Plus: 11 new books to read this month.
 | | When altering text published decades ago, deciding what to remove is part business decision, part artful conjuring of the intentions of the author. Clockwise from top left: Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie, Ursula Le Guin, and Roald Dahl. Clockwise from top left: Harry Benson/Express Newspapers, via Getty Images; Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Marian Wood Kolisch; CBS Photo Archive, via Getty Images |
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"My great-grandmother would not have wanted to offend anyone," James Prichard, Christie's great-grandson and the chairman and chief executive of Agatha Christie Ltd., said. "I don't believe we need to leave what I would term offensive language in our books, because frankly all I care about is that people can enjoy Agatha Christie stories forever." |
It's a tricky calculus, with enormous artistic and economic ramifications. Publishers and literary estates are left to grapple with how to preserve an author's original intent while ensuring that their work continues to resonate — and sell. |
Some critics of the practice, though, see it as tantamount to censorship, saying that the posthumous revision of books is an affront to authors' creative autonomy. |
I'd love to hear what you think about this issue — or about what you're reading these days. (I just finished Isabella Hammad's new novel, "Enter Ghost," about a Hamlet production staged in the West Bank, and found it absorbing.) You can reach me in the usual ways. |
- Welcome to April. Here are 11 books to watch for this month.
- In her new book, "Humanly Possible," Sarah Bakewell brings her signature blend of wit and philosophical sophistication to the complex, sometimes contentious 700-year history of humanist thought. We talk to her about the project, a history — and defense — of the grand humanist project, from the first stirrings of the Italian Renaissance to today's debates about technology, artificial intelligence and transhumanism.
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- "We Are Electric," by Sally Adee: In her engaging debut, a science writer traces efforts to explore — and sometimes exploit — the human "electrome," doing full justice to the complex issues surrounding the body's electric forces.
- "Thirst for Salt," by Madelaine Lucas: Prompted by a photograph of her former lover, the narrator of Lucas's debut novel looks back on the relationship they had when she was 24 and he was 42. The story has a pristine, time-capsule-like feeling and a retrospective voice that is lush and gorgeous.
- Here are seven other titles our staff appreciated in recent memory.
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