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/lit/ - Literature

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8150367 No.8150367 [Reply] [Original]

Are penguin classics any good?

>> No.8150407

oi

>> No.8150422

>>8150367

They have one purpose and that's for uninformed people who don't care about what they eat and aren't aware of oxford classics, everymans library, or any of the other alternative publishing houses which are superior.

>> No.8150428

>>8150422
Truth.

>> No.8150429

>>8150367
Of course. For what they cost. They're the budget books. They're great for poorfags like me.

>> No.8150446
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8150446

>>8150367
>>8150422

>something that isn't wordsworth
>""""good""""
>mfw

>> No.8150471

>>8150367
they're cheap as chips mate, just buy a couple and make your own mind up. there are about 150 in that series so there is no single yes or no answer to your question

>>8150422
oh fuck off you pseud

>> No.8150476

>>8150367
I buy them for some of the short stories/collections if i just want to dip into someone's work.
I'd advise you to make sure that whatever you're buying isn't just an extract of a larger book though - I ended up completely missing the point of Discipline and Punish because i only read a center extract from a collection like this.

>>8150422
This man thinks he knows things, but he does not.

>> No.8150520

>>8150422
How so?

>> No.8150532

>>8150446
Wordsworth classic translation of The Idiot had lines of text removed senpai

>> No.8152261
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8152261

It's a step in the right direction, but cover art is for pseuds and poseurs

Good thing penguin has a solution to that, too

>> No.8152286

>>8150520
Not that anon, but Penguin editions are super low quality. They damage easily, but more seriously they have low-quality paper (unlike, for instance, Everyman's Library, which uses acid-free paper) and therefore they fall apart even on the shelf. If you just want to buy the book to read it once, that's fine, but if you're trying to build a nice collection or you might want to read the book again in twenty or thirty years, Penguin editions won't last that long.

>> No.8152288

>>8150422
>everymans library
Literally owned by Penguin Random House

>> No.8152292

>>8152286
>and therefore they fall apart even on the shelf

And yet this never happens

>> No.8152306

>>8150422
Oxford and Everyman's are better, but Penguins will suffice in more basic works that are already in english (or translation isn't a big deal), and don't require any notes.

>> No.8152318

>>8152286

In twenty or thirty years we will just be read to by a reconstruction of our mothers in Virtual Reality anyways

>> No.8152330
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8152330

>>8150367

They're absolutely fine. I love the covers, which are either minimalist or else entail a piece of art; all of which share a common theme.

I also like the paper; the thin yet heavy sort that I associate with Bibles. Nothing worse than a book with stiff/cheap paper.

Have yet to regret buying a Penguin Classic.

>> No.8152428

>>8152330

Go and press and drag your thumb on that paper. It will leave a mark. If you lick your fingers before flipping the page, it will also leave a mark.

I have a lot of penguin classics in my collection, but the paper is objectively shite

>> No.8152477

>>8152428
>If you lick your fingers before flipping the page, it will also leave a mark.

Disguisting.

>> No.8152510
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8152510

>>8150367
>Not buying a bunch of penguins so that they can be in a flock

>> No.8152515

>>8150422
the most pseudointellectual thing it's possible to say.

>> No.8152522

>>8152477
>he ackshually did this

>> No.8152545

>>8150476

Atleast give a reason why penguins are better.

The fact of the matter is they don't put as much into them.

>>8152288

Yes i know, Random house, penguin random house, Bertelsmann, etc etc own a large majority of publications, even A.Knopf, which also is better than penguin on average.

>>8152515

Atleast give a reason why to purchase penguins over others, usually oxford and others have more up to date notes, different/newer/or best available translations, better quality of books, etc etc.

If someone wants to say "price" if you're that concerned about spending a few bucks more buy a kindle and pirate all your e-books.

I own a few penguins as the fact of the matter is penguin is huge and has a release in almost everything, even when others don't, which is the only time you resort to them, unless a superior translation.

>> No.8152564

>>8152286
Okay. I thought he was going on about translation quality and the like. To be fair, most of my penguin collections are historical chronicles and the like - I've always found the translations good and the introductory essays pretty good too.

>> No.8152592

>>8152510
I chuckled.

>> No.8152635

>>8152292
You haven't noticed that your ten-year old Penguin Classics have turned brown?

>> No.8152905

>>8152635
they've always been brown desu

>> No.8153316

>>8150367
tfw people trying to defend them. Yes they're decent but the company was literally founded to make cheap books for train journeys that had good literature in them. OFC they will have shit quality paper