How Do You Count Books In An Omnibus?

[Kylie]

I have a slightly ridiculous question to put to you all. I'd like your opinions on how I should go about counting books that I've read that are part of an omnibus.

 

For example, I have The Complete Chronicles of Narnia in one edition, but if I read only one story, can I count it as having read a book when it's technically only part of a book? I would be inclined to count them as one each because they were all published individually.

 

However, where do you draw the line? Yesterday I bought The Third Man & The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene. Both are screenplays that Greene wrote. The Third Man is more of a novella and I think The Fallen Idol is more a short story. Should they be counted individually or as one book? Perhaps one book because the second story appears to be classified as a 'short' story?

 

And it gets even trickier with The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. I think some of these stories have been published on their own, but if I count those ones separately, what do I count the poems and other short stories as? I know there have been various volumes published such as Tales of Mystery and Imagination which incorporate different writings. Maybe if I could find a listing of what's in these volumes I could split it up that way?

 

I think I've been giving this too much thought and now I need some different opinions. What would you all do?

[Echo]

I count each volume as one complete book. For instance, I am also reading a Poe collection, but when I catalog it in LibraryThing and in my Book Collector software, it will be one book. I can mention all the stories separately when I'm discussing Poe with someone, but I will only list the collection as one book, with one ISBN. I always list The Lord of the Rings as one complete book, which it is. It was never meant to be a trilogy, even though many people own three separate books. I bought a one-volume edition specifically for the fact that it's the way Tolkien wanted it. I'm not as sure about the Narnia series, because it seems more like an intended series, with separate books. If I had them, I would probably list them separately, unless I had bought them in a one-volume edition.

 

In the end, though, you should do what makes you comfortable! These things tend to weigh on my mind somewhat (I'm a compulsive cataloger), so I understand your troubles. I hope I've helped, at least a little bit!

[Kell]

I always figure that if it's an monibus edition, it ais a book that contains more than one book and count each book separately, although I maw well just write one review covering the entire omnibus.

 

In the case of Narnia, I have an omnibus edition and always read them all together, with the exception of A Horse and His Boy, as I've never really liked that one much. Still, I'm reading 6 of the 7 books in the series, so they're counted as such, but a reviwew of the omnibus edition would include the ISBN of that edition and I would review them all together.

 

I think I've just repeated myself there.

[~V~]

Personally I'd count them as the author wrote them. So yes, Narnia is a number of books, but the Lord of the Rings is one.

[Guest]

^^^What ~V~ said. (I always agree with her).

 

Take The Chronicles of Narnia - I'd count those as seven books. With LotR, I'd fall into a coma with boredom, but that's by the by...

 

Using E. A. Poe as an example, I'd count his 'Complete Short Stories' as one book though, purely because they are short stories, and if published individually, it would have been in magazines, not in book-length volumes, obviously.

 

PS: My favourite's The Tell-Tale Heart.

[Icecream]

I would have to agree with Echo and V. Thank you to Echo for pulling me up on the other thread about this. Of course, I do know that LOTR is intended as one book. I even got quite jealous when I saw a full volume in a friends house. My box set of four books was bought for me before I even knew who Tolkien was.

 

I would think of Narnia as a series of stories. I know the main characters change, but not having read many of them I don't know whether the stories really follow on from each other. They seem to have clear cut starts and endings, which, along with the character changes would be enough, I think, to separate them.

 

This begs me to question the Harry Potter series though, which I have read. Kell has read the Narnia books, and obviously thinks different to me. Now I'm confused too!

[Echo]

I would have to agree with Echo and V. Thank you to Echo for pulling me up on the other thread about this. Of course, I do know that LOTR is intended as one book. I even got quite jealous when I saw a full volume in a friends house. My box set of four books was bought for me before I even knew who Tolkien was.

 

LOL! The best thing to do with LOTR is to have both: the one-volume and the trilogy editions. I like to have the trilogy so I can take it with me, and it's much more comfortable to read. My one-volume edition weighs about 800 pounds.

[Kylie]

Thanks everyone

 

Prospero, you're absolutely right about EAP. It should be one book. And I'll count Narnia as 7 separate books, but Graham Greene as one. Thanks for the help!

[Guest Sedgewick]

Thanks everyone

 

Prospero, you're absolutely right about EAP. It should be one book. And I'll count Narnia as 7 separate books, but Graham Greene as one. Thanks for the help!

 

Definitely a single book. But I would much rather buy all the book separately.