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I recommend reading Orwell's full essay here: http://vintagepenguins.blogspot.com.au/p/review-of-penguin-books.html http://vintagepenguins.blogspot.com.au/p/rev

by BryantD 12y ago

I recommend reading Orwell's full essay here: http://vintagepenguins.blogspot.com.au/p/review-of-penguin-books.html http://vintagepenguins.blogspot.com.au/p/review-of-penguin-b... It's well written, because of course it's Orwell, and while he was certainly wrong in 1937, six years later he was cheerfully writing to Penguin about the best books for them to reprint: http://georgeorwellnovels.com/letters/letter-to-penguin-books-8-march-1943 http://georgeorwellnovels.com/letters/letter-to-penguin-book... Meanwhile, George Bernard Shaw was saying the cheaper books were, the better, and J. B. Priestley was calling Penguin "a grand publishing feat." Amazon is rewriting history when they say the literary establishment hated paperbacks. And, of course, Orwell was the last man in the world one could reasonably accuse of being a pawn of corporate interests. He was a revolutionary and a socialist who went to Spain to fight against fascists. He was uncompromising in his examination of even his fellow travelers: 1984 is a criticism of the Soviet Union and abstract leftist thought. Finally, if you're going to invoke Orwell, you should have the intellectual honesty to link to both people who agree with you and people who disagree with you. You should also not call yourself Readers United. I'm a reader; I have some sympathies with Amazon, but I am not united behind this any more than all authors are part of Authors United.

jamesaguilar 12y ago
The post didn't accuse him of being a pawn of corporate interest. It just said he came out against a cheaper book format, as indeed he did, notwithstanding his later change of heart.
taeric 12y ago
I'm not sure of your point. Seems that the only reason he was invoked, was because he is well respected and generally regarded as a smart person. And, he was wrong. That he later changed positions to be "right" is irrelevant. Similarly, that some in the industry thought paperbacks were a good idea is similarly irrelevant. So, are there any points in this letter that are not legitimate? Overly sold? I'm genuinely curious. As things stand right now, my take is that I'm for cheaper books. Though, the last ebook I bought was $36. And I don't regret a penny of it. (Granted, the average price of the previous 20 books I bought is probably under a buck. I over saturated myself with the humble bundle for books.) Perhaps the most interesting thing to analyze is if their numbers on the price elasticity is accurate. Really that is the key of the debate, it seems. I understand that things are a more complicated for Hachette, as they believe this devalues reading as a whole. In particular, their hard back sales. Any numbers showing how 9.99 ebooks affect hard cover sales out there?

by BryantD 12y ago

jamesaguilar 12y ago

The post didn't accuse him of being a pawn of corporate interest. It just said he came out against a cheaper book format, as indeed he did, notwithstanding his later change of heart.

taeric 12y ago

I'm not sure of your point. Seems that the only reason he was invoked, was because he is well respected and generally regarded as a smart person. And, he was wrong. That he later changed positions to be "right" is irrelevant. Similarly, that some in the industry thought paperbacks were a good idea is similarly irrelevant. So, are there any points in this letter that are not legitimate? Overly sold? I'm genuinely curious. As things stand right now, my take is that I'm for cheaper books. Though, the last ebook I bought was $36. And I don't regret a penny of it. (Granted, the average price of the previous 20 books I bought is probably under a buck. I over saturated myself with the humble bundle for books.) Perhaps the most interesting thing to analyze is if their numbers on the price elasticity is accurate. Really that is the key of the debate, it seems. I understand that things are a more complicated for Hachette, as they believe this devalues reading as a whole. In particular, their hard back sales. Any numbers showing how 9.99 ebooks affect hard cover sales out there?