Penguin-Holt-Penguin

[Ya Sam]

I think that sometimes a great editor is one who does not interfere much, 
especially when we're talking about such writers as Pynchon. I can't imagine 
what might have been done to GR if its editor were overanxious to make it 
more accessible to the reader, simplifying and trivialising it. The 
notorious case in hand is the American edition of Lawrence Norfolk's 
''Lempriere's Dictionary", much shorter than the British one. There will 
always be editors ready to insert punctuation marks into Molly Bloom's 
monologue, beware of them.


>I've often wondered exactly what qualifications (literally or otherwise) 
>are required for the role of editor. Maybe Quail could tell us? The 
>question seems particularly difficult/relevant in the case of someone like 
>Pynchon - to what extent would there be what the layman would usually think 
>of as 'editing'? What sort of iron-clad confidence would someone need, for 
>example, to start crossing bits out, or even suggesting cuts or amendments 
>etc.?
>
>Cheers
>JC
>
>

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