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/lit/ - Literature

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14582669 No.14582669 [Reply] [Original]

Why does /lit/ hate Penguin Classics?

>> No.14582676
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14582676

>>14582669
Why yes, I read Penguin, how could you tell?

>> No.14582681

>>14582669
I don't. Most of their versions are objectively the superior version.

>> No.14582712

>>14582669
Would it have been good if it wasn't Joyce and not Ireland? I mean, Joyce is brilliant, but if he was just Dubliners? Did I miss something?

>> No.14582725

>>14582712
I'm talking about the publishing imprint, not the book itself

>> No.14582732

>>14582725
Oh. Still curious though. Sorry for discussing the literature.

>> No.14582816

Price. It's all public domain stuff, so why pay the full $16 for a paperback? Dover thrift, Wordsworth classics, Bantam classics, are the same books, but they cost 3 or 4 dollars. You haven't looked around if you buy penguin

>> No.14582818

>>14582816
Not even close to all of it is Public Domain.

>> No.14582830

A few issues
>often times middling translation
>decent but never great intros and footnotes
>look ugly and are poorly made

>> No.14582834

>>14582818
A pedantic point. A lot of it is, or would be with a different translation

>> No.14582845

>>14582816
>, so why pay the full $16 for a paperback?
for the annotations

>> No.14582850

>>14582669
because NYRB is superior in every way

>> No.14582852

>>14582669
They beat Oxford most of the time. They're the best at their range.

>> No.14582855

>>14582816
Eh, Penguin classics are usually just as cheap used as the editions you mentioned.

>> No.14582856

>>14582850
NYRB publishes obscure works, Penguin publishes classics. Not the same category.

>> No.14582860

>>14582856
Yeah, there's probably little to no overlap in material, so why bother comparing?

>> No.14582865

>>14582856
>>14582860
most of the classics are hundreds of years out of print and available for free online.

>> No.14582877

>>14582860
Very few books. And in those cases Penguin wins in terms of content because of the annotations. NYRB wins in the terms of form because of the nice paper and looks.

>> No.14582881

>>14582712
I read public domain version. I just want to contribute to the thread. I don't have any opinions on differing translations, though. Maybe someday I can be so advanced.

>> No.14582899

>>14582830

>>look ugly and are poorly made
really anon? I picked up The Count of Monte Cristo and Meditations the other day from my local used books store. Meditations is pretty beat up but Monte Cristo looks crisp off the press. The physical quality seems fine to me and the oil painting on the cover is maximum comfy.

Not saying that you're wrong, but I've owned a few penguin classics and they seem to be just fine.

>>often times middling translation
I wouldn't know about this one. You might be right.

>> No.14582959

>>14582899
Maybe it’s personal opinion? The blue binding (I know it’s common practice) does wear down. For example I had a Canterbury tales copy from penguin, and with bigger books like that the thing will be decimated after a few reads. For the price they’re decent (some are pushing it at £20). For me, yes the cover images are often nice, but wait until a library fills with them. The same black spine and orange font, the same oil paintings that don’t cover the whole front. They’re formulaic and a bit bland, and it’s easy to accrue many of them and have your shelf looking like a black featureless wall

>> No.14582964

>>14582959
*glue

>> No.14582980

>>14582959
Very valid opinion. Monte Cristo is my first penguin book that's on the larger size, so I will be mindful reading through it, thanks for the heads up. I can see how the uniformity of the books can be a turn off but I especially like them for multiple works by the same author. Maybe it's autism or something.

>> No.14582996

>>14582980
Not him but how was the Penguin translation of Monte-Cristo? I've been thinking of getting that one.

>> No.14583002

>>14582669
cover quality sucks ass and the pages yellow.

>> No.14583007

>>14582996
best one i hear.

>> No.14583014

>>14582996
Couldn't tell you, anon. I just picked it up Saturday and am reading through Meditations first.

I will agree with >>14583007, I have only heard good things about the Robin Buss translation.

>> No.14583074

>>14583007
>>14583014
thanks bros

>> No.14583115

>>14583002
>and the pages yellow
I sort of like that
not that I've had any of my penguin editions yellow as far as I can tell

>> No.14583129

>>14583115
Sadly they don't turn yellow anymore. Penguin Random House and most of the publishers they own (like Modern Library) changed that pleasant cream-colored paper to a grey, cheap looking one in recent years.

>> No.14583255

>>14582669
Cheap paper.

>> No.14583265
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14583265

>>14582669
They're disposable books made without love or soul

>> No.14583287

>>14583265
What pisses me off that sometimes they are the only acceptable available choice for physical copy of some books like the Count of Monte Cristo.

>> No.14583348

>>14583287
Stop shopping at irl book stores

>> No.14583565

>>14583129
maybe I just haven't had mine long enough, I don't know, as I also seem to have the nice cream coloured paper. On a somewhat related note, as you seem to know something about the publishing industry, are there any specific publishers you would reccomend? Thanks

>> No.14583578

>>14582816
>so why pay the full $16 for a paperback
Because they are usually on sale for like $3 on amazon and don't have shitty print or fall apart midway through the first read like wordsworth shit. They also typically have great intros.

>> No.14583583

>>14582816
>Dover thrift, Wordsworth classics, Bantam classics
Those are mass markets made from recycled Chinese toilet paper.

>> No.14583601
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14583601

It’s because penguin doesn’t give a shit about translations. Original English penguin is fine

>> No.14583622

>>14583601
This. It seems they just pick a translation at random without any research. Sometimes they get lucky and have a good translation. With philosophical works especially, they hardly ever have a renowned translation, usually some new, unheard of one

>> No.14583968
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14583968

True gentlemen purchase Everyman's Library