ebooks that you can slap on your ereader and enjoy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 13:55
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:Today I noticed belatedly that The Count of Monte Cristo got a release in the standardebooks package - beautifully put together ebooks that you can slap on your ereader and enjoy. Public domain versions of Count of Monte Cristo are heavily edited, both for length and content (can't scandalize Victorian Englishmen with lesbians after all). I think there are whole chapters missing in addition to pieces of chapters being cut.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 15:03
|
|
|
Humerus posted:Public domain versions of Count of Monte Cristo are heavily edited, both for length and content (can't scandalize Victorian Englishmen with lesbians after all). I think there are whole chapters missing in addition to pieces of chapters being cut. Which publication of the Count would you recommend?
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 15:24
|
|
|
I believe the only good translation in English is the modern Penguin one.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 15:33
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:I believe the only good translation in English is the modern Penguin one. Yeah this is the one I bought and from everything I've seen it's the only truly unabridged version. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RI9KL8/ For reference
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 17:17
|
|
|
Thank you!
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 17:23
|
|
|
I have the 2008 Oxford World Classic David Coward translation of The Count of Monte Cristo and it is also unabridged. (https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-count-of-monte-cristo/9780199219650-item.html) Apparently the language used in this version is modelled after older translations but I am quite enjoying it. It is probably one of my favourite books.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2021 17:34
|
|
|
Finished the first chapter(?) of Love in the Time of Cholera. Dr. Urbino's death was nicely foreshadowed in the story about the parrot so I was waiting for it to come back around soon - and I feel like it was hinted at a second time beforehand as well. The entire day seemed incredibly laden with dread, from Jeremiah's letter causing such distress, to Fermina's introduction and the amazingly complicated way she and Urbino interact, to the two events of the day absolutely ruined by rain. The parrot story is, by far, my favorite part of the book so far. The language is absolutely beautiful and I keep find myself re-reading sentences or paragraphs, trying to work out how he did this or that or conveyed emotions or actions in such a natural way that always feels so creaky and stilted when I write.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 14:16
|
|
|
Heads up for Kindle users - the "Book Cover as Lockscreen" feature has started getting pushed in the U.S., Canada, E.U. and more. Weird having them finally implement it after all these years.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 21:59
|
|
|
Aardvark! posted:Heads up for Kindle users - the "Book Cover as Lockscreen" feature has started getting pushed in the U.S., Canada, E.U. and more. I would ask how you get it, but I've gotten kind of used to the "Her Billionaire Cowboy Birthday Wish"-style lock screens, they're pretty great
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 22:26
|
|
|
Chamberk posted:I would ask how you get it, but I've gotten kind of used to the "Her Billionaire Cowboy Birthday Wish"-style lock screens, they're pretty great I've never actually seen those since I haven't ever used an ad supported Kindle. Presumably you'd have to pay the remove ads fee 
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2021 22:28
|
|
|
Just finished the Seventh Cross and oh my god do I not loving care about Ernst the Shepherd.
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2021 12:00
|
|
|
I don't know if this is the place to ask, please excuse me if it's not. Is there a way to buy another region's version of an audiobook online? Becky Chambers' new book is out in the US, but apparently the versions of her previous books that I got, narrated by Patricia Rodriguez, are UK/Canada versions, and they're region locked now or something. I get that there are distribution restrictions that stores have to follow, I just would like to stick with the same narrator if possible.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2021 18:50
|
|
|
I add books to my iphone sometimes (directly via browser) and read them on there, but i very rarely open up books.app on my mac. But when I do, they sync in from icloud and the newest "batch" all say Date Added: April 23, 2021 & Last Read: April 23, 2021 even the ones i havent even read yet they still sort correctly on my phone, so what gives?!
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:39
|
|
|
So I read the premise of "Native Son" and I'm kind of confused about it. It's suppose to be a book that shits on well to do white liberals but apparently the main character who is black rapes and accidentally kills a girl. Can someone expand on this please?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 01:40
|
|
|
punk rebel ecks posted:So I read the premise of "Native Son" and I'm kind of confused about it. It's suppose to be a book that shits on well to do white liberals Where the hell did you get that idea?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 07:04
|
|
|
punk rebel ecks posted:So I read the premise of "Native Son" and I'm kind of confused about it. It's suppose to be a book that shits on well to do white liberals but apparently the main character who is black rapes and accidentally kills a girl. Can someone expand on this please? quote:While not apologizing for Bigger's crimes, Wright portrays a systemic causation behind them. Bigger's lawyer, Boris Max, makes the case that there is no escape from this destiny for his client or any other black American since they are the necessary product of the society that formed them and told them since birth who exactly they were supposed to be.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 13:43
|
|
|
I'm reading a children's book* about a Polish kid who gets transported back in time to 1880 and I'm actually getting angry at how she's portrayed as a complete idiot. Page after page of "oh why are you dressed so funny, [person from 1880], oh why do I have to wear a corset I'm not wearing a corset I'm going to be naked, oh why is this washer-woman not someone I should talk to I'm going to talk to this washer-woman" when it was established loving 30 pages ago that 1880 is 1880, and the protagonist is 14 years old, not a toddler, and therefore should have gotten it after a few times, but noooo she makes the same hilarious gaffes with every new (old) thing she lays eyes on. Makes me remember why I didn't really read many of these kids' books back when I was a kid - I always thought the main characters loving sucked. There's only one writer I can think of who wrote child protagonists who weren't either poo poo-for-brains gently caress-ups or disgusting superhumans, and that's pretty odd considering most if not all writers were at some point in their lives children themselves. *) Godzina Pasowej Rõzy by Maria Krüger. Why am I reading a kids' book? Because it was there and I'll never get rid of a book until I've read it. e: A policy I'm seriously considering changing now that I see I have like 20 unread Famous Five books. 3D Megadoodoo fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Apr 25, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2021 02:01
|
|
|
3D Megadoodoo posted:There's only one writer I can think of who wrote child protagonists who weren't either poo poo-for-brains gently caress-ups or disgusting superhumans, and that's pretty odd considering most if not all writers were at some point in their lives children themselves. Edit: Also Harriet the Spy; can't believe I forgot that one. Sham bam bamina! fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Apr 26, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2021 18:04
|
|
|
Sham bam bamina! posted:My favorite child protagonists are Elizabeth Enright's Melendy family. If you ever find the time for kids' books that you didn't already have lying around, check hers out! Unless I somehow get a kid, I don't think I'll be looking for new reading material of that type. Especially considering how many I already have. Anyway, just finished Nobi by Shōhei Ōoka and it was pretty hosed up. It's about a Japanese soldier in the Philippines getting separated from his company and wandering around an island while the Yanks are taking it and have taken it, slowly going insane and maybe getting religion of some kind IDK I'm really stupid?. The author fought in the Philippines and became a POW there himself. Apparently - according to Wikipedia anyway - the English translator (I read it in Finnish) just cut out all the weird bits so I'd imagine it's a really short read in English. Because it was missing the dust jacket, I had no idea it was a war novel when I bought it, it just had a neat cover and cost ½€. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2021 00:28
|
|
|
3D Megadoodoo posted:Anyway, just finished Nobi by Shōhei Ōoka and it was pretty hosed up. It's about a Japanese soldier in the Philippines getting separated from his company and wandering around an island while the Yanks are taking it and have taken it, slowly going insane and maybe getting religion of some kind IDK I'm really stupid?. The author fought in the Philippines and became a POW there himself. Apparently - according to Wikipedia anyway - the English translator (I read it in Finnish) just cut out all the weird bits so I'd imagine it's a really short read in English. Wow, this looks really interesting. I'm from the PH so I think I'll go looking for this too. I'm rereading Kafka on the Shore because it was one of my favorite books as a young adult and I want to see if it holds up. But it does hit different after working through a decent chunk of Murakami's bibliography over the years which trends pretty samey and also consistently has scenes where an adult man hallucinates banging a mysterious teen girl
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2021 18:23
|
|
|
I'm starting up book six of Aubrey Maturin and I've come to realize my absolute favorite parts are when the author reintroduces us to Jack and Stepehen by some illustrative scene; playing cricket, borrowing money, visiting a paymaster. They're short scenes filled with the essence of the characters and it sends a wave of recognition and pleasure over me every time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2021 20:53
|
|
|
3D Megadoodoo posted:Unless I somehow get a kid, I don't think I'll be looking for new reading material of that type. Especially considering how many I already have. I've read this in English (as Fires on the Plain), and it's still got plenty of weird poo poo going on. I don't remember what it does with the narrative stuff, unfortunately -- it's been a while.
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2021 12:09
|
|
|
Antivehicular posted:I've read this in English (as Fires on the Plain), and it's still got plenty of weird poo poo going on. I don't remember what it does with the narrative stuff, unfortunately -- it's been a while. And, of course, Wikipedia is Wikipedia so who knows.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2021 10:05
|
|
|
Very annoyed after buying a number of "new" books off AbeBooks, which are nothing like new. Like, I knew that books printed in the 90s weren't going to be new new, but I did think they'd at least be new-ish or mint-like. But they were not, and generally I'd struggle to call some of them even "very good."
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2021 20:22
|
|
|
Report the sellers.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2021 20:54
|
|
|
If you're buying books and condition is important, you really should only buy listings that provide enough photographs to prove the books are in the described condition. Typically this means you're buying from Ebay more often than not.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2021 02:52
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/alloy_dr/status/1389529656899084290?s=20
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2021 11:38
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:Very annoyed after buying a number of "new" books off AbeBooks, which are nothing like new. Also don't buy from AbeBooks. It's an Amazon subsidiary. Buy from BetterWorldBooks or Half Price Book (HPB.com) or BookShop.org . They're more up-front about the quality of their books, too.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2021 13:04
|
|
|
I've bought from BetterWorldBooks before but I wonder how that works with Brexit, cause the Danish customs fees on anything from outside the EU are prohibitive.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2021 18:58
|
|
|
Carthag Tuek posted:I wonder how that works with Brexit like most things related to Brexit, it doesn't sometimes UK origin books have customs fees, sometimes they don't 
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2021 19:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 15:30 |
|
|
lol yeah that figures
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2021 19:16
|
|