Wikipedia

Book series

(Redirected fromRoman-fleuve)

Abook seriesis a sequence ofbookshaving certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the sameauthor,or marketed as a group by theirpublisher.

Publishers' reprint series

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Collection of thePenguin BooksseriesLittle Black Classics

Reprint series of public domain fiction (and sometimes nonfiction) books appeared as early as the 18th century, with the seriesThe Poets of Great Britain Complete from Chaucer to Churchill(founded by British publisherJohn Bellin 1777).[1]

In 1841 the GermanTauchnitzpublishing firm launched theCollection of British and American Authors,a reprint series of inexpensive paperbound editions of both public domain and copyrighted fiction and nonfiction works.[2]This book series was unique for paying living authors of the works published even though copyright protection did not exist between nations in the 19th century.

Later British reprint series were to include theRoutledge's Railway Library(George Routledge,1848–99), theOxford World's Classics(Oxford University Press,from 1901), theEveryman's Library(J. M. Dent,from 1906), thePenguin Classics(Penguin Books,from 1945) and thePenguin English Library(from 1963).

Reprint series were also published in the United States, including theModern Library(Boni & Liveright,from 1917), in Germany, including theUniversal-Bibliothek(Reclam,from 1867),[3]and in most other countries of the world.

Fiction books

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Anovel sequenceis a set or series of novels which share common themes, characters, or settings, but where each novel has its own title and free-standing storyline, and can thus be read independently or out of sequence. A novel sequence contains story arcs or themes that cross over several books, rather than simply sharing one or more characters.

Fictional series typically share a commonsetting,story arc,set ofcharactersortimeline.They are common ingenre fiction,particularlycrime fiction,adventure fiction,andspeculative fiction,as well as inchildren's literature.

Some works in a series can stand alone—they can be read in any order, as each book makes few, if any, reference to past events, and the characters seldom, if ever, change. Many of these series books may be published in a numbered series. Examples of such series are works likeThe Hardy Boys,Nancy Drew,andNick Carter.

Collection of theseven booksin theHarry Potterseries

Some series do have their characters go through changes, and make references to past events. Typically such series are published in the order of their internal chronology, so that the next book published follows the previous book. How much these changes matter will vary from series to series (and reader to reader). For some, it may be minor—characters might get engaged, change jobs, etc., but it does not affect the main storyline. Examples of this type includeTony Hillerman'sJim CheeandJoe Leaphornbooks. In other series, the changes are major and the books must be read in order to be fully enjoyed. Examples of this type include theHarry Potterseries.

There are some book series that are not really proper series, but more of a single work so large that it must be published over two or more books. Examples of this type includeThe Lord of the Ringsvolumes or theDark Towerseries by Stephen King.

Some authors make it difficult to list their books in a numerical order when they do not release each work in its 'proper' order by the story's internal chronology. They might 'jump' back in time to early adventures of the characters, writing works that must be placed before or between previously published works. Thus, the books in a series are sometimes enumerated according to the internal chronology rather than in publication order, depending on the intended purpose for the list. Examples of this series include works from theChronicles of Narnia,where the fifth book published,The Horse and His Boy,is actually set during the time of the first book, and the sixth book published,The Magician's Nephewis actually set long before the first book. This was done intentionally byC. S. Lewis,a scholar of medieval literature. Medieval literature did not always tell a story chronologically.

Definitions

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There is no useful, formal demarcation between novel sequences and multi-part novels. Novels that are related may or may not fall into a clear sequence. It is also debatable whether atrilogyis long enough and whether its parts are discrete enough to qualify as a novel sequence.[citation needed]

For example, theBarchesternovels ofAnthony Trollopeare only loosely related, although they contain a recurring cast of characters; his political novels about thePallisershave a tighter connection and dynamic.[4]A strict definition might exclude both.

History

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With precedents such asMadeleine de Scudéry's magnum opus,Artamène,the novel sequence was a product of the nineteenth century, withJames Fenimore Cooper's works appearing in the 1820s, andAnthony Trollope's Barchester books in the 1850s. InFrench literature,Honoré de Balzac's ambitiousLa Comédie humaine,a set of nearly 100 novels, novellas and short stories with some recurring characters, started to come together during the 1830s.Émile Zola'sRougon-Macquartcycle is afamily saga,a format that later became a popular fictional form, going beyond the conventionalthree-volume novel.

Aroman-fleuve(French, literally "river-novel" ) is an extended sequence of novels of which the whole acts as a commentary for a society or an epoch, and which continually deals with a central character, community or a saga within a family. The river metaphor implies a steady, broad dynamic lending itself to a perspective. Each volume makes up a complete novel by itself, but the entire cycle exhibits unifying characteristics.[5]

The metaphor of the roman-fleuve was coined byRomain Rollandto describe his 10-volume cycleJean-Christophe.In the preface to the seventh volume,Dans la maison(1908/1909) he wrote: "When you see a man, do you ask yourself whether he is a novel or a poem?... Jean-Christophe has always seemed to me to flow like a river; I have said as much from the first pages."

The term has subsequently been applied to other French novel sequences, particularly of the years between the world wars, notably:

The 19th-century predecessors may be distinguished as being rather "family sagas", as their stories are from the perspective of a single family, rather than society as a whole.

Marcel Proust'sÀ la recherche du temps perduhas come to be regarded as a definitiveroman fleuve.Today, however, its seven volumes are generally considered to be a single novel.[6]

Proust's work was immensely influential, particularly on British novelists of the middle of the twentieth century who did not favourmodernism.Some of those follow the example ofAnthony Powell,[7]a Proust disciple, but consciously adapting the technique to depict social change, rather than change in high society. This was a step beyond the realist novels ofArnold Bennett(theClayhangerbooks) orJohn Galsworthy.

Twentieth century

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The twenty-novelAubrey-Maturin seriesby the English authorPatrick O'Brianhas been called perhaps the best-lovedroman fleuveof the twentieth century: "[an] epic of two heroic yet believably realistic men that would in some ways define a generation".[8]

Development of the novel sequence

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Although sequences ofgenre fictionare sometimes not considered to beromans-fleuves,novel sequences are particularly common inscience fictionandepic fantasygenres.[citation needed]

The introduction of the preconstructed novel sequence is often attributed toE. E. Doc Smith,with hisLensmanbooks.[citation needed]Such sequences, from contemporary authors, tend to be more clearly defined than earlier examples. Authors are now more likely to announce an overall series title, or write in round numbers such as 12 volumes. These characteristics are not those of the classical model forms, and become more like thefranchisesof the film industry.[citation needed]

Other examples

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Publishers' nonfiction series

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Main article:List of nonfiction book series

Notable nonfiction book series for the general public have included:

Academic and scholarly publications

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Main article:Monographic series

In scholarly andacademic publishing,scientific and non-fiction books that are releasedserially(in successive parts) once a year, or less often, are also called aseries.(Publications that are released more often than once a year are known asperiodicals.) The connection among books belonging to such a series can be by discipline, focus, approach, type of work, or geographic location. Examples of such series include the "Antwerp Working Papers in Linguistics", "Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile", "Garland Reference Library", "Canterbury Tales Project", "Early English Text Society",and"Cambridge Companions to Music".

Compared with editorial collection

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Main article:Collection (publishing)

Book series can be compared with editorial collection, a type of serial publication which is common in theRomance-speaking world,especially in France. Although the two are similar in many ways, book series and editorial collection differ because books in a series generally have a common subject, character, or universe; in other words, a set of volumes that are related to each other by certain thematic elements. While books in a collection do not necessarily have a common subject, or a specific order, but with a certain affinity in the content of books (collections on art, on religion, on science...), as well as in theformat,spine andpage layout,evengrammage,number of pages andstyleoftypeface.[13][14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^John Feather,A History of British Publishing,London: Croom Helm, 1988, p. 117.
  2. ^Michael S. Suarez and H. R. Woudhuysen, eds.,The Oxford Companion to the Book.Oxford University Press, 2010. Vol. 2. p. 1194.
  3. ^Reclams Universal-Bibliothek (Philipp Reclam jun) - Book Series List (Buchreihe),publishinghistory. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  4. ^Felber, Lynette (1995).Gender and Genre in Novels Without End: The British Roman-fleuve.University Press of Florida. p. 33.ISBN978-0-8130-1402-9.
  5. ^Encyclopaedia Britannica
  6. ^Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert."In Search of Marcel Proust".The Observer,17 November 2002.
  7. ^Powell was ananti-modernist modernist,according toChristopher Hitchens;seeUnacknowledged Legislation(2000) p. 197,Powell's Way,first published in theNew York Review of Books28 May 1998.
  8. ^King, Dean(2000).Patrick O'Brian: A life revealed.London:Hodder & Stoughton.p. 207.ISBN0-340-792558.
  9. ^Prawer, Siegbert Salomon (2009).A Cultural Citizen of the World: Sigmund Freud's Knowledge and Use of British and American Writings.MHRA. p. 105.ISBN978-1-906540-42-5.
  10. ^abcScanlan, Margaret (14 July 2014).Traces of Another Time: History and Politics in Postwar British Fiction.Princeton University Press. p. 158.ISBN978-1-4008-6093-7.
  11. ^Great Lives (Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd),seriesofseries. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  12. ^Teach Yourself (E.U.P./Hodder & Stoughton; Teach Yourself Books) - Book Series List,publishinghistory. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  13. ^"Collection, série et numéro".commission-fel-clil.org(in French).Retrieved13 December2021.
  14. ^García Oliva, José (27 May 2008)."Colecciones y series: diferenciamos".diariodejerez.es(in Spanish).Retrieved13 December2021.

Further reading

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  • Peter Harris.International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature.London: Taylor & Francis, 2014.
  • Frank Arthur Mumby.Publishing and Bookselling: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.London: Jonathan Cape, 1930. Revised edition, 1949.
  • Frank L. Schick.The Paperbound Book in America: The History of Paperbacks and Their European Background.New York: R. R. Bowker, 1958.
  • John Spiers, ed.The Culture of the Publisher's Series.2 vols. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
  • Jack David Zipes, ed.The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature.New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2006. 4 volumes.
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