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/lit/ - Literature

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1392299 No.1392299 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/
I got a question that has been bugging me forever:
The thing is, I'm really anal about my books and I tend to buy them in the best condition and best edition possible so they last a long time. When buying classics, this is really hard since I got no clue which edition is the best to buy the books in.

I need several things from an edition to be able to fully analyze a work:
- Decent introduction/preface (something to introduce the work and set it in a historical context and the context of the author's life)
- Textual notes (like footnotes or endnotes)
- Explanatory notes (like anything else that might expand on the themes/notions in the book)
- Supplements (misc. notes, documents etc. that put the work in context)
- Preferentially, I'd like it to be hard-cover so it lasts longer; I underline and write in my books as I read through them and its not so easy to just buy another copy to replace the last

Excluding foreign works (which have the added annoyance of translation versions to work out), which of the following "lines" of classic literature is best to buy books in?
- Barnes and Noble Classics
- Penguin Classics (the one with the black bar on the bottom of the front cover)
- Signet Classics
- Everyman Library
- Penguin Classics with the hard-cover design
- Oxford Classics
- Vintage Classics

Like I said, let's ignore translations and Shakespeare too (since I assume the best edition will be the Oxford editions). I like to have a uniform set so I'm basically looking for one good edition to devote myself to; price is not really significant since they're all within a few dollars range of one another.

>> No.1392306
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1392306

Here are links to each edition type for A Tale of Two Cities as a reference:
- Barnes and Noble Classics
http://goo.gl/zJ9Eb
- Penguin Classics (the one with the black bar on the bottom of the front cover)
http://goo.gl/ck6li
- Signet Classics
http://goo.gl/9eSeE
- Everyman Library
http://goo.gl/KkI4I
- Penguin Classics with the hard-cover design
http://goo.gl/BeGIo
- Oxford Classics
http://goo.gl/0dunx
- Vintage Classics
http://goo.gl/YqbTq


I know this is a wall of text (sorry) but I'd appreciate it if I can get some help. If there's an edition that's not posted but is better, feel free to suggest it.

>> No.1392305

>The thing is, I'm really anal

Stopped reading here.

>> No.1392310

>>1392305

I'm surprised you even got that far with your 7th grade education.

>> No.1392320

>>1392310
Oh. Burn. I guess.

>> No.1392337

No offense, but I don't understand you guys at all. My dad is one of those and he keeps buying me these beautiful, leather-bound copies of these awesome books and I'm too scared to even open them because I don't want to rip it or wear out the spine. I'd rather have a 99 cent copy I can throw in a bookbag or punt across the room and still read.

>> No.1392342

>>1392337
Agreed, I love banged up books. Cos you need to show off that you actually read them

>> No.1392349

>>1392337
>>1392342

Just having a raggedy old book is meaningless. Having a book that supports the text and allows a full appreciation of the author's work is what will lead to real understanding.
These books average at $15 Canadian, point isnt that they're expensive, it's that they offer well annotated content.

>> No.1392351

>>1392349
Prefer separate notes. Cos you keep having to flip back and forth.

>> No.1392352

>>1392349
If I can't attain a full appreciation of the author's text from the author, I don't give a fuck about the work anyhow.

>> No.1392361

>>1392352

You're being stupid. Take Shakespeare for example, how is the average person going to understand all the vocabulary and allusions presented in the text? Same is true for every work to different extents. Austen's Pride and Prejudice requires a significant understanding of the role of women in 19th century England. Why is Mrs. Bennet so preoccupied with marrying off her daughters? What options would there be for unwed women at that time? How would they support themselves? An annotated edition will delve into these matters with supporting texts, notes and essays.

>> No.1392366

>>1392351

Well that's a matter of preference and not the point of this topic, obviously.

>> No.1392392

>>1392361
A lot of Shakespeare makes no allusion outside of some basic mythology, and the odd but of slang. It's not hard to understand it.

>> No.1392393

>>1392361
I'm being stupid?

I couldn't care less. I read, and if I can't understand it from reading and discussing with others who have read it, but need notes for every page? Not worth it, its a piece of shit. Art shouldn't require endless explanation.

Get your head out of your pretentious ass.

>> No.1392408

>>1392393

He's not being pretentious at all, you're just being dense; a text written 200 or 300 years ago is not the same as a text written today and may need some clarification, that's all. It's the same way texts are analyzed in high school and the same way texts are analyzed by scholars in universities. If you don't want to do it that way, it's fine but don't pretend as if it's pointless or superfluous.

>> No.1392417

>>1392408
>may need some clarification, that's all.
Yeah, for some things.

- Decent introduction/preface (something to introduce the work and set it in a historical context and the context of the author's life)
- Textual notes (like footnotes or endnotes)
- Explanatory notes (like anything else that might expand on the themes/notions in the book)
- Supplements (misc. notes, documents etc. that put the work in context)

The above is completely un-needed. I'm not saying clarification of archaic terms is pointless. Just that expanding the work in order to appreciate it is.

>> No.1392424

>>1392417

Well I suppose that's a matter of preference, some people like to really get into the time period and the text and flesh out the themes and subtexts. Every English professor with a PhD's had to do the same for their dissertation and the concept's is not too different in this case.

>> No.1392430

>>1392408
For Shakespeare it's ridiculous to make out you need to analyze it in a massive amount of depth. Chaucer on the other hand...

>> No.1392433

>>1392430

Plays like Hamlet and Macbeth can warrant it.

>> No.1392438

>>1392430
The dirty jokes are kinda lame.