Linked to our rambling cross-cultural discussion I saw a review of Bill Bryson's new book (see previous lexicography thread) about his travels in Australia. I'm not sure if its out yet but it sounded really interesting. Has anyone seen anything about it?
Jo, thanks for the heads up! I haven't heard a thing, which is doubly humiliating since not only have I read and enjoyed everything he's written, but also I work part-time in a book store. I'll check it out and report back. I'm already looking forward to it.
An extract was published in the Melbourne Age last weekend; another extract will be published this weekend, I gather. A damn good read.
It's due out in the US on June 6... next week. Can't wait :-)
In the sun burnt country, which is currently receiving buckets of rain (and for this relief much thanks), Bryson's book is out - bought it yesterday. Don't know why, but it was heavily reduced - ALREADY?
It is increasingly common here to discount a book heavily when it fist comes out - particularly if it is only out in hardback, initially and is likely to make most of its sales when it comes out in paperback.
With the Net Book Price agreement here it used to be impossible to discount books, other than through a book club. So books were never sold on the "pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap" philosophy that worked so well for baked beans.
Nowadays even "Harry Potter" (which seems to sell like hot cakes) is discounted by up to a third when it first comes out. Traditionally the margin a bookseller makes is somewhere between 20 and 40 per cent, depending on volume, so these price reductions come directly from the publisher. As you probably appreciate, books are very expensive to produce in small numbers but once you reach a certain level the run on cost is very small, so profits can be large on low prices.
I like the fact that supermarkets now sell books here and although I love bookshops, I like the way that books have opened up to a wider market - it would never occur to some people to go to a bookshop.
The other day I bought a new dictionary (to keep up). It was the lastest Oxford Compact English Dictionary (only 187,000 entries in 1200 pages, so I don't know everything yet). The best thing about it was that it was £2.99 if you bought £12 worth of petrol. (For American's currently complaining about gas prices, it costs £3.60+ a gallon our gallon is about 25% bigger than a US gallon - so they should give away dictionaries!)
It tried to get a copy last week, it's out next week (discounted apparently) but my partner brought a copy back from Toronto Airport (or was it Vancouver)- hurrah!
I haven't been able to post anything for the last couple of days as I've had my head buried in the book (makes up for doing the washing). I'm glad I've got a Canadian copy - it's full of words like "traveling" so its very apt. I expect the UK edition is delayed as its taken so long to correct all the spelling mistakes :) As Bill Bryson was born in America but worked mainly in the UK, intially as a copy editor, I wonder which language he uses for his first draft?
I don't want to make this too much of an advert but I hacen' been able to put the book down. I found his discussion of the differences between cricket and baseball rather familiar - do you think he subscribes to this newsgroup?
If you are there Bill - own up!
Jo, I just brought it home today from the book shop where I work part time. We can check out books for up to a month, which is a cool deal. I can't wait to get started on it. By the way, I can't remember, did you say you had read "Notes from a Small Island?" If you haven't I suggest that one next.
I betcha old Bill's first instinct, even after 20 years in the UK, is to spell in the colonial manner. He probably learned UK English as a second language. I know I did, when it was required by the company I once worked for. It is easier than Sanskrit.
Amazing - I've reserved the book on our City's Library WebSite - I find that I'm 13th in line for it, and the Library management has seen fit to order only one copy for each of six sites - my local library not included! I might get to read it sometime before the end of next year!
Well wouldn't you just know it. They haven't just been obliterating that nasty Yankee spelling, so bound to offend our pure British spellers, they've "corrected" the name too!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/038540817X/o/qid=961413757/sr=8-1/026-6021516-4298809cf
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767903854/o/qid=961413988/sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_3/103-7235978-2711024I did find one of Amazon reviews interesting - they posed the question "What's wrong with In A Sunburnt Country" - I imagine that sunburnt must be a British usage and sunburned American. I'm never sure about spelt v spelled.
I suppose it couldn't be called "Down Under" in North America. Australia is down but not necessarily under.
Yup, we refer to Australia as "The Land Down Under". It's even in radio ads for The Outback Steakhouse. (I've never
been there, it's always too crowded. I have no idea if there is a genuine connection to Australia, or if the owner just thought it would be a good gimmick.)
Australia isn't exactly down under the UK either. If anyone could call it "Down Under" it would be the Chinese or Indonesians.
I think the down under refers to going through the globe, which from the UK would probably be nearer New Zealand than Australia, rather than further south on a map.
Bingley
Thanks for the correction.
I think we discussed this a while ago. New Zealand is the antipodes for us in the UK, not Australia. So New Zealand should be "down under" not Australia, then it's such a good term (along with antipodean) - it would be a shame not to use it more widely.
There used to be a billboard at the entrance to Auckland International Airport with a World Map on it. Difference is that the map shows New Zealand at the TOP, with the rest of the world below.
To get the idea, turn a world map (Mercato's projection) upside down. That would make the UK "down under" as far as we are concerned!
Hey - I see I've graduated to "Member"
I also like the Peter's projection which certainly puts us Northern Europeans in our place. One of the other threads talks about the victors re-writing history - they also did quite a good job of defining geography to their own advantage. You might need to get out your magnifying glass to find the UK.
http://www.webcom.com/~bright/petermap.html
(in reference to Rogaine thread under Wordplay, for the benefit of other newcomers)
And I would have thought bottom-dwellers just about describes us all, hunched over a keyboard... but what does that make our antipodean contingent?
And I would have thought bottom-dwellers just about describes us all, hunched over a keyboard... but what does that make our antipodean contingent?
Ceiling-clingers?