Academic book on the sociology of caving

[snebbit]

My mother has a theory that I like caves because I get to socialise without having to interpret lots of social cues and facial expressions. I think It's less that and more that I like exploring and squeezing and climbing like a toddler.

If you've got 2000 lumens pumping out your forehead, they can't tell you're not making eye contact

 

[Maisie Syntax]

I am certain it's not a spoof. Routledge is a mainstream academic publisher. The author has also written at least one academic article, which I have to say I find impossible to follow. https://www.academia.edu/101583152/...ds_an_understanding_of_the_art_of_sublimation

I'm glad I wasn't the only one finding it impossible to follow, and I am (or at least was), pretty well versed in reading and writing papers requiring the use of 'the academic style' (in my case medical science). This particular article seems to overintellectualize the subject of the paper to the point where it could be seen as a parody, regardless of the intent.

 

[alanw]

What I've seen so far reminds me a bit of this:

Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity

(though even less readable!)

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Sokal affair - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[cap n chris]

WTactualF did I just read?

 

[alanw]

P.S. I was reminded of this yesterday when reading a review in Private Eye of a biography of David Bowie. Yes - there is a connection.

 

[spelfish]

I'm concerned that a relatively short, very narrowly focussed book costs £140. I hadn't realised Sociology was so well funded. A very good medical textbook with hundreds of authors would have cost a little more, but this seems an awful lot for a single author manuscript. However, there are several publishing houses who charge a fortune for niche publications. Presumably, no individual would pay this but, perhaps, their university department might? Possibly with a small reduction because they were regular subscibers?

This bit of Shropshire is very sceptical..

 

[mikem]

Paperback is £33.49, hardback £124, from the publisher - it's a book of limited interest.

 

[Lankyman]

" seeking sublimation in the natural underground is in the end all about experiencing feelings of sublimity which occur only after the differend has been located"

In all my years of caving, whichever cave I was in we never did find a differend. Perhaps this was why we sought solace in alcohol?

 

[mikem]

I've occasionally ended up at a differing end to the one I intended...

 

[The Old Ruminator]

I go caving with Mr O'Doc as I love to hear his ruminations of life.

 

[tdobson]

Paperback is £33.49, hardback £124, from the publisher - it's a book of limited interest.

Costs less than a copy of Mendip Underground or the Black Book *and* there's a whole forum thread of people talking about the contents...

 

[mikem]

But none of them seem to have bought it yet - both those were published at £20/25, just aren't currently available (& copies do come up within the caving community for less)

 

[David Rose]

I'm not surprised the Black Book is in such high demand. I know of no guidebook that is as clear, well-written and as vivid and accurate. Its descriptions convey what a given trip actually involves, what it's really "like". Is there no way it could be reprinted, or made available - perhaps through the Kindle store? - online?

 

[Babyhagrid]

I'm not surprised the Black Book is in such high demand. I know of no guidebook that is as clear, well-written and as vivid and accurate. Its descriptions convey what a given trip actually involves, what it's really "like". Is there no way it could be reprinted, or made available - perhaps through the Kindle store? - online?

You could always scan a friends copy and print and bind it

 

[David Rose]

You could always scan a friends copy and print and bind it

That would be a breach of copyright! As someone who makes a living by writing stuff, I don't think that's an acceptable idea.

 

[Babyhagrid]

That would be a breach of copyright! As someone who makes a living by writing stuff, I don't think that's an acceptable idea.

If they're not willing to sell it. Then it's the only option......

 

[Fulk]

I don't doubt that David R. is correct, but if the book is out of print and unavailable through any other means, then by copying someone else's book you would not be depriving the authors and publisher of their (legitimate) royalties/profit, so does it matter?

 

[ChrisB]

I don't know if Mike Cooper is contactable, but I understand he donated the profits from the book for a fund to be used to maintain the caves described in it. If he were to agreed to making copies in exchange for a donation to that fund, that would seem to me to be an ideal solution.

 

[Cantclimbtom]

If they're not willing to sell it. Then it's the only option......

As much as I don't want to make Amazon any richer, they do a print on demand service, so if the author uploads a pdf or word copy (checking how it'll turn out with their publishing tool) it can be uploaded to Amazon then physical copies can be sold without the author having to pay up front printing and publishing costs. I think they print them in Dunstable (Bedfordshire?).

It may not be the "best" way to publish a book by a country mile, but if the authors don't seem to want to print the books for various reasons and people still want to buy them it seems a useful compromise. Otherwise people will feel they "have" to copy bits breaching copyright which is even worse outcome for the authors

 

[Chris Curry]

I understand the CNCC have made approaches to Mike Cooper about making the contents publicly available, but he still hopes to publish a new edition at some point so isn't keen on that idea. I think the unwillingness to print a new run as-is is because some of the information is out of date. It will take a lot of work to update it though, so that is likely to be some way off.

In the meantime, this is what caving club libraries are for! Most (all?) Dales club libraries have a copy of the Black Book. As a club librarian I will happily copy and laminate relevant individual pages for club members for the purposes of taking on trips underground, and I'm sure other clubs have similar arrangements. Presumably that's acceptable practice @David Rose, if the copies are disposed of or kept in the library for future use?