Normally I would recommend Oxford World's Classics (OWC) but due to the recent wokeness, soulless translations, and other bad decisions, I've come to realize it's a case by case thing. Books where Penguin (P) wins:
>Kalevala
P translation is a million times better. Sadly (and this was odd to me) it has zero notes. OWC's has notes but an inferior translation.
>Paradise Lost
OWC modernized the spelling and this ruined the original meter (same thing with Everyman's Library). P kept it.
>The Count of Monte-Cristo
P has the best translation of this book (with good notes).
>Frankenstein
P version includes the other stories that were part of the competition A Fragment by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori’s The Vampyre: A Tale, as well as other interesting extras.
Any other examples where Penguin wins or Oxford wins? For example, Oxford wins in their edition of Eugene Onegin, a very good translation.
How many languages do you know? English, Finnish, Russian, what else?
Spanish, French, Italian, some Portuguese. I wish I knew German and Latin.
Both are incredibly pedestrian. I have to say however, that I love Penguin's Arabian Nights by Malcolm C Lyons translation because it's the only complete translation into English of Antoine de Galland's work. Everything else is abridged to some extent.
If I knew Latin I would definitely start buying Loeb's. Those are the patrician book seller.
From my understanding Penguin also published the only unabridged version of The Mahabharata in English.
>Loeb's
are they bilingual or strictly in Latin?
They are bilingual with English on one aide and Greek and Latin on the other. Each book actually isn't that big. For example, the average book of Plato only includes like three of his dialogues.
Bilingual. They say who the translator is in the cover
I own the book of minor Latin poetry because I wanted to learn classical languages one day. It has the surviving excerpts of Publilus Syrus and a bunch of other literal who nobodies in it.
>If I knew Latin I would definitely start buying Loeb's. Those are the patrician book seller.
why do they split logical books into multiple physical ones?
>Those are the patrician book seller.
They definitely aren't. Oxford classical texts are solely in the original
Do they have the spurious dialogues of Plato? Loebs doesn’t.
hello, im not a native english speaker. i cant seem to get a handle on this meter thing. do you have any suggestion for audio of metered text read properly? ( sorry for soft derailing )
i dont have any opinion regarding op. all i can say is that choosing a translation for dantes comedy was a hell of a research. oh... thats where i also got the meter problem from.
the newest Penguin editions are ugly as frick. Plus they use shit paper which yellows in a few years, my old oxfords are still nice
>they use shit paper which yellows in a few years
This is true. When you buy them they're grey. One year later they begin yellowing. So much for le acid free meme.
Signet Classics.
>A Fragment by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori’s The Vampyre: A Tale
Oxford released an anthology titled The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, those two stories are part of it.
Let's be honest, those stories don't have nothing to do with the Frankenstein. "The Original Frankenstein" edited by Bodleian Library and "Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus & Other Tales" edited by Flame Tree are better and the Penguin and Oxford editions.
>Let's be honest, those stories don't have nothing to do with the Frankenstein
ESL? Anyway, those stories are part of the same literary context. They have something to do with it.
>The Original Frankenstein" edited by Bodleian Library and "Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus & Other Tales" edited by Flame Tree are better and the Penguin and Oxford editions.
Penguin released an edition of the original 1818 text as well.
>Penguin released an edition of the original 1818 text as well
The Original Frankenstein is even better, it's the original draft of the novel. The first part is the draft that was modified by Shelley, and the second part is the original, unaltered draft written only by Mary.
Penguin often don't come with introductions, preface, notes and additional material whereas Oxford do. You buy what you prefer, simple as. My Dubliners Oxford comes with some appendix material and a different version of "Sisters" for example.
Penguin seldom lacks additional material for classic books. My Penguin Dubliners comes with introduction, notes and some appendices.
Ah, I have a lot of Penguins but I think 99% are used ones I got for a buck each so maybe I just got "unlucky".
My Penguin edition of East of Eden comes with zero notes. I guess it depends on the book.
I have Arrow's East of Eden and it has a foreword, I think, but iir it also comes with an absurd amount of errors ranging from missing letters and sometimes whole words to missing full stops and words replacements that make no sense. I do have Grapes of Wrath from Penguin though and it has no notes at all. Maybe Steinbeck just comes with no additional stuff in Pneguin in general. To be honest, those books are already long enough as is...
>Eugene Onegin
Why would anyone read a poetry in translation? Are you a moron?
Many people do, including authors. Narrative poems have been read in translation for all of history. It turns out not everyone knows every language.
Irrelevant argument, Broadview is superior in every way to both.
Literally who
*Checks web*
They seem pretty good, although rare and pricier.
Penguin sued the Internet Archive, I don't buy anything from them after that.