What does lit think about the "Reclams Universal Bibliothek"?

What does lit think about the "Reclams Universal Bibliothek"?

Is it just a bunch of cool german books?

I pretty much love everything about it.
But I think the design is horrid

If you read German you're gunna have to get some. It's not really a question of liking them.

They are miles better than some of the other shitty German editions around. Surprisingly enough, Germans really have no idea what goes into good book making. Just look at the covers of some of their shit.

They offer a broad variety of the most important works of literature. The aim is to cover what you need for school and university.
The focus is on German literature but they also have classical Greek plays, English highschool curriculum stuff, etc. The price is quite fair.

anaconda is a garbage tier publisher that just reprints copyright free texts with almost no editorial work. you only buy their books if you want a text that you can basically get free in a newly bound book, no one takes it seriously.

pic related is a legit german book, it's bound and very nice, the new translation is actually superior and not just a way of avoiding royalty fees, and the dimensions are 12,5 x 6 x 19 cm. really a very nice book.
fischer, dtv, goldmann and insel are generally quite nice too, especially fischer imo

suhrkamp however is atrocious. look up the quasi-official versions of kant and most german idealism and critical theory. they are so fucking hideous and terrible, I don't understand it at all.

the whole "beautiful book" movement is just a marketing ploy created after the internet destroyed the publishing industry and is really something mainly mastered by english publishers desu though.

that makes sense for translations, but Germans seem to treat their own works with contempt when it comes to publishing them. Fischer is the only stylish+sturdy publisher I've found.

Suhrkamp doesn't seem all that bad. Their black books seem to be the only option for philosophy, and the pic related style isn't bad

It literally takes a few hours for a couple of designers to get together move font around, res-space it, slap a classical painting on if it was made before 1900s that is zoomed in like oxford does or the one in your pic related. More minimalist is the better if you're trying to be respectable, put all the important information on the back regarding story etc. Beautiful book movement is great, ugly books suck.

Also what's with Germans and their desire to publish poetry in the most random collections? It's like every collection of poetry has to be around a coffee table book theme

I just looked at that book, novels by suhrkamp aren't so bad, but the black, or really dark purplish philsophy books are horrible. the worst part is that they're not even cheap.
I have a copy of triste tropiques which was 20 books new, but it has literally had zero care put into it.
dtv and penguin are actually owned by the same company (bertelsmann), so sometimes they will just rebrand nice english books and put them out as german

pic related, I own this copy and it was originally published by penguin I believe

I don't mind beautiful books, but there has to be some economic reason for people to avoid paying whatever it costs to hire designers, be that a small or large expense, I don't know

rilke suffers under this especially since he's popular and accessible. you'll find two or three of these in any large bookstore. this is how they sell books I suppose.

*20 bucks new

>Reclams
Eww

Rilke is considered accessible in Germany? Shit

What are the academically accepted versions of Kant, Hegel, Schopehnahuer, and Heidegger??

he's one of the most popular poets in america too.


In the United States, Rilke is one of the more popular, best-selling poets—along with 13th-century Sufi mystic Rumi (1207–1273), and 20th-century Lebanese-American poet Khalil Gibran (1883–1931).[8] In popular culture, Rilke is frequently quoted or referenced in television programs, motion pictures, music and other works when these works discuss the subject of love or angels.[43] His work is often described as "mystical," and it has also been appropriated for use by the New Age community and in self-help books.[4] Rilke has been reinterpreted "as a master who can lead us to a more fulfilled and less anxious life."[5][44

rilke is comfy

suhrkamp editions are usually highly encouraged for philosophy at german universities
that might just be because they're a standard, making working with them in class easier.
not sure if they're actually superior in any specific way

this. I have a reclam schnitzler. its one small step up from a pamphlet

I always wondered what that chaotic block bottom left is. The French maybe ?

I love the format and the selection. I just wish I could pay double and they'd put a little more into the printing in return. DTV has so much nicer printing.

Foreign language is red.
They do some books with proper covers.

I agree, but you wouldn't have to pay double.
I mean, you only pay slightly more for most corresponding Suhrkamp titles, but they usually hold up better than Reclam in my experience, especially with bigger books, which is why I've almost always been recommended Suhrkamp titles by my professors, and Reclam only around twice.

Suhrkamp also usually make small notes in the text when there's an entry to the passage in the Anhang, whereas Reclam usually don't, but this is personal preference and I also think that sometimes Reclam's system is better because it doesn't disrupt the reading, and once in a while the entries in the Anhang are mostly irrelevant historical/contextual knowledge or trivia, meaning you've flipped to the back of the book with nothing gained.

I love what they're doing, making world literature, philosophy, etc. available cheaply, and again, I love the design/format, but personally I'd gladly pay 8 euros instead of 4 for a bit nicer quality, that's what I meant.
Unfortunately the picture doesn't quite capture it, but the DTV (on the right) is so much crisper when you look at it in person, and to me it really makes a difference.

As for Suhrkamp, their covers usually aren't very nice imo, and the paper isn't much better than the one Reclam uses.

I love Reclam. Great choice of books, very cheap and a great format. I always have one with me since they fit easily into your jackets pocket.

God tier:
>Suhrkamp
>dtv
>Merve

Top tier:
>Fischer
>Passagen

Mid tier:
>Rowohlt
>Piper
>Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Shit Tier:
>UTB
>aufbau
>Reclam

Reclam is a Verlag for ants

>Reclam is a Verlag for ants
Maybe you're just a big guy

für dich

Well I was referring more to the annotated student editions, like the ones on my shelf in pic related, but I have the same Steppenwolf on another shelf and I agree that there's nothing especially good about that one

Thanks for reminding me that I really should read Stiller.
>there's nothing especially good about that one
Do those use better paper in that case? I don't have any but I might go for them in future I guess.

>Merve
nah, way too expensive

that's a deep book shelf (for ur books)

Well you'll be cracking the spine more often with the student editions, but I've only had a page fall out once for a Suhrkamp Basisbibliothek once, and that was for a course on Wilhelm Meister because the guy crammed so much into it it's ridiculous, so I flipped to the Anhang often
I can recommend their philosophy books, at least two reasons they'd be recommended like would be that they don't fall apart and are fitted with an extensive register and editorial histories/notes
The outside will look frilly but that's it for the most part

>2x once
But you get the point, and my favourite would probably be Fischer, though they're usually more expensive, dtv are nice as well, like their Paralleldruck of Das Nibelungenlied