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Revised Science Fiction books?Should I keep the original or buy the revised edition?

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• Revised Science Fiction books?Should I keep the original or buy the revised edition?

• Revised Science Fiction books?Should I keep the original or buy the revised edition?

  LazarusLong > March 1st, 2023, 04:35 AM

  Hello everyone,
  
  How is everyone? Good I hope!
  
  Well, I’m currently reading ‘The Space Merchants’ by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth. My question is they now have an ‘revised edition’ of the book, but I have the old original copy which I am reading now. Now, should I stop reading the old book and buy the ‘revised edition’ and read that one instead? Will, the ‘revised edition’ have much more new material with its satire of economic society? Which is basically what
  the book is about, or will it just have more reading filler that the book could do without? I appreciate your thoughts and opinions on the matter. 
  
  Have any of you ever bought ‘revised edition’ of a book and read it? If so what were your thoughts and/or opinions of the ’revised edition’? Was it basically the same book or did the author or authors add a lot of new material to the book that made it a better book then it’s original?
  
  I guess the main question boils down to : Should I buy the revised edition of ‘The Space Merchants’ because I’m sure to get a lot more out of it then reading the old original version? Or will the changes be so slight that it’s worth keeping my old book and finish reading it?
  
  Thank you all very much, 
  LazarusLong

• RE: Revised Science Fiction books?Should I keep the original or buy the revised edition?

  Irene > March 1st, 2023, 10:08 AM

  I have occasionally read a book, and then the revised edition. In both cases the revised edition included a chapter/scene that the original publisher had them pull out. Then it was put back in.
  
  While I was reading the book, both times, I didn't notice the differences. The author did.
  
  Perhaps you should read the edition you have, and if you like the book, purchase the revised edition in ebook form.
  
  Note: I am a reader of an authors Pre-publication ebook version, and provide Typos as found. The very first time I read the pre-pub, I read for content, and don't see typos. When I later read the Hard Cover edition, I rarely notice the typo fixes. I have to read the pre-pub a second time SLOWLY, to notice that "she should be he", or "its should be it's"

• RE: Revised Science Fiction books?Should I keep the original or buy the revised edition?

  Alvin Eriol > March 1st, 2023, 03:21 PM

  Is anyone saying why the book is being revised, or in what fashion?
  
  We are just now seeing books by Dr. Seuss and now by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, etc) being diddled with, to appease some Leftist sensibility or other, but Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, and that particular book (haven't read it, BTW) don't seem likely to be prominent targets for such, at least not at this point.
  
  Tere are other reasons SF/fantasy novels and short stories get revised. Tolkien famously revised The Hobbit decades after it was published, in order to preserve continuity with The Lord of the Rings - and he even contrived an "internal" explanation for doing so! (In the 1st version, Bilbo Baggins didn't come clean about the fact he found the Ring and didn't play the Riddle Game fair, but instead claimed he won it from Gollum. In the post LotR version, Bilbo told the truth about how he acquired it and gained Gollum's emnity.) The short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," by Philip K. Dick was expanded into a full-length novelization of the movie adaptation Total Recall.
  
  There are always corrections of clumsy editing errors (one of my faves, The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe, in one paperback printing contains a doozy that mystified me for the longest), but those seldom are considered true "revisions".

• RE: Revised Science Fiction books?Should I keep the original or buy the revised edition?

  Michael > March 1st, 2023, 08:42 PM

  It's always been a mixed bag for me. But I can't remember many revised editions off the top of my head. I supposed it comes down to who is doing the revising and what they hope to achieve with it. If you enjoy the original story the revised version may not work out as well for you. But then the opposite could happen, too.
  
  I think I'd finish reading the original, wait a while, and then read the revised version.
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