Annotated Editions

Sup Veeky Forums

There are plenty of infographics on the classics, the greeks etc. but I very rarely see anything on different editions of books.

This has made me realise that 90% of you are fucking dilettante retards filling your shelves and crossing books off your lists.
All of these books are shitty penguin editions or worse, with next to zero academic insight and no ANNOTATIONS. You know, annotations? Those things that provide context to those funny Shakespearean expressions you've been glossing over with your yellow nigger eyes?

So please, in this thread, share with us not just your favorite books, but your favourite edition of a book. Not for the cover, but for the completeness it offers over other shittier editions.

>"I need annotations to tell me what to think"

I'm enjoying Oxford World Classics editions atm. much better than the same books in Penguin Classics.

>You know, annotations? Those things that provide context to those so middlebrow plebs who aren't capable of enjoying the beauty of prose can find smug self-satisfaction in knowing a bunch of irrelevant factoids

ftfy

do you not find it interesting to know about the historical detail that you wouldn't otherwise notice? it's like mini history lessons in with the book.

You need annotations to provide context and explain things otherwise foreign to you.

It's as simple as that. Nobody is trying to take your brain away.

This is what happens when you don't start with the Greeks

Oxford World Classics are brilliant. I'm reading the Samuel Johnson one now, which is partially why I chose the OP picture.

but starting with the Greeks isn't going to help you read (for example) Jane Austen as she intended to be read, is it? You need the annotations to understand Regency etiquette and so on, otherwise you miss details of the characterisation and dramatic arc.

Do you also not read introductions?

I don't like your attitude but I like and share your opinion that editions matter. I wish Amazon reviews could be filtered for edition specific ones. Scratch that, I want a website dedicated to highlighting the differences between text versions and published editions with proper information on contents.

The Annotated Lolita is pretty nice. I will soon buy A Farewell to Arms edition that features new and old introductions by Hemgway and son plus apocryphal alternative ending takes. Why do so few people care about that?
I also made sure to buy original text versions of Kafka's writings. They use Kafka's own drawings as covers.

Adding: I recently read Crime and Punishment in a German translation. Had a couple good endnotes, but the book fucking omitted translations of French and English. I liked how it featured a by day plot overview though. More books should have that.

w-wait guys has this happened before?!!

>just read the greeks bro

Sad. You probably don't even realise how much of le epic greeks went over your head because you are truly ignorant of their ancient customs, the geography, the people of their time. It's been over 2000 years, their world was radically different beyond just the mainstream memes most people know or what you can glean by reading through the Odyssey one whole time.
Just sad.

Anyway, great annotated editions I have read:

Arden Shakespeare
Landmark Histories
Oxford World Classics

Check them out folks, they are very comprehensive. There are definitely college textbooks more comprehensive than each of these, but for the amateur reader these are probably some of the best series on the market.

>glossing over with your yellow nigger eyes
made me lol for some reason. i know what you mean by those primitve, infected yellow nigger eyes

On that note, is it better to get the Arden Shakespeare complete works, or buy individual volumes? Are the notes, annotations, etc., the same?

>associate one’self with an image that garbers social protective behavior, lowers barriers to resource acquisition and equates the poster with a more harmless, indeed unreal, entity than they actually
pathological schizophrenic dead soul

Good question, I don't know. I just buy individual volumes every few weeks.

>t. brainlet
we have threads about preferred editions all of the time. you sound like an angry newfag trying to prove himself.

This isn't how Shakespeare wanted you to enjoy his art

I'm surprised you singled out Penguin. In my experience, Penguin Classics tend to have pretty good annotations.

pic related is awesome

>Jane Austen as she intended to be read, is it?
>Austen intended to have her works annotated
Yes, and the Brontes were looking to discuss foreign travel.

>tfw parents knew enough to teach about logic, the death penalty, and non/sense
your pic kind of makes me sad for your childhood

your smug assumptions make me sad for your adulthood

I'm a sucker for Norton editions. The Norton Complete Shakespeare is very enjoyable. It has introductions and historical background that isn't heavy-handed, but is informative. There are footnotes where appropriate, but are brief enough to get context or intent without distracting.
Also really enjoyed their edition of Moby Dick. Didn't feel the need to look elsewhere for any information, and it is packed full of criticism and context.