tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post6134972916269531766..comments2024-02-20T03:18:43.590-05:00Comments on Magnificent Octopus: Please, sir. I want some more.Isabella Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10735198478395875257noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-94086535281082352008-01-25T21:16:00.000-05:002008-01-25T21:16:00.000-05:00How ironic you should mention this. I'm teaching t...How ironic you should mention this. I'm teaching that very abridged version in two eight-grade classes.<BR/><BR/>Having read both the original and now this abridged, I can say that reading abridged Dickens shows how much of his work was simply filler to meet his weekly syndication deadline. The Puffin version contains the most important parts of the story plus a little extra to give readers the feel of how convoluted Dickens can be with his sub-sub-sub-sub plots.<BR/><BR/>It wouldn't be my first choice for personal reading though. Bloated as Dickens is, I still think the original is better to an abridgment.<BR/><BR/>I tried with my super-advanced kids to read the original <I>Twist</I>. It was entirely too difficult. The Puffin version simplifies some of the sentences (through omission only -- no re-writing) and makes it more accessible for 13 year-olds. At the same time, it's similar enough to the original that they get the experience of reading "real" Dickens.<BR/><BR/>As for their response to the story, the Dickensian habit of building, building, building, only to start providing resolution to the main plot and the 254 sub plots in the last 20% of the book is driving them nuts. "Boring!" Then came some of the revelations of the book and they're walking out of class talking to each other about how this or that twist (no pun initially intended) will resolve in the end.<BR/><BR/>They are, in a word, finally having fun with the book -- during the last 80 pages...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-16375605164370084172008-01-23T15:00:00.000-05:002008-01-23T15:00:00.000-05:00The only abridged Dickens I've read is "David Copp...The only abridged Dickens I've read is "David Copperfield as a boy", read at school when about 11.<BR/>Rubbish.<BR/>I've loved many Dickens, particularly Our Mutual Friend and Little Dorrit. But he's a great writer, and although there are some longeurs (eg the American sections of Martin Chuzzlewit were not to my taste), I find the books race by, even though long.<BR/>(Maxine)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-39467069948290972942008-01-23T12:07:00.000-05:002008-01-23T12:07:00.000-05:00It's funny you should mention an abridged Oliver T...It's funny you should mention an abridged Oliver Twist-- when we were visiting my folks during the holidays, my husband was scrounging around for something to read and came across a copy. He was going to read it, being interested in Dickens. I noticed that it was suspiciously slender, and sure enough, it was an abridged version.<BR/><BR/> I'm a little horrified by the notion of abridging a book-- it's not the same book at the end, is it? Maybe they should present such books as 'inspired by', and leave off the pretense that they are the same thing. I remember my grandparents had all sorts of those Readers Digest condensed versions, which I read as a kid. Those are worse, of course. I suppose the intention is of pulling in readers who otherwise might not read the full version, and that seems like a good thing. But what do they come away with? Is it an adequate substitute for the full version? Do they really get a sense of the authors ability and intent? It seems patronizing in some way, like the dumbing down of television, the assumption that people are a little stupid and can't handle anything challenging. Ick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-49948618021570950652008-01-22T21:51:00.000-05:002008-01-22T21:51:00.000-05:00Abridged books feel choppy to me as well. They're...Abridged books feel choppy to me as well. They're not quite as bad as Reader's Digest Condensed Books, but almost.Bybeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10061186489010154661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-59616405649593272312008-01-21T19:11:00.000-05:002008-01-21T19:11:00.000-05:00I hate reading abridged books! I remember when I f...I hate reading abridged books! I remember when I first discovered that someone actually did that. Shortened books. It was shocking. (I was a sheltered child). <BR/><BR/>I don't remember Oliver as well, due to the vast number of productions of it, but I read Bleak House right before the Gillian Anderson version came out and that boy wrote cliff hangers. Spontaneous combustion? Yowza.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com