The raspberry, nord, banana, and blueberry went on an adventure today. It was fairly uneventful, but something that happened at the bookstore has given me pause.
Since the three of us children were negligent, we didn't get Dad a Fathers' Day gift, so that was one of the three missions that we had to accomplish while out and about. We ended up at the bookstore and found ourselves in the "religious selections" section. I spotted a copy of St. Augustine's "City of God." However, it was a hardcover and I am a firm believer in the discount paperbacks give. The nord found a paperback copy. Without looking twice at it, we got in line, bought it, but never got out the door. Why not? Because I realized that above the title it said "Abridged Edition for Modern Readers." So, we scurried back to the aisle with the hardcover, exchanged them and left.
But it made me wonder. Why "abridged edition for the modern reader"? What does that mean. There are a few options, as I see it:
1) The unabridged edition has the kind of English that is practically gibberish to those of us who live in the 21st century.
2) People were smarter back then, so modern publishers have to dumb content down to accommodate us.
3) Modern people couldn't handle the hard truth about anything, so they smooth things over to appease us.
4) The average attention span has shortened over the years, leaving us incapable of getting through 400 pages, but we can handle 250.
If you can think of any other reasons, feel free to enlighten me :)
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