Quite true about having to cut pages by hand at one point.
However, all that means is that rough-cut pages might be an attempt at mimicing what non-cut pages might look like after being cut. Lame.
I first noticed this fad when I cracked open my copy of John Adams.
Pisses me off, that.
I kinda like it. P(paper cut) = 0.
{total hijack}
Korean books. Why is it that my English language copy of Order of the Phoenix- indeed, all the copies of this book I’ve ever seen-can be fit into one single book, but when translated into Korean, it becomes FIVE BOOKS, each of which costs over $20? Or, say, short stories. Why can there not be more than five short stories in any given book? Why must there be a minimalist illustration taking up every other page, and a three-inch margin on each side of the print? Who needs size 24 fonts while reading Quo Vadis?
{/total hijack}
And it would hurt that much to write a book every now and then that isn’t 700 pages long? I mean, I would gladly trade a few pages if it meant not having to wade through 300 pages of filler.
I admit I’m very surprised the rough cut is on purpose. Looks very sloppy to me.
Honestly, I could give a damn about the way the pages are cut. Every book is beautiful to me.
This is why I get really, really pissed off when they fall apart after 2 readings. Books for role-playing games are the worst, and they’re so damned expensive that such things shouldn’t be an issue.
If you hold the book up and look down the ragged edge, you can see how symmetrical and contrived it looks.
I bitch because books are too short.
The Bookstop near me got a bit tired of me one month, though they’re usually VERY happy to see me. I bought a book. Brought it back when the pages started coming loose during THE FIRST READING. The second book also started coming apart on me DURING THE FIRST READING. So did the third, and the fourth…apparently, that batch of books was poorly put together. The folks at Bookstop kept telling me that they didn’t mind swapping out the books, and that it was indeed the publisher’s fault. But I got tired of it. There’s no excuse for making a book that poorly.
I don’t really mind if a book runs long, but for the love of Dog, please make it an interesting 800 pages. I’ve been Robert Jordanned one too many times.
There seems to be a mind-set among publishers and writers these days that the buying public shops solely by weight. So you wind up reading 200 pages consisting of nothing but the main character looking at the walls…looking at the floor…checking behind the house to make sure the trees are still there…taking 2 pages to brush his teeth…calling up his brother to talk about the morning news…and maybe then, you’ll get 10 pages of something happening. Filler sucks.