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File: 1608528374489.jpg ( 212.11 KB , 417x498 , 1600614433879.jpg )

 No.4202

I can't concentrate when reading on a computer screen, is it a bad idea or nah? Ideally I'm only going to buy cheap used stuff I find.

Another question, should I try to get the absolute best translation and publisher or is does it not matter what edition I get as long as I freaking read something?
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 No.4203

Sure if you don't mind being put on a list when ordering online.

>does it not matter what edition I get

Isn't the only noticeable difference between editions the introduction and stuff?
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 No.4204

>I can't concentrate when reading on a computer screen
Same here. I buy physical copies of larger books as well as books which I know I'll be referencing a lot. Smaller books and books which I'm only reading as a means to understand some other work I'll usually just snag a pdf. It can get a little expensive to keep buying books, though, so used stuff is definitely a good idea, but I think the cost is worth it if it's letting you read more than you would only on your computer.
If you haven't heard of them, AbeBooks.com is a pretty good international online used bookseller. Their selection is better than you'd think it'd be. I've found some pretty niche books on there. Radical Reprints is also really cool. They're a leftist publishing group that print a lot of really neat and hard-to-find leftist literature with microscopic profit margins (what profits they do make are donated to leftist causes/mutual aid networks/etc.) so that's another pretty affordable option.

>should I try to get the absolute best translation and publisher or is does it not matter what edition I get as long as I freaking read something?

If the really good edition is ridiculously expensive, just get the inferior version, the difference in quality is almost never worth shelling out an extra $50 for. That being said, there are occasionally important differences between translations, especially if the translation is from a more difficult language to translate, like German. Sometimes the better translation can be easier to read (e.g. Michael Inwood's new translation of The Phenomenology of Spirit, which I've heard is appreciably clearer than the standard Miller translation, but which is also $100 more expensive, so fuck that), or sometimes it can even alter the meaning of the text (iirc, some Lacanians dislike James Strachey's translations of Freud's work, arguing that he de-emphasized the importance of language in Freud's work). In my experience, edition doesn't really matter, unless there were big differences between editions, which is sometimes the case, but not usually. More superficially, some editions have nicer typeface, or better paper, but I've never seen a typeface so ugly nor paper so blindingly white that I couldn't get used to it in twenty pages.
This is all to say that translation does matter, but nine times out of ten isn't worth spending money over. It's better to read a worse translation than to go broke getting the best of the best from some price-gouging academic publisher. Better translations are nice, but not at all necessary.
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 No.4205

>>4203
>Sure if you don't mind being put on a list when ordering online.

How would buying Marx put me on a List?
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 No.4206

>>4205
put you on a list of cool people
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 No.4207

>>4206
Damn straight
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 No.4208

I'm guessing since you're here you're going to be getting leftist books. If you have a lefty used book store near you that would be worth supporting. Also you can support them online. After those two options I just look online in general for the book.

As far as translations and publishers it depends on the book and how much the newer edition is. Some translations don't really improve much on the older so just do your research or just compare and contrast readability for you.
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 No.4214

Here's a heads up: if it looks too short, it probably is. I bought a used book the other day that turned out to be an abridged version. Only 60 pages when the original was over 200.
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 No.4231

Same bro, I've got ADHD and having a real book in front of me helps a lot.

Consider going to your local used books store or ebay/abebooks/thriftbooks/bookdepository/wordery for buying online from around the world.
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 No.4239

File: 1608528377126.jpeg ( 178.01 KB , 480x360 , thicc.jpeg )

Just gonna ask here instead of making a separate thread…
Are hardcover books worth paying extra? Almost all used paperbacks I've bought are still holding up well after several decades.
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 No.4240

>>4239
Hardcover sucks. Don't pay the extra money
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 No.4241

>>4239
I guess if the book is fuckhuge, like over 500 pages long.
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 No.4242

>>4240
im autistic about aesthetics because sometimes the best cover happens to be a hardcover but yeah im not gonna shell out considerably more just for that

the only hardcover ive ever bought so far is a 700-page critique of pure reason i found for fucking $4 in a garage sale
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 No.4243

>>4239
Hardcover is better because the book is far less likely to get torn or the cover itself wear out. Paperback books are known to be cheap because they're shoddy 90% of the time.
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 No.4244

>>4239
>>4241
Adding to this I'd also get a hardcover if it's a reference work that you're going to be opening often.
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 No.4245

>>4203
Ok, but Realtalk.
I was planning on ordering some Cockshott to read it in physical, but this whole "will be put on a List" is worriesome
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 No.4246

>>4245
tbh cockshott is very low risk. It's basically all computer science, maths, planned economy shit, as opposed to 'let's kill and maim every land owner' and so on
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 No.4540

me too anon. used bookstores/op shops are great, and if your area has based unions they occasionally have some prole literature.

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