Preferred publisher of classics

raah!

So which do you think are the best publishers for classics. Originally I was a fan of Penguin, nice introductions and nice notes and all that, but recently I've come to prefer the modern library over them.

The notes at the end of the pages causes less of a break in the flow of your reading etc, and their introductions are just as good. Penguin's notes at the back make it very tiresome to read, turning all the way to the back just to see which part of the illiad is being referenced puts you off reading the notes at all.

So anyway, my vote is for the modern library, maybe I should make a poll.

TedB

Great thread!

Wordsworth classics and Penguin seem to be the best. But publishers like Bantam get a wide variety of more modern classics. The Bantam version of Babbit by Sinclair Lewis for example has a great introduction.

Richard Roma

A friend of mine is well into his classics and swears by Everyman's Library editions

turgon

I haven't tried any of the Modern Library or Bantam.

Im not too enamored with Wordsworth Classics. Their selling point is they are so unbelievably cheap (€3 apiece in a particular bookshop here in Cork). However their notes can be rubbish in my opinion. I got Dorian Gray, and most of the notes went along the lines of "this sentence originally read..." Their introductions are more "accessible," albeit easily easily replaceable by 5 minutes of Internet reading, or even Wikipedia.

Penguin Classics notes are way better (although being at the back is a pain), and a lot of the time they offer linguistic origins etc (like Dead Souls Im reading now). Penguin Classics also seem to get good translators; in fact when it comes to old translations I wouldn't touch anything else. This doesn't apply to Penguin Popular Classics, which prints old translations to avoid paying royalties.

I like the "look" and especially the "feel" of Penguin Modern Classics, although anything in the last 60 years and their introductions appear to be scant.

Penguin has a load of recent enough writers published so their catalog includes a lot of books other houses cant publish, such as George Orwell's "Essays" etc.

Other than that theres Vintage Classics. They dont generally have introductions or notes. Their saving grace is primarily the fact that they look nice (!). The main reasons I would buy one of these would be (in this order) a) Random House authors such as Hemingway and Graham Greene are only published in Vintage, b) cost, and c) because in some cases, all else being equal, the covers are way nicer!! Compare Catch 22: Normal vs Vintage Classics

raah!

turgon wrote: »

I haven't tried any of the Modern Library or Bantam.

Im not too enamored with Wordsworth Classics. Their selling point is they are so unbelievably cheap (€3 apiece in a particular bookshop here in Cork). However their notes can be rubbish in my opinion.

Yeah, I had a few Wordsworth Classics in my time, the nice price is also reflected in the ridiculously small font size. I'm pretty sure wordsworth's war and peace was a major contributer to my currently deteriorating eyesight.

I have yet to try any bantam either.

Edit: damn,I forgot the everyman in my poll.. . I also changed my mind back to preferring penguin because a recent modern library translation of some plato is missing certain important translational information (about "art" and "techne" I think)

turgon

Theres also Barnes and Nobles Classics. Some can be cheap-ish. I havent read any but Ive gotten 2 off of BookMooch. Just looking through my Moby Dick there, it seems pretty good edition. Its got:

• 5 page chronology
• 35 page introduction; headings include Structure, Symbolism, Meaning etc
• 20 page etymology (quotes), although I dont know if this is edition specific
• 45 page dictionary of Sea terms
• 3 page section on work (art; film etc) inspired by Moby Dick
• 4 page section "comments and question," featuring extracts from people and papers (such as DH Lawrence).

And theres also Oxford World Classics. Ive got the Bible in this publisher (just for reference, Im not really into that). Has a 45 page introduction and 120 pages of "notes" (this latter section is really a sizable collection of small writings on each book), a couple of maps and a glossary. And a lovely cover

Another thing that peevs me about the Wordworth Classics incidentally is that one couldn't find the date of first publication on any of them.

EDIT: Too late

raah!

Ah yes, barnes and noble, I actually have a dostoyevsky translation from them, I can remember they had quite good notes actually.

I've recently bought the modern library version of moby dick, I kinda regret it now with all the badass features barnes and noble appear to have with thiers.

turgon

In fact the best way to judge the different editions would probably be to get each version of Moby Dick. Just a search there revealed that B&N, Penguin, Penguin popular, Oxford, Vintage, Modern Library and Wordsworth all print it.

Whats with the "results are hidden" btw?

raah!

Ah, carried away by the excitement of my first poll, I thought to incentivise voting. I hoped it would deter people from just looking at the results and not vote. But I wanted them to visible after posting. I couldn't edit it afterwards either it seems.

Good idea about Moby Dick, and if we make it a book club book, then we are garaunteed to have enough people to perform such an experiment.

Edit: I see now that it was a horrible failure . Maybe someone else can make a bigger and proper poll?

turgon

Moby Dick wouldn't strike me as the most accessible book for a book club

Id say PM the mods and they'll sort it for you. And maybe they'll fix the title too

TedB

A thread practically invented for Turgon

Seriously though, you raise an excellent point about the Vintage books. I have a couple of them knocking about... And they are just so damn... pretty... or something.

I ended up voting for Penguin classics. The reason I like Wordsworth classics is precisely because they are cheap. But penguin classics have particularly good introductions - Just read the introduction to Plato's 'The Republic'. Although the Oxford editions are extremely thorough introductions as well.

raah!

turgon wrote: »

Id say PM the mods and they'll sort it for you. And maybe they'll fix the title too

Aww, damnit! Just noticed that, yes I'd best pm them alright.

TedB wrote: »

I ended up voting for Penguin classics. The reason I like Wordsworth classics is precisely because they are cheap. But penguin classics have particularly good introductions - Just read the introduction to Plato's 'The Republic'. Although the Oxford editions are extremely thorough introductions as well.

Yeah, the republic has a fantastic introduction, systematic discussion of the main themes in the book.

turgon

TedB wrote: »

A thread practically invented for Turgon

Haha as if you arent a literary snob too

TedB wrote: »

I ended up voting for Penguin classics. The reason I like Wordsworth classics is precisely because they are cheap. But penguin classics have particularly good introductions - Just read the introduction to Plato's 'The Republic'..

Yeah I got the Wordsworth Edition of Republic. Not the best idea Ive ever had. Firstly they didn't update the 120 year old translation with modern punctuation :eek: That means no quotation marks. But more importantly, it didn't have any explanations to the extent the Penguin edition has. In fact Ill probably put it on BookMooch.

But then ... it does have such a perdy picture on front :pac:


How does raah! stand on literary snobbishness?? Is she one, like myself and TedB, that makes the literature forum a place of true fear and wonder to the standard *cough* Cecelia Ahern *cough* reader?

raah!

turgon wrote: »

How does raah! stand on literary snobbishness?? Is she one, like myself and TedB, that makes the literature forum a place of true fear and wonder to the standard *cough* Cecelia Ahern *cough* reader?

Oaaaarhar, I see this "perceiving raah! as a woman" has reached pandemic proportions. I'll have you know, I'm a man. But for what reason did you think I was a woman? I have no desire to give that impression.

Anyway, I likes my classics, but from time to time I read the odd science fiction or modern best seller to keep in touch with the readers of more popular literature.

turgon

raah! wrote: »

I'll have you know, I'm a man.

Dont worry, I really feel you girl. You aint no housewife! Let that anger OUT! :pac:

raah! wrote: »

to keep in touch with the readers of more popular literature.

Huh?







But seriously, do you enjoy it? I just couldnt fathom reading like ... Maeve Binchy.

Although talking Modern, I have read Ian McEwans Amsterdam which was good. Ive also a relatively recent John McGahern book to read.

LightningBolt

Good point on the Vintage Classics, Catch 22 really has a gorgeous cover. Even the feel of Vintage Classics is superior compared to Penguin's Classic collection.I haven't read any other publishers' versions to comment.

raah!

turgon wrote: »

Huh?

Well, yes, that's not the reason at all, I was going to make a joke about "the common man" but decided against it and didn't properly revise my post :pac:


Yes, it is very enjoyable to read, certain science fiction or fantasy books could be summed up as simply stories, but they are none the less ejoyable to read. I find it's nice to read a short science fiction in between long heavy classics too.

With regular modern books though, it is hard to say that most of them aren't at the same level as the classics.

But I think there are criticisms of things like science fiction and fantasy, if they are compared in a certain way with other works of literature.

Edit: while we are talking about the feel of things, I'm not a big fan of the degree of floppiness displayed by the modern library classics, flopping all over the place like that...

LoLth

title edited.

poll edited to add two options. Poll will now show results when you have cast your vote.

turgon

raah! wrote: »

Yes, it is very enjoyable to read, certain science fiction or fantasy books could be summed up as simply stories, but they are none the less ejoyable to read. I find it's nice to read a short science fiction in between long heavy classics too.

Fair enough! What I generally do is read a modern or recent classic, such as Orwell, then read a relatively heavier old novel such as Conrad or Dickens. Theres no point in getting bogged down!

raah! wrote: »

But I think there criticisms of things like science fiction and fantasy, if they are compared in a certain way with other works of literature.

Perhaps they're incomparable. A science fiction author will be trying to achieve something totally different to a "classics" author. All that links them is their chose media.

raah! wrote: »

Edit: while we are talking about the feel of things, I'm not a big fan of the degree of floppiness displayed by the modern library classics, flopping all over the place like that...

Do you have any of the Penguin Popular Classics? If you leave one in front of a rad or fire the cover starts warping. Thats what you get for being cheap I suppose :pac:

raah!

heh, No I've never even seen a penguin popular classic. I th ink the question of the value of science fiction etc. is worth a thread of its own. I was once of the opinion that reading those books made you less intelligent, but that seemed a bit extreme.

Locamon

Everyman are my fav by far particularly for any poetry collections...

turgon

Big into poetry then?

ScribesQuill

This may shock the literary snobs out there but I don't bother reading the notes or introductions unless it's absolutely necessary. For this reason I prefer the far cheaper Wordsworth classics which my local bookshop sells at 5 for £5

On occasion where I find I'm really stuck for the meaning of a word, turn of phrase or the context of the text to the time it was written I'll usually make a note in my head and then use my old matey Googley-bear :pac:

turgon

ScribesQuill wrote: »

This may shock the literary snobs out there but I don't bother reading the notes or introductions unless it's absolutely necessary.

Me neither. When it comes to notes I usually read them if they are referring to an unknown foreign name or word.

I would only read the "introduction" after I read the book. They usually make the plot explicit.

TedB

turgon wrote: »

Me neither. When it comes to notes I usually read them if they are referring to an unknown foreign name or word.

I would only read the "introduction" after I read the book. They usually make the plot explicit.

I only read the introduction when I'm reading an historical text (Like Gullivers Travels or the Republic) but never read it before I read the book itself if its dated anytime 1800 +

I read the introduction afterwards, which helps the context and hidden meanings fall into place and overall aid the understanding of the book.

Locamon

turgon wrote: »

Big into poetry then?

whaaa???!

bit off topic but nothing against a bit of auld poetry

I know what wages beauty gives,
How hard a life her servant lives,
Yet praise the winters gone:
There is not a fool can call me friend,
And I may dine at journey's end
With Landor and with Donne.

OT pretty good for the classic novel too:)

emeraldstar

Good old Penguin

I also like Vintage a lot too - I think it's mostly that I like the look.

Not at all keen on Wordsworth Classics. Not too sure why but something about them puts me off.

And Oxford Classics always seem quite expensive.

VanishingLayla

Always Penguin Classics for me. I've never really bought classics from any other publisher.

lemon_sherbert

I've been reading this thread to try and figure out whether I have a preference, and I really don't think I do. For a classic my main criteria are the quality of the spine (because classics take me much longer to read and my books seem to have a habit of breaking apart mid-read) and the size of the font. I never read the introductions in the classics or notes, mainly because I don't like to know any plot details before I start, I don't even read the back-jacket of books.

Ann22

Just finished a Wordsworth edition of 'Dracula'. I liked the cover compared to three other versions of it in Easons. It was only €2.60, fair sized font and interesting introduction. Great value for money.

not bakunin

Yes I'd have to say that it's usually the actual text of the piece that matters to me, rather than any superfluous additions from a publishing team.
Recently I read "Call of the Wild" in cheap Wordsworth Classic form, and it was fine, nice book, and held together quite satisfactorily physically.
Also, those old Penguin Classics you can pick up second hand are great. I got "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" for E3 and it was incredible. I saw a new edition of it for E14 later, I don't think that the shiny cover could have added all that much...

However, I must say that for epics, it's a good idea to invest in the new, for the sake of decent translation. I re read "War and Peace" in .....I think Vintage(?) and i have to say the new translation and notes added a lot.
I can get where people are coming from with the nice covers on Vintage books though...I love the ones I have for Kafka's "The Trial" and Hemingways "Fiesta:...."