Robert McCrum on books + Amazon | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/robert-mccrum-on-books+technology/amazon Index en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017 Mon, 21 Aug 2017 02:59:05 GMT 2017-08-21T02:59:05Z en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017 The Guardian https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png https://www.theguardian.com Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime lists are full of gaps https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/may/08/amazon-100-books-to-read-in-a-lifetime-gaps One hundred essential reads without Mark Twain, Henry James and Daniel Defoe? These are guides for the Game of Thrones generation<p>Ever since George Bernard Shaw mischievously declared that America and Britain were two countries divided by a common language, there's been a steady cultural commentary exploring the nuances of difference.</p><p>And now the British and American "editors" of Amazon have generously supplied two lists of "100 Books to Read in a Lifetime" to provide, as it were, a long footnote to Shaw's witticism.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/may/08/amazon-100-books-to-read-in-a-lifetime-gaps">Continue reading...</a> Fiction Books Culture Amazon Thu, 08 May 2014 10:37:02 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/may/08/amazon-100-books-to-read-in-a-lifetime-gaps Photograph: Unknown/Bettmann/Corbis Recognise this man? Amazon doesn't … Henry James. Photograph: Unknown/Bettmann/Corbis Photograph: Unknown/Bettmann/Corbis Recognise this man? Amazon doesn't … Henry James. Photograph: Unknown/Bettmann/Corbis Robert McCrum 2014-05-08T10:37:02Z What would Allen Lane make of Amazon? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/27/allen-lane-amazon-publishing The history of publishing is packed with pioneering entrepreneurs who would have revelled in the opportunities of the digital revolution<p>These are disturbing times for booksellers, publishers and writers. The last 20 years have seen a transformation in the world of letters unequalled since the days of William Caxton. In 1993, we were in&nbsp;limbo between hot metal and cool word processing. Neither Amazon nor Google had been invented. The ebook was for science fiction. Today, however, the world of books has become a kind of IT laboratory. On this&nbsp;new frontier, publishers face a future whose shape is a mystery. In a confusing present, traditionally, it's the past that can often supply a quantum of solace. I've just completed a Radio 4 series about five great independent publishers – John Murray, Macmillan, Penguin, Weidenfeld and Faber – and have discovered in the stories of the Victorian and 20th-century book world some intriguing clues to the future prospects for editing and writing.</p><p>Probably the most prominent ogre in the contemporary book trade is Amazon. By one crude analysis, the recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/29/penguin-random-house-book-publisher" title="">Penguin-Random House merger</a> is a defensive alliance motivated by "the threat of Amazon". However, for an 18th-century bookseller, say John Murray, whose imprint came to publish Byron, Austen and Darwin, the service offered by Amazon could seem a natural progression – state-of-the-art book distribution. The "threat" comes&nbsp;from Amazon's intentions, its&nbsp;extraordinary grip on the market share of the big conglomerates.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/27/allen-lane-amazon-publishing">Continue reading...</a> Publishing Penguin Books Amazon E-commerce Technology Culture Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:29:00 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/27/allen-lane-amazon-publishing Photograph: Hulton Getty Eureka moment … Allen Lane, founder of Penguin publishers, holding a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover. Photograph: Hulton Getty Photograph: Hulton Getty Eureka moment … Allen Lane, founder of Penguin publishers, holding a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover. Photograph: Hulton Getty Robert McCrum 2013-09-27T17:29:00Z English literature's 50 key moments from Marlowe to JK Rowling https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowling What have been the hinge points in the evolution of Anglo-American literature? Here's a provisional, partisan list<p>BBC Radio Three is currently broadcasting a fascinating series on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0147b49" title="">the "50 key works" of classical music</a>. This is a spin-off from Howard Goodall's BBC2 television series and its tie-in book, <a href="http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780701187521" title="">The Story of Music (Chatto)</a>, and it crystallises – for the amateur listener – the turning points in the evolution of the classical tradition in the most enthralling way. Did you, for instance, know that Procul Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale contains a harmonic line that is pure Bach?</p><p>So much for music. Following Radio 3, I've found myself speculating about the 50 key moments in the Anglo-American literary tradition. Arguably, Goodall's very good idea works almost as well for the history of the printed page.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowling">Continue reading...</a> Books Culture Christopher Marlowe William Shakespeare John Milton Samuel Pepys John Locke William Congreve Daniel Defoe Jonathan Swift Samuel Johnson Mary Wollstonecraft William Wordsworth Lord Byron Emily Brontë Charles Dickens Herman Melville Charles Darwin Lewis Carroll Wilkie Collins George Eliot Robert Louis Stevenson Oscar Wilde Thomas Hardy JM Barrie James Joyce TS Eliot F Scott Fitzgerald George Orwell Ian Fleming Jack Kerouac Maurice Sendak Truman Capote WG Sebald Amazon JK Rowling Ted Hughes Fiction Poetry Theatre Jane Austen Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:30:12 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowling Photograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo Macleod Literary turning points ... Christopher Marlowe and JK Rowling. Photograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo Macleod Photograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo Macleod Literary turning points ... Christopher Marlowe and JK Rowling. Photograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo Macleod Robert McCrum 2013-02-04T12:30:12Z Waterstones boss poised to join the e-reader battle https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/20/waterstones-e-reader-strategy-james-daunt Bookseller James Daunt remains upbeat about traditional books even as he plots a digital revolution<p>When you consider the prospects for literature in the age of the ebook, just four names seem to dominate the digital future: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/amazon" title="">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/apple" title="">Apple</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/google" title="">Google</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/microsoft" title="">Microsoft</a>. These American west coast giants, founded respectively in 1994, 1976, 1998 and 1975, are locked in a battle for audiences whose outcome no sensible person could predict. The future looks digital, but traditional books and booksellers still play an important role, possibly thanks to the war between these behemoths.</p><p>Last month, Microsoft challenged both Apple and Amazon with a $300m investment in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/barnes-and-noble" title="">Barnes &amp; Noble</a>, a stake in the digital operations of the world's largest bricks-and-mortar book chain to exploit and develop the Nook (the B&amp;N e-reader) in direct opposition to the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/kindle" title="">Kindle</a>. Game on! And also an extraordinary reversal. Scarcely a year ago, industry analysts were suggesting that Barnes &amp; Noble was doomed to follow another giant book chain, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/borders" title="">Borders</a>, into administration.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/20/waterstones-e-reader-strategy-james-daunt">Continue reading...</a> Waterstones Barnes & Noble Books Culture Microsoft Amazon Google Apple Technology Borders Business Sat, 19 May 2012 23:03:00 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/20/waterstones-e-reader-strategy-james-daunt Photograph: Katherine Rose/Observer James Daunt of Waterstones: 'We'll be different from Amazon – and better.' Photograph: Katherine Rose for the Observer Photograph: Katherine Rose/Observer James Daunt of Waterstones: 'We'll be different from Amazon – and better.' Photograph: Katherine Rose for the Observer Robert McCrum 2012-05-19T23:03:00Z Thanks to the internet, we're all literary omnivores now https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/12/reading-habits-internet-robert-mccrum Where once the book world was controlled by the critical establishment, the IT revolution has shifted power to the people<p>The koala bear lives on eucalyptus leaves. The goat will eat almost anything. As readers, we might aspire to the ascetic diet of the koala, shunning trash in favour of poetry or the classics. In practice, increasingly, we behave like goats.</p><p>As omnivores, we'll go to every kind of literary festival, from Bath to Buxton. We'll listen to crime writers, pop stars, atheists, pundits and comedians and probably buy their books too. The venues in which these encounters occur will vary from stately homes to church halls, from pubs to yurts.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/12/reading-habits-internet-robert-mccrum">Continue reading...</a> Books Ebooks Culture Amazon Internet Festivals Waterstones Costa book awards VS Naipaul Women's prize for fiction Orange prize for fiction 2011 Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:04:03 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/12/reading-habits-internet-robert-mccrum Robert McCrum 2011-06-11T23:04:03Z Digital books: Micawber against the Visigoths – who will win? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/30/robert-mccrum-digital-battle-publishers As the iPad is launched, what is the British book trade doing about the digital threat? Nothing<p>"Roll up that map", William Pitt the Younger is said to have observed on his deathbed, having heard the news of Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz. "It will not be wanted these 10 years." Or apocryphally, and less high flown: "I think I could eat one of Bellamy's meat pies."</p><p>In the week the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/may/16/buy-or-nor-to-buy-ipad" title="iPad is launched">iPad is launched</a> in the UK, it's clear that several decisive recent cultural engagements have also torn up the map by which, for at least a century, writers and publishers have fought the battle of the books. For more than a decade we have been in <em>terra incognita.</em></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/30/robert-mccrum-digital-battle-publishers">Continue reading...</a> Books Culture Amazon Google Apple Sat, 29 May 2010 23:05:11 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/30/robert-mccrum-digital-battle-publishers Robert McCrum 2010-05-29T23:05:11Z Vietnam still sells, especially when coupled to old publishing practices | Robert McCrum https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/02/robert-mccrum-publishing-vietnam-war Karl Marlantes's exceptional war novel proves that the traditonal book is far from dead, writes Robert McCrum<p>From <em>The</em> <em>Iliad </em>to <em>War and Peace</em>, there's always been an audience for stories of men at arms. Some of the defining books of the last century – <em>All Quiet on the Western Front</em>, <em>For Whom the Bell Tolls</em>, <em>The Naked and the Dead</em>, <em>Catch-22</em> – are war stories.</p><p>For Americans, the tragedy of Vietnam yields <em>The Quiet American</em>, Tim O'Brien's <em>The Things They Carried</em> and many unforgettable movies: <em>Apocalypse Now</em>, <em>The Deerhunter</em> and <em>Platoon</em>. There was a moment when Hollywood scriptwriters seemed more at home in Da Nang than Main Street.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/02/robert-mccrum-publishing-vietnam-war">Continue reading...</a> Books Publishing Technology Apple Amazon Culture Sat, 01 May 2010 23:06:23 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/02/robert-mccrum-publishing-vietnam-war Robert McCrum 2010-05-01T23:06:23Z 2010 is no bad time to be a writer | Robert McCrum https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/feb/22/publishing-internet-amazon-google Traditional publishing may be in crisis, but the internet has given all writers a chance to win both readers and remuneration<p>Various conversations with some established British writers this past week, and the ongoing blog discussion about the behaviour of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/feb/15/plagiarism-germany-helene-hegemann">Helene Hegemann</a> have got me thinking about the condition of writers, young and old, in 2010. Some people, especially those who have been publishing since the 1980s, suggest that this is a bad time to be a writer, a point to which some of these recent blogs have referred.</p><p>Me, I'm not so sure. (And please, don't go mad with stuff about the unreality of writing about this subject from within the security of the Guardian compound: there's no disputing that irony). My point is that, historically, the position of the writer has always been a bit marginal, even aggressively so, as the necessary outsider. It is, of course, a commonplace to suggest that the writer's marginal status is the key to his/her authenticity as an artist. I'm wondering whether, perhaps, the writer's current predicament (if that's what it is) could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/feb/22/publishing-internet-amazon-google">Continue reading...</a> Publishing Internet Amazon Technology Culture Books Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:56:15 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/feb/22/publishing-internet-amazon-google Photograph: Frank Baron/Guardian 'The status of the writer has changed irrevocably with the world wide web'. Photograph: Guardian/Frank Baron Photograph: Frank Baron/Guardian 'The status of the writer has changed irrevocably with the world wide web'. Photograph: Guardian/Frank Baron Robert McCrum 2010-02-22T09:56:15Z No one knows anything, and other dilemmas of the e-book era | Robert McCrum https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/nov/09/digital-books-publishing-ebook-mccrum It's even harder to adapt to the digital gale sweeping through publishing when big 'old-media' stories about canonical authors are still grabbing everyone's attention<p>William Goldman, who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, is almost as well known for his coruscating portrait of the movie business, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_in_the_Screen_Trade">Adventures in the Screen Trade</a>. This, in turn, is celebrated for its dictum about Hollywood executives – "No one knows anything" – a phrase that has a way of popping into mind whenever the discussion turns towards the future of books and newspapers.</p><p>I've noticed that whenever writers, publishers and journalists get together, sooner or later the conversation turns to The Way We Live Now, the ongoing IT revolution, usually with reference to manifestations of the latest innovation (lately, for instance, the Kindle and Twitter). Finally, the conversation usually culminates in a version of Where Will It End? or How Will It Affect My Livelihood?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/nov/09/digital-books-publishing-ebook-mccrum">Continue reading...</a> Ebooks Amazon Books Culture Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:30:08 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/nov/09/digital-books-publishing-ebook-mccrum Photograph: PR 'No one knows anything' … William Goldman, whose famous dictate now applies to publishing Photograph: PR 'No one knows anything' … William Goldman, whose famous dictate now applies to publishing Robert McCrum 2009-11-09T14:30:08Z Robert McCrum: America's giant bookshops put the 'e' in reading https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/16/robert-mccrum-ebooks-kindle E-readers reach their 'iPod moment' as Amazon and Barnes &amp; Noble battle for their share of the US and – soon – British markets<p>I don't possess a Kindle or even a Sony Reader, but I won't be clinging to ink and vellum much longer. The long-awaited "iPod moment" for books, to which this column has often referred, has arrived. Not on these shores, true, and not yet in Europe, but across America this summer there's suddenly all the evidence anyone might need to declare the appearance of a trend. E-reading has reached its tipping point.</p><p>Not only has the second version of Amazon's Kindle matured into an attractive, discreet and user-friendly tool, but Barnes &amp; Noble has just launched its own e-reader in direct competition with Amazon. Those in the know say that it hopes to cash in on the anticipated surge in electronic reading that will follow the September launch of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/16/robert-mccrum-ebooks-kindle">Continue reading...</a> Ebooks Publishing Books Culture Technology Amazon Booksellers Kindle Barnes & Noble E-readers Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:05:14 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/aug/16/robert-mccrum-ebooks-kindle Robert McCrum 2009-08-15T23:05:14Z Robert McCrum: Are real books nearing the end of their shelf life? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/08/robert-mccrum-e-books <p>Last week, I sent three questions to a selection of insiders from the world of books (publishers, literary agents, editors and booksellers). Promising anonymity, I asked: 1. Do you have a Sony Reader (or Amazon Kindle)? 2. If so, how do you rate it? And 3. Is your library becoming digital?</p><p>The answers I received strongly suggest that, although the sales of Kindles and Sony eReaders are statistically insignificant, the age of the ebook has arrived. Just as telling, it has arrived barely six months after the launch of the first ebooks in the UK (about a year in the United States).</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/08/robert-mccrum-e-books">Continue reading...</a> Culture Books Technology Sony Amazon Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:01:00 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/08/robert-mccrum-e-books Photograph: PR Photograph: PR Robert McCrum 2009-02-08T00:01:00Z Robert McCrum: Here's to the future of the book https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/22/mccrum-digital-books-recession Readers will not stop reading in a recession, any more than writers will stop writing. The book – in whatever form – is here to stay<p>Are the print media facing the end of the world? The current issue of the New Yorker has <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2008/12/22/081222ta_talk_surowiecki">a piece by the always perceptive James Surowiecki</a> exploring the crisis facing the American press, which should be read by anyone reflecting seriously on the future of the book.</p><p>Surowiecki quotes Sam Zell, the current owner of the Tribune Company – who recently filed for bankruptcy – to the effect that his newspapers' problems were the result of a "perfect storm" of uniquely destructive adverse trading conditions.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/22/mccrum-digital-books-recession">Continue reading...</a> Books Culture Amazon Newspaper formats Technology Publishing Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:30:41 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/22/mccrum-digital-books-recession Photograph: Ho New/Reuters Not the end of the world: Amazon's Kindle ereader. Photograph: Ho New/Reuters Photograph: Ho New/Reuters Not the end of the world: Amazon's Kindle ereader. Photograph: Ho New/Reuters Robert McCrum 2008-12-22T11:30:41Z
https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/robert-mccrum-on-books+technology/amazon/rss
www.theguardian.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-34
40862
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:RDASTCF3SIOLYDQXWBQBLD6CA445NHZM
<urn:uuid:3be0da8b-e6ae-4363-9d5b-08b723f9570d>
2017-08-21T02:59:04Z
151.101.33.111
application/rss+xml
sha1:HN4U6Z7WS4Q3TQEQVK3EPQDZXGITX7U6
<urn:uuid:53c55983-b962-431e-b281-47abc6f99712>
https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/robert-mccrum-on-books+technology/amazon/rss
response
<urn:uuid:63fce444-471d-4b8c-aa8f-1a5ba2085dd2>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-138-121-75.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-34
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf