Alternate explanation: Anything worth reprinting with multiple editions and updates over the years is likely to have been first written by an inspired and gifted writer. Any given editor is likely to lack the same pizzazz as the original author, and so over the years, the life of the work is likely to ebb away.
If you want to find great writing, perhaps you’re more likely to find it in the great first edition novels of our time, rather than in 30th edition updated texts which, for all I know, sell more on name recognition than anything else.
I don’t fully buy this alternate explanation, because I find the same increase in literacy when I read older books that were not so popular even when they were published. I’ve even read some letters written by normal people in the ’70s, and they seemed to be shockingly literate for normal people.
That said, I’m sure the effect you’re pointing to is real, I just don’t think it’s the whole story.
Another possible thing that is going on is that older texts appear more posh and sophisticated because they use older vocab like “posh” that have fallen outside the mainstream. I wouldn’t put too much stock in this explanation (and it doesn’t directly relate to the stylistic changes you point out), but I do think older language is part of the appeal for me when I pick up an old book.
Alternate explanation: Anything worth reprinting with multiple editions and updates over the years is likely to have been first written by an inspired and gifted writer. Any given editor is likely to lack the same pizzazz as the original author, and so over the years, the life of the work is likely to ebb away.
If you want to find great writing, perhaps you’re more likely to find it in the great first edition novels of our time, rather than in 30th edition updated texts which, for all I know, sell more on name recognition than anything else.
I don’t fully buy this alternate explanation, because I find the same increase in literacy when I read older books that were not so popular even when they were published. I’ve even read some letters written by normal people in the ’70s, and they seemed to be shockingly literate for normal people.
That said, I’m sure the effect you’re pointing to is real, I just don’t think it’s the whole story.
Another possible thing that is going on is that older texts appear more posh and sophisticated because they use older vocab like “posh” that have fallen outside the mainstream. I wouldn’t put too much stock in this explanation (and it doesn’t directly relate to the stylistic changes you point out), but I do think older language is part of the appeal for me when I pick up an old book.