I think it does matter...but...probably only if the reader reads both versions of the particular book in question. Semantics is a science and IMO should be pure. I did not read Cloud Atlas but have read several of those appearing in the second article you posted.

Editing a word or phrase changes the entire concept of what is being read just as voice inflection can do with oral presentations. If a writing is supposed to be factual history...such changes could be devastating not only to the current reader but to future historians.

Yes! IMO there should be much more care. But then I'm an odd duck who believes authors have an obligation to their readers to be diligent in their presentation of facts as well as their "atmospheric" creations in their fictional works. I'm sorry to say that I think the publishing industry is becoming quite sloppy these days and this sloppiness is not limited to bound books. Will it begin to better discipline itself? I doubt it. If what they offer sells...that's their goal. At this point I think it will take a public uprising to get their attention.

My guess is that the reading public simply doesn't care one way or the other.

I have noticed that some British mystery writers have changed their vocabulary to suit US readers. ie flashlight instead of torch. I recall one US reader here saying she had a vision of someone running through the woods bearing a fiery brand when she saw the word 'torch"!

Yes, I think the minor changes for a UK/US audience are to be expected up to a point. I first read The Phantom Tollbooth in the UK edition and there were numerous minor emendations (posh eh?) like color/colour, car/automobile.

Though it seems to me that that doesn't seem to happen any more here in the UK. I have a copy of If on a winter's night a traveller by Italo Calvino. At least, that's what it says on the cover. But the very first line of the book is:-

You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler.

Or a simpler example - I have a UK edition of Axe by Ed McBain. I also have a UK Kindle edition of Ax by Ed McBain...

On the other hand - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? What's that all about? What's wrong with Philosopher's Stone?

Winter - I think you're right - the publishing industry is just sloppier these days. It's to do with the driving down of costs.

(And don't get me started about the sloppy proof-reading in most e-books....)

Martin, my peeve is with sloppy editing. I have two books I enjoy but am annoyed by a dog changing sex in one and in another, a nearly thirty year old (by events) portrayed as a woman in her early twenties, who is having a first love affair! The first author has a trial reading group who never noticed the slip apparently!

I have noticed that UK to US versions of books, spelling content etc seems quite usual but does it work the other way? Is motorway used instead of freeway for eg? Why is it assumed by editors. filmmakers and the like that US audiences cannot understand anything other than 'American English'?

Martin I assume that the US publishers of the HP book thought Americans wouldn't understand the word Philosopher so replaced it using a word with quite a different meaning.

Gee, I wonder if Americans got to read the same version of Dickens that the Brits did? How long has this been going on?

Oh...in my experience...it's been going on for a long time, Kathy but not as bad as it's been getting in the last several years. It's really quite appalling and I've reached a point where if the emending is prolific...I retire the book more out of anger than frustration. As to Dickens...the newer publications...from my experience...are completely Americanized. I have the older/original version and it's nothing like what's sold today. It's sad. IMO...although I hate to say it...I consider it "dumbing down" and continue to wonder why it's tolerated.

Ann...I empathize. Sloppy editing is driving me bonkers, too.

I'm a crossword puzzle fanatic and I'm seeing the results of this vocabulary "editing" there as well. Some mornings I just sit with my coffee and laugh out loud at some of the puzzle creators "clues" and "creations". They're absurd!

Vee, sadly there seems to be a very large number of people in the US who don't understand "American English" very well, either.

I have noticed that e-books seem to miss the editing/proofreading step. I don't know why. I'm sure published paper books are actually written with digital media (such as MS Word), so why don't they just use that for the e-book version?

Of course, just about anything published on the internet has not been proofed or edited. Every news site I visit has articles full of typos and editing errors. I guess they're in such a rush to "scoop" other news sites that they can't/don't take the time to edit. Which in my book just makes them look dumb and unprofessional.

Donna

I was not aware of this difference, except historically. Didn't Charles Dickens complain about it?

I do know that titles and covers are frequently different, much to the annoyance of people who discover and buy a "new" book by a favorite British author, only to be dismayed that they already own it under a different title. I would imagine that it happens in reverse with British readers and American authors.

Dickens complained long and loud about the lack of copyright laws between the UK and the US and it didn't do much to help his case with the American people after his visit in the 1840's plus his remarks about some lack social niceties "Reminder to self . . . don't comment on folk spitting in the street" should have been written on his cuffs.

He was lucky not to attend a modern day football match over here where copious amounts of spitting seems to be de rigueur .

Charles Dickens in America