Wish list?

I wonder if others would consider it a good idea to suggest the opening in the FS webpage of a Wish List for members? In my opinion, it would save a lot of repetitive searches and might encourage purchases.

>1 drasvola: It would be a great idea, a welcome feature for members. At the moment the only option seems to be to "hold" things in your basket, which is unsatisfactory.

I'm sure there would be benefit to Folio as well: there must be stats from Amazon or Book Depository (not that they'd share them, of course) that indicate "conversion rates" for items on wish lists. If you put something on a wish list, think about it, browse back to it etc there must be an increased propensity to buy the item.

> 2

Thank you, ian_curtin. Exactly my point. Let's see what other devotees think.

A 'Wish List' is a useful reference for people not wanting to continually trawl through the site reminding themselves of books that caught their attention, but for whatever reason, didn't purchase at the time. It is also handy for starting off with a long list of books that you can whittle down to what you really, really want (afford?) and avoids hasty decisions.

In short it would be a feature that the site doesn't currently have that some people would find beneficial.

I'd certainly use it. I regularly "hold" items in my basket knowing that it is not particularly likely that I am going to buy them at present (if, indeed, ever!)

I would definitely love a wish list! At the moment, I use Amazon's Universal Wish List to track FS books that I want, but it's not particularly convenient. The upside is that I have a separate 'Specialty Press' wishlist so that I can track books from a number of different publishers - EP, FS, Subterranean Press, etc. The downside is that I want so many books, that list becomes overwhelming and I usually end up ignoring it - so it doesn't save me any time or effort in the end.

Having one directly on the FS website would be much more useful in my opinion. And I definitely believe it would improve their sales - they have quite a long list of titles, so it's easy to lose track of things one can't afford straight away.

A wish list is definitely needed. I currently use the hold in my basket feature which works until The Folio Society ends a sale or begins a new one. Upon which they wipe out my basket and thought pattern of what I books I want to buy.

My Amazon wish list is up to 300 items and outpacing my consumption. It's a grim reminder of my mortality.

I would love a wish list on the FS website! For me it is necessary to keep account of the volumes that I want. I hope FS do introduce such feature. It is quite standard these days.

I've used my basket for pseudo wish lists then realized they were mostly getting dumped.

On the other hand, knowing FS's expert skills in running a website, if you did put something in your Wish List, you'd probably find it on your doorstep the following week!!!!!

> 8 "My Amazon wish list is up to 300 items and outpacing my consumption. It's a grim reminder of my mortality."

Mine's much the same. It's also a grim reminder of my overstretched funds. However, it would seem that a FS wishlist would be beneficial to both publisher and customer.

I lost track of how many items were on my Amazon wish lists a long time ago. I find wish lists dangerous; I put so many things on them that I find myself rationalizing purchases by thinking "Well, but I'm only buying ONE thing from this list of over 100 items, which is less than 1%, so it's not that bad..." But when you make this rationalization every other week or so, the expenditure adds up!!

I would LOVE for there to be a wishlist on the FS website, and have long wondered why on earth there isn't one. My FS wishlist is the only one I use pen and paper for.

Has anyone suggested it and received any response?

> 14

I've been waiting to gather some "critical mass" in favour of the suggestion before getting in touch with FS.

> 15

What do you mean by "critical mass"? I would have thought that if enough of us individually asked for a wishlist, they might very well consider it.

I'm off to write a quick e-mail to them right now.

> 16

Fine. Thank you. Please let us know their response.

> 17

Will do.

>19 kiwidoc: Actually I am quite opposite, I keep my first edition separate especially those that are signed and have purchased and will continue to those volumes that are given the FS treatment. For example I have a couple of Richard Dawkins hard backs and have also purchased the FS ones. I am eagerly awaiting the publication of the Selfish Gene

I also like the idea of a wish list option - although it will severely reduce my bank balance - I rarely buy when I put books into the basket.

It usually it takes me a while to decide on a purchase and when I return the basket is often emptied and the momentum is lost.

A wish list would also be a good way to keep tabs on which books you are interested have gone on sale or are now in limited numbers. It could also be shown to selected friends and family when they ask "What do you want for (your birthday, Christmas, other gift-giving occasion)?" :)

I've actually started a wish list on my computer. I copy info on the books I'm interested in from the website and paste it into a Word document. There's no way I can afford to buy all the books at once (oh, but how I wish I could) and this way when I do have the funds I can just scroll through my list to make my decision. It also helps when the books disappear from the site and I have to search for second-hand ones as I also record the price so I can see when I'm getting a good deal.

I contacted FS via e-mail last night and just received the following response:

Thank you for your email.

This is of course a very good idea, and I am sure most of our members would really appreciate a wish list on our website.

I will definitely pass along your request to our web team, and hopefully this is something we will consider featuring in the future.

Best wishes

Jenn Neil
Membership Secretary
The Folio Society

I think this looks very promising, indeed, and encourage you all to likewise contact them about it.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, we will get one!

> 24

You've tipped the "critical mass." Thanks for posting the response,

>25 drasvola:

No problem, drasvola!

I just realised this morning that the Folio Society prints website has a wishlist function. But that's probably because they're using a kit website like this one.

So it would appear nothing ever came of this? I'd love for them to have a wish list on their site too.

> 28

Gosh, it's been a year since we were discussing it. I got a positive sounding response to my email to them (post 24), but have heard nothing since.

I still had the email conversation in my archive, so I revived it by writing to them again. I'll get back to you if I hear back from them.

Amazon lets you add items from any website to their wish lists, so I have a Folio Society wish list within Amazon. You install a little button in your browser and then as you're browsing the FS website you click the button and the book goes in your wish list. A wish list native to the FS site would be better of course, but for now it's a good solution.

Email response this morning:

I am afraid there are no current plans to introduce a wish list to our web site.

Although this is something we would consider doing as we are aware that some members would like to have this function available.

I apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Ah, well.

Well that's disappointing. I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but sooner rather than later would be nice.

So we all can end up with half of the site in the Wishlists... :)

>30 recurringdream:
There's a similar LT button (The LibraryThing Bookmarklet on the widgets page) you can put in your browser that is supposed to add a book to your LT catalogue when you're looking at its entry in Amazon. I have it on my 'favorites' bar in IE, but it has never worked.

Has anyone had any success with this? Any advice?

Os.

>34 Osbaldistone: I haven't been able to add a book using that widget either, though I am using the google chrome browser. However, the Add-a-Book chrome extension (on the same widgets page) works fine, requiring just a cut-and paste of the isbn or book title.

30 > I just added the amazon wishlist button via the following link to google chrome extension that allows you to add items from any website to your amazon wishlist

http://tinyurl.com/c38b5ty

I have just added all of the new FS publications that I am considering for my renewal. I'll be waiting for the next renewal offer, but it will be nice to have my wants organized beforehand. I don't know if a similar extension is available for other browsers, but for FS devotees that use the Chrome browser, this could come in handy.

>36 DCBlack:. I wasn't aware of this widget. Just installed for Firefox and works great. This is all kinds of awesome.

Wow that sounds great, never knew about the Amazon button. Does it add the book separately independent of the source i.e., if the books on the FS dissapeare does Amazon retain the book that you've added?

>38 ironjaw: Not sure if a book goes OOP, whether the wishlist link will still work. Time will tell....

Also you can do the same thing on Wishlist.com. It doesn't make an Amazon wishlist but rather a wishlist on their website that you can choose to share with others or not. Each member of my family uses it to make holiday wishlists so we can see what everyone else wants for Christmas.

I use Kaboodle.com, you can use categories, and when it captures the data from the page, it makes a nice thumbnail for the item.

The FS have revised their web site again!
At first I thought that they had removed the Wish list option, but it is now accessible after logging in by clicking on your user name and then navigating to it in the column on the far left of your account page.
The way in which the Limited Editions are displayed has also changed, and I am sure we will discover other changes in the next day or so as we explore the site.

I am baffled by this whole thread. Not only is what wcarter said true, that there is a wish list link available after you log in, but if you are logged in, and look at the detailed page for any book, there are two buttons, "Add to basket", and "Add to wish list", alongside each other. And as I recall, the latter has been there a long time. I have never used it, so I don't know how long books will stay on the list. But it is already there.

You do have to access your "My Account" page to get to the wish list link.

>43 garyjbp:

This thread is from 2011/2012 - when the Folio site did not have a wishlist :)

Aacchh! wcarter, what have you done? You've exposed my ignorance! But I suppose that's forgiveable. Thank you, Ms AnnieMod.

Sorry Gary - I reactivated an old thread rather than start a new one.

Reviving an old thread because I'm interested in seeing the responses. I wonder what LE's you would like to see. I am partial to great works of literature and classics and not so much pop culture/sci-fi. I LOVE Dune for example, but I hardly think I would place it next to Ulysses and Moby Dick on my LE shelf. I would personally love to see a Proust LE. What are your thoughts?

Rather than focusing their efforts in the classics on LEs, which is what the FS seem to be doing at present, I'd rather see them do something about their range of standard edition classics!

>48 Willoyd: Very good point

>48 Willoyd: I would rather they go back and find some pre 20th century books that are not popular “classics” but have enduring themes (ex/ The Odd Women)

>50 RRCBS:
Even better!

>47 L.Bloom:
>48 Willoyd:
Whether LE's or SE's, I'd like to see some rarer, hard to find stuff. Samuel Johnson's Lives of the English Poets (last time they did that, I think, was the 1960s). Maybe works of Dryden, or Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe. How about Sidney's Astrophil and Stella (last done in 1959, I believe)? Not wide enough interest in these for FS to go for it, but you asked for a wish list.

For slightly more popular works, I'd probably go for SEs of many of Asimov's lesser-known works, like The Currents of Space or The Stars Like Dust. I'd also go for Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men and/or Starmaker.

ETA: And has Folio Society ever published Rafael Sabatini?

>52 Betelgeuse: Agree with these comments. A lot of the newer releases are popular and safe choices. I haven't purchased a new non-LE in a year and the spring release I won't buy any book at full price. I'd like some more creativity to be honest.

>52 Betelgeuse: This exactly what I had in mind when I revived the thread. Great to learn what others think about this.

>54 L.Bloom: Who knows, maybe we’ll get our wish!

FS is focused on meeting the needs of an increasingly postliterate society, more comic books expected and maybe some coloring books too.

>56 foxtrot345: What a ridiculous, and frankly offensive, thing to say. As a caveat to my point I personally have no interest in Marvel comics, but I think it's ridiculous to make out that they are a less valid form of literature.

A big part of the appeal of folio books to many is the artwork, and I'm sure that the artwork in comics is in large part what appeals to the people who like them. As such it seems natural that the two should be combined, and I find it astonishing the number of people who complain about it.

When people complain about the direction FS is taking, many seem to disregard the idea that FS has to adapt in order to survive. And before anyone tells me that the way they are going is completely counter to the stated aims, or any such variation on that argument, I would like to point out that companies change their MO all the time, as is necessary to make sure the company doesn't go out of business (for example Nintendo orignally made playing cards).

The complaints about 'popular' works being published are absurd, as if because something is 'popular' it somehow has less literary merit. I would suggest that a large reason why many books become so popular is because they are accessible, which is the reason many here dismiss them as being too simple, or the author not as skillful as the authors of so called classics. A huge part of the skill involved in writing is getting your message across to the reader, so that they can understand it, something which many older books fail to do with todays audience, due to the natural evolution of language. And to be clear, I love older books, but equally I can see why many people (probably the majority) do not get along with them. I also find it ironic when I read such complaints about the quality of literature on offer today, yet the comment uses grammar which is, at times, appalling, or is such a weakly constructed argument as to make me wonder if it is being written by a child (and yes, obviously I am hyperbolising).

I understand why people will be upset if FS were to stop publishing older works altogether (in other words the sort of thing they like), but I always find it quite selfish and self absorbed that many seem to bemoan the fact that certain books are published by FS at all. Why shouldn't fans of those works get the chance to purchase a nicer version of it? I frequently see people talk about how FS used to mean being part of something special, which I always take to mean that it is more important to them to be a part of an exclusive club than it is to own nice books, which is far closer to missing the point than it is for FS to publish different kinds of literature.

As to describing society as 'increasingly postliterate', surely you cannot actually believe that? For a start literacy today is definitely higher than it was in the 19th century, when many so called classic works were written. Furthermore I would argue that it is more necessary than ever to be literate, in more senses of the word than ever before. The sheer number of different ways people communicate today means that not only do you need basic literacy for everyday life, but you also need, for example, to be computer literate, or understand an entirely new form of written language in the form of 'text speak'. The bredth and depth of language have never been greater, and people's grasp of it has never been better either.

Apologies for a very long post, but in short I thought the previous comment a little derogatory, and frankly rather a dull, uninspired and narrow take on the modern world.

FS was about providing well bound fine lit, from all genres, new and old. Morphing into a popular, no brow press in an effort to stay relevant, and maybe solvent, may be good business but it doesn't mean we all have to like it. Save the outrage, sometimes a little snark is unavoidable.

>57 DanGoddard98: Save your breath; he’s been lamenting the direction for quite some time now.

It must be sad for people like him. Things change, but they’re stuck in stubborn ways yearning for things of the past. Instead of outrage they probably deserve compassion.

>59 U_238: I totally agree. It's one thing to judge FS for publishing newer popular titles, but judging people by what they read is a whole other thing.

>58 foxtrot345: Part of my point is that 'fine lit' is at best an obsolete term. And again, just because something has mass appeal does not mean it is lacking in merit (or as you so cleverly call it no brow...). I'll save the outrage when you save the low intelligence snobbery. Just because you don't like/understand the appeal of something is not grounds for you to act all superior and dismissive of something that others do.

>59 U_238: Haha I don't seem to be able to. I'd agree about the compassion if it was just a case of wallowing in his own miserable mindset, but I don't think it's at all reasonable or helpful to be offensive about the things other people like.

>60 HamburgerHelper: I 100% agree with the second half of your post, but only about 50% witht the first bit. While I agree it is totally fair to be upset that they are publishing fewer titles that interest you, it is not really fair to judge them for it, I'm sure they have very good business reasons, and as I mentioned above, why shouldn't fans of all types of literature have the chance to buy their favourites as FS editions. I know you weren't saying anything to the contrary but I don't think it's pointed out enough on here.

When people complain about the direction FS is taking, many seem to disregard the idea that FS has to adapt in order to survive. And before anyone tells me that the way they are going is completely counter to the stated aims, or any such variation on that argument, I would like to point out that companies change their MO all the time, as is necessary to make sure the company doesn't go out of business (for example Nintendo orignally made playing cards).

But, in an effort to try and bring this back to the topic in hand (if indirectly!), the issue for many (but maybe not for foxtrot?) is not so much that the FS is publishing graphic books etc, but the fact that they have abandoned any serious efforts at older literature. OK, they produce a steady stream of classics, but they are generally just rehashes well-worn titles. I'm no expert in sci-fi/fantasy (although I do occasionally dip in, and have bought some FS productions), but it seems to me that whilst they are being reasonably creative here (or, at least, they are publishing material they've never published before, which may not mean the same thing!), their sense of creativity on older work has gone out the window. And that's what this thread is about, some ideas on greater creativity.

So, FWIW, this is a list of mostly older literature that I hope illustrates the point, and suggests some titles I'd love to see FS do, which I don't think they've done before, or haven't done for at least 40 years. I suspect others could be even more imaginative (and other publishers certainly are!).

Ive long wanted FS to do any number of titles by Balzac, Scott, Zola; but having given up on those, I've gone elsewhere for a number of titles (the whole of Scott!), so am not sure I'd buy from FS if they came so belatedly to any of them now, although I might with the Balzac (in the case of Zola, I'm reading the Oxford World's Classic sequence of new translations, after which I wouldn't be happy reading some of the older ones!).

Ones I would buy (depending on price etc of course!) include:

Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex
Aphra Benn: Oronooko*
Elizabeth Bowen: Death of the Heart
WE Bowman: The Ascent of Rum Doodle
Pearl Buck: The Good Earth
Fanny Burney: Evelina (and any of a number of others)
Willa Cather: any or all of Plains Trilogy: O Pioneers, The Song of the Lark, My Antonia
Kate Chopin: The Awakening
Colette: Cheri*, Last of Cheri
Gustave Flaubert: Sentimental Education
Nikolai Gogol: Dead Souls
Gunter Grass: The Tin Drum
Vasily Grossman: Life and Fate/Stalingrad
Jaroslav Hasek: The Good Soldier Svejk
Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Halldor Laxness: Independent People
Mikhail Lermontov: A Hero of Our Time
John Muir: pretty much anything!
George Sand: Indiana
Mikhail Sholokhov: The Quiet Don (ie full version)
Madame de Staehl: Corinne
Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy* (as SE), Sentimental Journey*
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin
Ivan Turgenev: Fathers and Sons*
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter
Warren, Robert Penn: All The King's Men
Gilbert White: Diaries
Virginia Woolf: The Waves, The Years (or any of her other unpublished work)

there are plenty of others, particularly in American literature

*ones that FS have published before but not for 40+ years (later edit: Aphra Benn also aserisked. The Benn was published in a collection with other short works of hers - see >70 affle: for the correction and details)

Yikes, not the conversation I had in mind. I can agree that I don't love the comic book/movie portion of the shop but I'm happy as long as they keep producing masterpieces like Madam Bovary and Tristram Shandy as lovely LEs.

>63 Willoyd: I love hearing these ideas, thanks Willoyd!

>63 Willoyd: A wonderful collection of works indeed that has added a torrent of titles to my reading list.

>61 DanGoddard98: Come on, lets be civil here. If you didn't like what another user wrote, fine, but don't be cruel in turn and do the same thing that you are accusing in another.

>64 L.Bloom:
but I'm happy as long as they keep producing masterpieces like Madam Bovary and Tristram Shandy as lovely LEs.
I have to say that these are two that have come as close as any to persuade me to get back into the LEs - they are both georgeous looking. I have my fingers very firmly crossed that they will eventually do standard editions, following in the footsteps of their Candide and Moby Dick productions. (And I have to give them credit for East of Eden and Of Mice and Men, even if the former isn't quite what I personally prefer in terms of size and price).

>64 L.Bloom: Ditto! I think it's smart for FS to adapt and produce more popular works, especially if it helps keep them in business. Just hoping for more of a balance of old and new, and of obscure and popular.

>63 Willoyd:

Fine list, thank you. Oronooko should have a star: it's in Two Tales (1953), titled The Royal Slave. In the same spirit as your list:

Alfred Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz - once on a survey list, but never hatched.

>63 Willoyd: Certainly a large number of the posts about this are coming at it from the angle you point out, and I think that is a totally reasonable and valid concern. My issue is when people choose to frame their point by attacking the more modern choices/the people who enjoy these (in a minority of cases). I'm sure a lot of times when this happens people are not trying to come across in such a way, but instead of focussing the negative energy on something that lots of people enjoy, they could try coming at it in a more positive light. For example instead of "I hate x", people could say "I wish FS would publish more books like y, such as z".

And I am very aware that this thread is basically trying to do just that, so I apologise for how off topic I've gotten...

I would love to see something along the lines of Three Men in a Boat, or Diary of a Nobody. Not sure if these have ever been published by FS before, but in terms of getting more creative, FS could try publishing some of these shorter novels collected together in one volume. Another example of this I would love to see is some of Steinbeck's shorter works, a collection in one volume of Cannery Row, The Red Pony and The Pearl for example would be excellent.

>71 DanGoddard98: Three Men in a Boat was published by FS as a SE recently, I have a copy. And I think Diary of a Nobody, as well.

>67 Joshbooks1: I'm not sure that I would describe what I wrote as cruel. And crucially the comments I made were in response to something he had chosen to write, not an attack on the things he does or doesn't like. In other words I think how you act is open to criticism, whereas things outside the realms of one's control, such as their likes and dislikes, should be off limits.

>71 DanGoddard98: That Steinbeck set would be an instabuy for me. I may just send my money in advance with a note begging for them to produce it and hope for the best.

>72 Betelgeuse: Ah must have missed those, time to check out ebay I guess. In any case I think collections of some similar works into single volumes (like the recent Philip K Dick) might help satisfy the desire for more works of a particular type, while simultaneously helping FS with the costs of production (I assume), and you might get more people willing to take a chance on a book they wouldn't have otherwise because it contains multiple works.

>74 L.Bloom: Haha yes I was just looking at my shelves and thought all of them deserve it, but don't think FS could justify publishing each as its own volume

>75 DanGoddard98: Ah must have missed those, time to check out ebay I guess

The complete list of books published by the Folio Society is an excellent resource for questions such as yours:

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:BOOKS_PUBLISHED_BY_THE_FOLIO_SOCI...

>77 folio_books: Thank you. I did have a skim read of it but it might be time for a more in depth look

>63 Willoyd: Wonderful list. I would buy almost every book that you listed. And another Sholokhov fan! What a wonderful book. I read And Quiet Flows the Don maybe ten years ago and absolutely loved it. A few years later I was looking at something and realized he wrote a second book, The Don Flows Home to the Sea. What an absolute treat. It is certainly on my list to read again in the future. Sholokhov winning the Nobel says a lot considering how political the award is and he was quite the devoted Communist. Also I loved Independent People - it's one of the best books I have ever read, great pick.

I've said it before but it's a shame they don't do more literature. Some books I'd love to see:

Malcolm Lowry: Under the Volcano
L. H. Myers: The Root and the Flower
Patrick Hamilton: Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky
G.B. Edwards: The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
Patrick White: The Tree of Man, Voss, Riders in the Chariot
Samuel Beckett: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable
William Faulkner: A Fable, Absalom, Absalom!
Saul Bellow: Adventures of Augie March, Henderson the Rain King
JD Salinger: Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey
Charles Bukowski: Post Office or Women
Ngugi Thiong'o: Wizard of the Crow (how he has not won the Nobel still baffles me.)
Marguerite Yourcenar: Memoirs of Hadrian
Albert Cossery: Proud Beggars
Elsa Morante: A History
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: unabridged Gulag Archipelago, Cancer Ward
Varlam Shalamov - Kolyma Stories
Ivan Goncharov: Oblomov
Svetlana Alexievich - Chernobyl (come on Folio, they made a TV series! Maybe now the book..?)
Mesa Selimovic: Death and the Dervish
Ivo Andric: The Bridge on the Drina
Nikos Kazantzakis: Zorba The Greek
Pamuk: Snow, A Strangeness in my Mind
Naguib Mahfouz - Cairo Trilogy, Children of the Alley
Elias Khoury - Gate of the Sun
Robert Musil: The Man Without Qualities
Herman Hesse: Siddhartha, Glass Bead Game
Thomas Bernhard: Old Masters, The Loser
Imre Kertesz: Holocaust Trilogy
Gao Xingjian: One Man's Bible
Yukio Mishima: The Sea of Fertility
Kenzaburo Oe: The Silent Cry
Mo Yan: Life and Death are Wearing me Out
Julio Cortazar: Hopscotch
Robert Bolano: 2666 and/or Savage Detectives
Alvaro Mutis: The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll
Jose Saramago: Blindness, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
Javier Marias: Tomorrow in Battle Think On Me (favorite living author.)

Well this was fun. Few if any of these will likely be Folio candidates but the nostalgia of just going back and thinking of past books that you love was worth the time.

>79 Joshbooks1:
Second for Cairo Trilogy. This would be an amazing opportunity for a set. Could be done very creatively.

And of course Salinger. I think there must be a reason this hasn’t been done yet. A Perfect Day for Bananafish is my favorite short story and I would love to see 9 stories done by FS.

I'm half sorry I looked at this thread. On one hand there are suggestions of titles I know and have read which I would generally agree with as possible Folio candidates but then there are others I have never heard of before and find I would add most of them to my ever growing to read list after googling them. Where to find the hours?

>61 DanGoddard98: to be a devil’s advocate and probably alienate holders of every position in the process: honestly Folio probably shouldn’t be publishing comics, not because comics are too low brow, but because the medium is too deep and Folio probably doesn’t have the competence and knowledge to do a good job.

I’m not familiar enough with Marvel and Captain America specifically to have a strong opinion, but this looks like a grab bag collection that focuses on first appearances and so forth rather than engaging with the medium and highlighting the artistic merit, which in comics is generally the art (mostly) and the social context (occasionally), though the 90s made solid writing more common (Gaiman, Moore, etc.). If you asked someone who was more into comics as an art form, I don’t think they would be that impressed by this foray.

I think that any medium is going to rise to the level of ambition pursued by the creators. Do we criticize great master paintings for insufficiently nuanced plotting or characterization? Check out the phantasmagoric vistas and often almost wordless storytelling of Simon Roy’s Prophet reboot. (This example is particularly interesting because the original version of this title was in the rather generic and juvenile Michael Bay style superhero genre but it was reimagined as wild cosmic space fantasy.)

The Marvel cinematic universe is now where a substantial portion of humanity consumes mythological narratives, given the decline (relatively speaking) of religion, so I can see a case for some Captain America, but you can do the job with excellence or phone it in.

>79 Joshbooks1:
What a great list. Several would definitely feature on my list (I'm thinking the Lowry, Faulkners, Bellows, Youcenar, Goncharov, Cairo Trilogy). We both have Kristin Lavransdatter on our lists too. A lot of the others don't solely because I'm not familiar with them - I'm another who has got a whole lot of exploring to do! Loads I could add as well, but one series I will mention, reminded by the Cairo Trilogy, is Olivia Manning's Fortunes of War series, the Balkan trilogy followed by Levant trilogy.

>70 affle:
Thank you for the correction- I've now corrected my original post. I must look out for it too - am rummaging around in the more distant secondary market back catalogue and finding some gems.

>82 abysswalker: You certainly make some good points, and I don't really disagree per se, however I don't think any of it is reason enough to say they shouldn't be publishing comics. Like you I'm not particularly familiar with comics, but I do think that lack of expertise is no reason for a company to try its hand at something new (it happens all the time, for example when supermarkets started to become network carriers for mobile phones (in the UK in any case, I can't speak to anywhere else)). Either they will learn about it and increase their expertise sufficently, or they won't, in which case customers will speak with their wallet and not spend on that area.

I very much enjoyed your post however, and am looking forward to the homework(?) you set after work, you've given me some interesting things to investigate!

>79 Joshbooks1: Regardless of whether or not we agree on the particulars of earlier exchanges, I did enjoy your list. Siddhartha in particular jumped out at me as something I would love to see. Plus quite a few things I haven't heard of/much about for me to investigate.

>84 DanGoddard98:
Take on board what you say, but to me, rather than trying 'its hand at something new', it smacks more to me of 'spreading oneself too thin'. But then, I've never been a fan of facsimile publishing!

>79 Joshbooks1:
If Folio produces a nice edition of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, they will have my eternal gratitude and can publish as many comic books as they like.

As long as Folio continues to do some of these types of books (even if at a lower rate than historically) I'm happy. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that, whilst they might focus on particular (popular) genres at times, they will continue to publish less well-known literary gems and the classics over the long-term.

Oh, I guess I'll give my standard list.

G.B. Edwards: The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Dino Buzzati: The Tartar Steppe
Vasily Grossman: Life and Fate

As EdmundRodriguez said, any of these would atone for any comics or other less-than-worthy (in my mind) offerings they've made or will make in the future. Morante or Sholokhov would be most welcome, but not quite with the degree of enthusiasm the above list would engender. Many of the others in the lists provided by JoshBooks1 and Willoyd I exclude only because I haven't read them, but a Folio edition might just force me to get to them!

My half-baked list:

Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet (Richard Zenith translation)
Gogol, Dead Souls
Clarice Lispector, (short story collection)
Lucia Berlin, A Manual for Cleaning Women

>87 EdmundRodriguez:
I will give them the benefit of the doubt that, whilst they might focus on particular (popular) genres at times, they will continue to publish less well-known literary gems and the classics over the long-term.

Very long term indeed: as far as I can see, the last time they published a work of pre-WW2 fiction for the first time was in 2018, Three Men on a Bummel. Whether one regards that as a literary gem is a matter of personal opinion (I don't, but concede it probably still counts as a 'classic'!). Actually, compared to the last couple of years, 2018 was relatively not bad on that front, with Outlaws of the Marsh and Of Mice and Men as well. For at least 3 years before that, barely one a year. That's out of 70 or so per year.

>90 Willoyd: "the last time they published a work of pre-WW2 fiction for the first time was in 2018"

That's a very telling statistic, I know now not to get my hopes up.

>89 LBShoreBook:
Buy this!:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224260067285
You might need to put it somewhere with baking soda or whatever for a bit, but if Folio produces a LE it’ll be more expensive and if they produce a SE it’ll be less wonderful than this.

No affiliation with seller, but I own a copy of the book.

Interesting to see how this thread has morphed over the last decade since it was started.

Originally it was used to encourage the FS to put a wish list on their website, something that was not present at that time. Soon after the discussion started, the FS did put up a wish list, which many of us now use, proving that the mole does carry suggestions from here to their boss..

Hopefully the mole may now take some of the new wish list suggestions for new titles to their hierachy.

>92 GusLogan: Thanks - unfortunately I just saw the link and the book already sold. Will keep an eye out going forward ....