Book that is split in two parts in the translation

[iffi]

I want to add the Bulgarian edition of Under the Dome. The problem is that in the Bulgarian translation the book is actually split in two books. Should I add them both as edition of Under the Dome.

The case with the Bulgarian translation of It is the same. The book in Bulgarian is split in two books but I foud out that somebody has already added it as one edition in GR То and has put the two covers as one.

What is the policy in such cases?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

It's fine to add them individually, but they cannot be combined with single-volume versions of the work.

[iffi]

So they should be left as separate books not as editions of "Under the dome". Right?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Correct.

[iffi]

Thanks :)

[Elly]

I have seen in other cases (cyteen by Cherryh for example) that the publication in parts is made into a series, is that a good idea for a publication in 2 parts too?

[Ludo]

We often have the case in french where translated books end up with a different number of volumes.
Two examples, handled differently here:
* Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton: 2 books in the original version and 4 in french. The french #3 (9782811201111) and #4 (9782811201609) are combined with the english #2. They are thus marked as duplicates in my database while they are definitely not.
The good thing is that I then have a lot of reviews and an average note which means something.
* A Song Of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. 4 books in the original version end up in...12 books in french (2 to 4 french books per english one)! In this case, they are not combined. But the number of ratings is then (obviously) far lower for the french version, as are the reviews. Example with ISBN 9782290316108 being the french #3, and first 1/3rd of english #2.

There are also numerous examples with Robin Hobb as you can see on this wikipedia page, showing the relation from french books to original ones.

Hope I'm clear in my explanations!
The question now is what to do? Should these books be combined? From what I see above, it should not be.
Should then I "uncombine" the Peter Hamilton ones?

Thanks!

[Vicky]

They should be separated. In the case the Peter Hamilton ones, even through French #3 and French #4 combined contain the same content as English #2, they are still NOT the same book.

[Gerd]

I wonder, in the Librarian Manual it says:
"•Editions/translations of the book in other languages. Even though many translations differ significantly, we've made the decision to combine them all, and have people note the differences in their reviews."

So wouldn't it make more sense to add the two-part "It" translation to the other editions of the book and just add a remark that it is a split version?

What about abridged versions or censored translations?
Would those also have to be listed seperately then?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Gerd wrote: "What about abridged versions or censored translations?
Would those also have to be listed seperately then?"

Not usually, although it would depend on the degree of abridgment/censoring.

[Vicky]

I think the bit about editions/translations from the manual refers to books that have been translated in WHOLE, not books that may have been split up into several volumes when translated. Depending on the country things may be edited in translation to fit some sort of cultural value, but the story of the book begins and ends at the same place.

It's the same principle behind omnibus editions; you wouldn't combine The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King into The Lord of the Rings just because each of them is a part of the larger story.

In the case of the Commonwealth saga that Ludovic mentioned above, these books are in question:

Judas Unchained (Book #2 in the English Version)
Judas déchaîné (Book #3 in the French Version)
Judas démasqué (Book #4 in the French Version)

Since they are all merged, both Judas déchaîné and Judas démasqué sport the series name of (Commonwealth Saga #2). Which I think would be more confusing to a French reader than separating them into separate editions.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Vicky wrote: "I think the bit about editions/translations from the manual refers to books that have been translated in WHOLE, not books that may have been split up into several volumes when translated."

Correct. Books which constitute only part of the whole should NOT be combined.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Separated off the French editions noted above.

[Gerd]

Vicky wrote: "I think the bit about editions/translations from the manual refers to books that have been translated in WHOLE, not books that may have been split up into several volumes when translated. Dependin..."

But LotR is a different case, for comparisons sake we would have to talk about either a hypothetical "The two Towers" part one and part two translation, or a hypothetical collected edition of the Commonwealth saga (or is there one?).

[Ludo]

Thanks rivka.
So this one (french #1 - 9782811200077) also have to be removed from the other editions (how do you do that?).
Concerning the french #2 (9782811200367), it is combined with another french edition, which is ok, and 2 other foreign editions but I don't know if these ones should belong here or to the original #2.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

To separate a single edition, go to the author's combine page and click the "separate" link next to the edition.

To separate off multiple editions at once, and keep them together, choose the "separate tool" at the end of each work and use the radio buttons to select the right editions.

[Ludo]

OK, I've separated other french editions and combined them together.

Last thing, should I add in the series list, at the bottom of the edit page, the french version of the series name? Or should I only let the english name?
(which is a stupid question now that they are not combined anymore and the english series name is not there...! :)

Thanks for everything.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Creating a series for the French editions (maybe with a link to the English series in the description of the French one) sounds like an excellent idea.

[Vicky]

Gerd wrote: "But LotR is a different case, for comparisons sake we would have to talk about either a hypothetical "The two Towers" part one and part two translation, or a hypothetical collected edition of the Commonwealth saga (or is there one?). "

It's different, yes, but the principle behind it is the same. The French volumes #3 and #4 are PARTS of the English Volume #2, just as the three books in Lord of the Rings are PARTS of the whole.