/lit/ - Literature

>>10561272
its missing a soy face

>three novels
>by stephen king

Why

Les Miserables, KJ Bible, Alice in Wonderland & Other Stories, Divine Comedy, Plato, Norse Mythology.

I found a copy of Divine Comedy at a thrift store yesterday. I actually wouldn't mind having that Lovecraft tbph desu

>>10561272
What are "these"?

>>10561272
Is it true the Lovecraft one is loaded with typos? Pugmire said it's pretty sloppy.

>>10561480
Cheapo Barnes and Noble omnibi

>>10561482
The first edition is. I think the second edition fixed the typos.

>>10561488
Get this filth out of here, your degeneracy is reducing our morality. Reported.

>>10561500
Lmao nothing will come of it

Just stop OP. Go Easton Press or Folio if you really want quality. Besides that, the main issue is that these books lack a lot of the content that comes with the regular books. I did purchase the Count of Monte Cristo but it doesn’t display the translator. How is that even possible? Others just plainly lack the proper introduction or notes on the text including all other supporting text. Lame.

>>10561480
Barnes and Noble special Leatherbound editions of books

>>10561272
>Dan Brown

this is bait

>>10561305
Forget Stephen King, the biggest disgraces are:
>Dan Brown
>STAR WARS

>>10561547
It's real, anon.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-da-vinci-code-the-lost-symbol-dan-brown/1123447149#/

>>10561573
Why wouldn't they make a complete volume of all the Langdon books? Why just those two?

>>10561587
They only use this format for masterpieces

>>10561587
The books already nearly 1000 pages, they'd likely have to split it up into 2 volumes. I'm pretty sure the longest one of these is the Charles Dickens one which is around 1500 pages.

>>10561593
>>10561602
It's pretty dumb. Putting books 2&3 of the series in a single volume? I wouldn't be as confused if they'd done A&D+Da Vinci Code, or books 3&4.

>>10561593
But the Lost Symbol is the worst Dan Brown book, second only to Deception Point.

>>10561593
But Dan Brown hasn't ever made a masterpiece.

Only Paradise Lost and I threw it in the trash once I realized I dont read books because Im retarded faggot

>>10561710
Fuck off

>>10561272

I'm thankful that every Christmas has gone by without my coworkers gifting me one of these.

>>10561737
Who the hell would give a 25+ dollar gift to someone they work with anyways? Also these are nice editions despite the typos.

>>10561732
Some of them are definitely better than others, the Dune cover looks pretty nice but the design on the Poe book is pretty cringe.

There's also weird perspective going on in OPs pic that's making them all look like massive photo albums or something, makes me imagine some autist sitting down on the subway and manspreading some fucking enormous Star Wars book across three full seats. They don't look as bad when you see a picture of someone holding one and get a better sense of scale.

>>10561847
Very beautiful artwork on that one.

>>10561847
They're the McMansions of books.

>>10561285
the bookshelf belonged to a lesbian couple

>>10562114
>Namefag

>>10562114
How do you know?

>>10562143
It came from the bookshelf subreddit and the OP mentioned something about her and her girlfriend

>Not buying the Penguin hardcover classics
Pathetic.

>>10562268
Fuck off, roasties. No one cares about your shiny colourful books that you have never read.

>Not buying used Heinemann/Octopus omnibus edition instead

>>10562287
Collecting things is a great hobby, it feels satisfying to add that last book/game/movie to your collection you were missing.

>>10561272
extremely tacky

>>10562268
>Slipcovers that rip easily

>>10562456
Collecting if what women do.

I hate hardcover books

>>10562745
What? Why? They last longer and generally look nicer.

>>10562747
It's mostly about size, I think. I prefer my books to be more compact and flexible, hardcover books are typically too ungainly for me to read comfortably. I do have a couple of small-ish hardcovers that I don't mind.

>>10562766
Library of America series are easy to hold.

>>10561482
They fixed it. The ones with the silver edging and purple ribbon bookmark are the fixed version.

All of my books are, for the most part, second hand and pretty wizened. I'll be surprised if the bulk of them survive another decade or two.

>>10561272
The low cost of the BN series excuses the tackiness of the covers. But lately some of the Folio Society covers are garish to the point that it's veering dangerously close to these abominations.

>>10562268
>Not buying books by the foot

You've still got a lot to learn kiddo

>>10561272
I own around 20. I regret buying at least half of them. Yet I'll probably end up buying more of them.

>>10561593

>>10562804
I only have 5, mainly cause I refuse to buy shit I know I won't read. Do you read your stuff?

>>10561272
I would have much less of an issue with these if the books they actually decided to make these editions of weren't so stupid. Gray's Anatomy? Crichton? Stephen King? Maybe 3-4 of those books are actually worth owning. Everything else, >>10561732

>>10562831
Yes. Though a couple of them are replacements for dog-eared copies that I already read. They're cheap enough for me to handle them. On a Easton Press or Folio Society book I'd be too afraid to read them because of the cost.

>>10561272
None thank fucking god. Such obvious gaudy shit

>>10561272
They reissue them with new covers occasionally sometimes they fix a shitty cover with a slightly better one like H.G Wells. Other times they take an meh cover and turn it into a disaster. For example Treasure Island. They went from this:

>>10562892
to this:

These covers, while varying in quality are all pretty crass, I think that at best having exactly one (1) of these books on a shelf could provide a colorful contrast, but as soon as you see them together it really hits home how disgusting it all is.

>>10562926
It even happens to expensive shit like Folio

>>10562268
Penguin hardcover design looks like the wallpaper at the Bates Motel.

>>10561272
>printed and bound in China
If the house catches fire the fumes from the books will kill all life within a 3 block radius.

>>10561272
I miss all the suicide threads

>>10562766
The musings of a literal wristlet. Sad!

>>10561272
>yfw /lit/ is a shitposting board too

>>10562972
>he fell for the Chinese quality meme

>>10562926
Gaudy covers sell better. It catches the customers eye. The first few B&N book weren't that gaudy but the worse they made them the better they sold.

Before B&N was doing it, Borders books did their own version with far more sensible covers. They didn't sell as well.

>tfw they are sometimes cheaper than other hardcover prints
It's the very reason I will buy some Knickerbocker or Penguin classics. I could get Augustine Confessions for $30 from Everyman, but the Penguin hardcover with those printed pattern that wears off is only $16.

>>10562896
I bought this one and then realized I was fucking stupid. Bought the Easton Press edition because even the Folio looked laughably bad. Expensive too.

>>10562951
Folios stacked together have a similar problem.

>>10561272
How many have you actually read? )Or are they there to look pretty?)

>>10561272
I have rather too many. In my somewhat younger days I bought a few (10-15 or so I would guess), and then friends thought that I was collecting them, so they would bring one as a gift to various parties I was hosting or when they would come to visit, and the 'collection' of them has grown over the years. I don't want to get rid of them, because that would seem to be a shitty thing to do to gifts that were somewhat thoughtful, and when friends would next visit they would probably ask 'what happened to/where is...' as well.

They look a bit tacky, but honestly they're not *that* bad, even if they're not what I would buy these days.

>>10564039
As I said, I only own 4 of them, and I've read them all. The pic I posted at the top was some random picture I found on google images. I typically read what I buy (I do think they look nice though).

Some of them are cringy looking, but overall they seem nice. I like that they come with ribbons.

hot.

>>10562798
Strand lets you buy by color baka

>>10564029
As someone who's recently started collecting Folios this is honestly infuriating

canterbury classics has gotten into the flashy binding meme. Previously, their editions were more traditional and subdued,

>>10562798
>We will make efforts to avoid duplicates

In the 80's, Franklin Library did their own economy class series that kept the basic design of their premium line but with cheaper materials. At least they don't look embarrassing on the shelf. Sold them on TV via subscription.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMqGlpisqeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3fLuqPTVsA

They look like knockoffs of their own work.

>>10564332
>nifty cooker
Throw away the bookshelf

>>10566934
Those commercials are pure kino, really got a kick out of them. Very nice looking books too, why'd they stop making them?

>>10562766
You should start lifting, you lala pansy homo man.

>>10566934
I want a grandpa like the one in the second commercial.

>>10561272
I have been buying Library of America hardcovers, am I as bad as this person?

>>10567029
No. They're good and they maximize shelf space.

I only bought the Shakespeare one because it was on sale for like $20 and its the cheapest way to get a complete physical Shakespeare anthology. Pages in that one are really thin though, almost like Bible paper.

>>10567029
best by price/quality

Most of those look wayyyy too hipster-y, I doubt most people buying the books are reading them.

>leatherbound books with embossed pages
>tacky stickers glued onto the front and back covers

No

I only own the Jurassic park/lost world and the Stephen king ones, the rest aren't that worthwhile

>>10562268
They're just as bad 2bh

>>10561285
fixt

>>10570541
I seriously don't get how these are tacky or make one a soyboy. They look nice and as long as they're being read there shouldn't be a problem.

>>10561272
Just one; Hemingway

It was cheaper than buying all 4 books at once. I paid $20 for a brand new book that would have cost me $40-$60 if bought seperately.

>>10570886

Because if I have money to spare, the money goes to academic textbooks or something out-of-print

Spend the money on acquiring new knowledge rather than wasting it on something that looks nice

>>10561272
I own the Lovecraft one. It's the cheaper way to get all of his worthwhile stories.

I got Shakespeare, Dante, Hemingway, and the Neil Gaiman ones back when they were 2/$10 back in the early 2010s. I figured they would discontinue them, but they've been $25 a pop ever since. Really should've gotten Jurassic Park while I had the chance.

>>10570541
most of these books are 4 pseuds and people that "read", aka soyboys and basic hoes

>>10561272

Alice in Wonderland
Arabian Nights
HP Lovecraft
KJV Bible

I might get Hitchiker's Guide next, since my ominibus has a cracked spine and it's kind of annoying to read.

Lovecraft
Poe
Arabian Nights
Classic Horror Stories (not in op's pic for some weird reason)

>orgasmic

>>10561482
I got the first edition as a gift and I can attest this is true. The binding quality is also absolutely shit. Laying the book flat to read on a desk has caused it to come away from the cover. Speaking of, as >>10561732 rightly points out, it looks awful.

I own the Hemingway and Shakespeare ones. I bought on a whim in store becuase I thought they looked nice and I've always wanted to own the complete Shakespeare. Immediately regretted it and theyve sat on my shelf ever since

Best aesthetic is a chaotic mix old old leatherbound books, pristine/worn out hard/paperbacks, all in different shapes and sizes, slightly organized but not too much.

This shelf looks like shit desu. Like the shelf of someone who doesn't actually read.

>>10567029
no, I wish I had more

I'm considering to get the King Jame's bible because I like history and collecting history related stuff independent if they are replicas or not. I'm an atheist tho but might as well read it. However I heard it's not that great of a version. Is that true?

I own these

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=19304937125&searchurl=kn%3Dmonte%2Bcristo%26bi%3Dh%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1

>>10570886
You have bad taste. Work on it, my man.

>>10561272
I own two. They were gifted to me "because I like books".

i just have the lovecraft one and i kind of regret it.

>>10561272
I bought the Sherlock Holmes one when I was younger. It's pretty nice desu. But a lot of them look very tacky.

>>10561847
> manspreading

Sorry, sweetie, but my testicles begin to pinch when I sit cross legged, I need to spread my legs a little.

I don't take up two seats like some people claim men do whereas I have noticed multiple women do use a second seat for their handbag even though the train is crowded at rush hour.

As a frequent commuter, it does get a bit irritating (although to be more objective, there's a lot worse going in the world right now than just petty inconveniences).

>>10562268
> buying based on commodity value instead of for the purpose of practical and comfortable reading

>>10561272
Tacky and disgusting

>>10572985
What books are comfortable for you to read then? Paperbacks (gross)?

>>10573397
Not him, but paperbacks are generally the most comforting for holding in your hands. Though it does upset me how easily they start to wear out.

>>10561272
I've had the Lovecraft collection for years. Anyone know how to get rid of the silver lining? that shit is annoying as fuck. Maybe with some sort of liquid??

>>10573688
Putting any liquid on a book sounds like a recipe for disaster

>>10561272
How well do these actually function? My parents got me 2 for Christmas and I haven't started reading them yet cause it seems like it would be a pain.

>>10573952
I read on them flat surfaces, I feel like any other way like holding them up would destroy them slowly

>>10561285
lmao i was going to write this. This is the bookshelf of the soyboy.

>>10561272
is the quality good?
I mean, the binding and visuals and print and paper, not the text..

>>10574035
It differs from book to book, the Charles dickens one has super thin pages and feel like they could rip at any moment. Guess it overall depends on the page count. The covers are durable though.

>>10574035
They look and feel nice, pretty much perfect in every department besides paper. The paper varies in quality.

Only the lovecraft one, I would want the Poe one if the art didn't look like a teen made it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PsLdeyAXI8

There are two versions of the Poe one.

The good one that had a painting of a crow on the cover and the awful one that has a Hot Topic font.

>>10561272
reddit-core

>>10562798
Feigning being well read has never been easier!

That is the most reddit bookshelf I've ever seen. It's fucking disgusting.

Pfff, amateur

>>10575261

Mfw I love genre fiction and want a buster sword

Mahhh nigga.

If you live in MI I'll buy you a beer

pic related is how a modern patrician bookshelf looks

>>10575270
It belongs to Patricia?

>>10575261
>All those Stephen King books

>>10575261
Jesus Christ

>>10573397
> says no to a paperback
> prefers to spend $40 on a hardback of a single novel that looks pretty cute on the shelf sweetie very nice xxoo

>>10575383
There's a balance, the book can look nice and fancy as long as the owner is actually reading it. Anyways, I typically like to read books on a flat surface anyways.

>>10575270
Caché was great. Anyone have recommendations for writers similar to Haneke? (avoiding Bernhard, of course)

>>10575383
to some people, 40 dollarydoos ain't that much

>>10562268
>>10561272
all of these look very unread

>>10575383
Library of America series is about $30 and is usually a compilation of 3 or 4 books. And takes less space on the shelf than the paperback equivalent.

>>10576113
You can't tell from the spines. It's when you turn them around and see which gilding wore off. It's not like a Penguin classics where you barely breathe on them and they fall apart.

Those look so fucking pretentious holy shit

>>10576527
Pretentious would be an Easton bookshelf. Barnes and Noble series isn't classy enough to be pretentious.

>>10576673
Is it wrong I want an Easton book? They just look so perfect, wish they would do one for Dune or Hyperion.

>>10562789
Same here. Most are holding up okay, but I've had replace a few now and then. I'm pretty sure I don't have any of these weird Folio editions, though. Most of my classics are Penguin paperbacks and the like. Hardbacks I usually save for a few specific titles and illustration-heavy books.

>>10562896
Looks like an Arthur Ransome cover, which was fine for him, but not for Stevenson.

>>10566967
They were part of the Franklin Mint. They had several changes of ownership, and apparently stopped making books somewhere along the way. My dad lives two miles away from their old place in Wawa, PA, I drive by it when I visit.

>>10577751
Having an entire library of Easton/Franklin is hilariously pretentious. There's no really good reason to get nice-looking editions of books you won't read.

>>10578143
I didn't say an entire library, just one or two books. And I would read them, I just also happen to like the stuff I own looking nice.

No, because I'm from urgay and the shipping costs half of what the book does

Browsing B&N I found this two books in leather bound editions:
>The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales
>H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction
Which one is better?

>>10578544
Complete Cthulhu mythos is a collection of all Cthulhu related stories, including a couple of lovecrafts revisions and collaborations, but none of his non-cthulhu/great one stories. The Complete Fiction is everything he's ever done solo, so none of his collaborations or revisions, but everything else. I'd say go for the complete fiction, and then also buy "The Horror In The Museum and Other Stories" paperback, which includes all of his collaborations and revisions.

>>10561272
this better had be bait

>>10575261

I know that you got that from Reddit but where do I get those mugs that he has?

>>10578395
>urgay
No you. You don't even know how to spell Uruguay

>>10578618
Why would someone lie about being from a spic country, anon?

>>10578671
I'm not saying he's lying. He just doesn't know how to spell the country he lives in, which is kind of embarrassing.

>>10578694
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4paLVu0gNcQ

>>10578544
>>10578594
Yeah, that combo is pretty much as close to perfect as you can get to a complete lovecraft collection. It's everything except his poetry, which is not worth owning unless you're a diehard fan.

>>10576673
Easton is classy, not pretentious

>>10561272

No point in collecting books, you should be reading so many, that you don't have the time and space to store them all.

Should I drop 60 Dollars to get the Folio Society Edition of The Man in the High Castle.

>>10562268
>No other sizes of this image found

>>10579618
Yeah, looks badass

>>10561272
It looks like the epitome of kitsch.

>>10562733
Collecting if what women do indeed.

>people actually buy books for decoration

>>10579320
some books are worth multiple reads

>>10581143
Like the Giant Jam Sandwich ;)

>>10581217
looks comfy

Do you only buy hardcover books?

>>10581242
Not OP, but they feel and look nicer told hold than paperback books, I think presentation is just as important as a books contents.

>>10581253
>I think presentation is just as important as a books contents.

>>10581258
>Brainlet memes

>>10581260
>I think presentation is just as important as a books contents.

>>10566547
Where can I get these?

>>10575261
>half of it is fantasy
why

>>10581050
>Stephen King

>>10575261
>Letting the ribbons hang off the top

>>10581664
try google!!

>>10582118
google sells books now?

>>10582211

Has anybody here built their own bookcase? Was it hard to do?

> /lit/ doesn’t understand that books are just like any other commodity

You can buy cheaper versions or you can spend more and buy a quality version. People with money will tend to buy more expensive products. The content will always be the same but the presentation will vary as well as the quality of materials which can affect longevity of the book.

>>10583214
I wouldn't call it quality.

You bought the same burger, just in a better plate.

>>10583346
It is better quality. A hardback book is way more likely to stay in good shape than a paperback book is.

>>10583214
This.

>>10583214
Unless you're making money out the ass,it only really makes sense to buy Easton Press (etc.) copies of books you really value.

just the lovecraft one, since it's the most comprehensive collection of his work afaik. it doesn't have his collaborations, which is a shame. i've read one before involving an invisible maze and it really struck me as a teen, but i gave away the collection that had it to a friend. there's also through the gates of the silver key, which i've heard is good. that's probably the only story of his i haven't read yet..

it also doesn't have his essays, like the hilarious 15k~ word case for why cats are better than dogs, lol

>>10583947
Basically this. I still own many regular paperback and hardback books but will occasionally spend more on a special edition. I wanted a nice LotR edition so I dropped extra cash to get pic related. I wanted the Count of Monte Cristo special edition that was released by Folio but that was $300. No way I was going to spend that much so I settled for an Easton Press edition that cost $80. Most other big name classics like The Odyssey are just paperback in my collection.

>>10584302
Forgot pic.

>>10584306
Beautiful, how's the binding on it?

>>10561272
I have also the HP Lovecraft Collection and I've ordered today online the Shakespeare collection and the Illiad & the Odyssey

>>10584319
Honestly, it’s very loose. It will lose its shape very quickly. This and the maps which can rip easily if not careful are my only complaints. Still holds up pretty well otherwise.

>>10581050
that's the teeniest quixote i've ever seen. is it abridged or just part one or something?

>>10584629
also, having position of the day out in the open is a ballsy move. i always look through bookshelves when i visit friends, if i saw a book about fucking, i'd have a hard time looking at them straight the rest of the night

just so contrived and tacky. a shelf of tattered paperbacks looks better because you know someone actually enjoyed reading the books instead of just admiring them.

>>10575410
There's no-one like Haneke.

>>10562798
I buy mine by the ton

>>10575410
Hitchcock is him without the pretentiousness

Just Dune, cause it's the only one I wouldn't be embarrassed having on a shelf

>>10562268

>tfw bottom left corner tells you everything you need to know about posters on /lit/

If civilization was crumbling and you had to retreat to a cabin without electricity, what books would you take?

>>10584306
Damn this looks sexy.

>>10561272
why are they so big? there’s some 200 pages shit there that looks massive

>>10585708
>he thinks that's not just a bait image

>>10575410
late Kiarostami gives me a similar feeling to Haneke. Like someone in love and Certified Copy are both masterpieces too