urbanek2525 t1_iy0s9y2 wrote
It's not "the same" because it's not "considered" the same. It's not given the same reverence as it is once was. There are excellent, impactful novels written today, they're just not given the same reverence.
For one thing, those novels you cite were the property of the upper class. Of course they were held in higher esteem, they marked the difference between class and crass. Common folk couldn't afford books. A first edition Crime and Punishment from 1867, was marked with a price of $1.50. That's equivalent to about $200 today (the lowest corrected price I could find)
My grandfather's generation was probably the first generation of middle class Americans who could afford to buy and own books. They were proudly displayed.
There are still many books that are every bit as good as "Crime and Punishment", but they are drowned out by lots of noise from other entertainment media.
"Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese deserves to be in the conversation (published 2009) IMO, but it was one of thousands of books published in 2009.
How many books were published in 1866? How many copies of Crime and Punishment were sold? More importantly, who could afford them? That's why they're considered better. Not because they're better, but because they were owned and promoted by people who were "better" than most.
JuristaDoAlgarve OP t1_iy0t9ww wrote
WOW I had no idea that a book was that expensive in the 19th century! That’s nuts. Could you share any more information on the price of books historically ? What about the “zine” type magazines that were popular at the time? I was under the impression that Dickens and Dostoyevsky both published in these magazines that would publish chapters at a time? Is that corrrect ?
urbanek2525 t1_iy13jit wrote
That's what I read too. Crime and Punishment was published in installments in 1866. That first edition in found on-line was published in 1867.
My understanding was that Dickens made more money reading short stories at in-person events than from the publishing novels. I'll bet those events were pretty much only aristocracy.
It's nothing new, though. I read Larry Niven's "The Ringworld Engineers" as it was serialized in Galileo Magazine. I grew up in a small town and I'd go to City Market (grocery store) every week looking for the next edition. This would have been late 1970s.
JuristaDoAlgarve OP t1_iy17bcx wrote
I suppose my question is - would reading books like that - buying it in instalments in magazines as it comes out - be cheaper than the figure you’ve mentioned for the whole book? Ie less than 200$
urbanek2525 t1_iy1nlz0 wrote
Good thought. IDK. I wonder how much the periodical was? You'd get a lot more than one story,
I know that all of Alexandre Dumas's books were published in periodicals. "The Count of Monte Christo" was published in 18 instalments, from August 1844 to January 1846.
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