>the introduction is 100 pages long
OMG! RELATABLE!
>>7645729
The worst, was trying to read the communist manifesto printed by penguin. It was literally 120 pages of introduction then the tiny manifesto itself.
>>7645729
>the thread is meta, ironic and belongs on Reddit
Hey man, I understand you may find Drake or Drake memes funny, but those memes belong on facebook and reddit, not 4chan. Don't post Drake on 4chan anymore please.
>>7645782
Was referring to that. Also I believe the Penguin Edition of Capital had a 100 page introduction as well.
>>7645803
>Drake or Drake
?
>>7645811
Yes. It was a t.v. show like 20 years ago about brothers.
>the index is 200 pages long
Why do they take so long to read? I'm fucking bored.
>2016
>reading introduction
topkek, stay pleb
>foreword
>translator's introduction
>author's introduction
>a note on the text
>a note on the translation
Dover edition of Hegel's Philosophy of History
>Introduction to the Dover edition
>Translator's introduction
>Charles Hegel's preface
>100 page introduction
The Decline of the West was even worse, but I don't have it at home atm.
The illiad I have has a 77 page intro. I find it useful.
>>7645803
>he doesn't like drake memes
Kinda seems like you guys don't like reading
>the introduction has spoilers
WHY THE FUCK
>>7645860
>>7645803
>>7645729
Whatcha reading family?
>>7645869
every fucking time
>>7645972
every book by dostoevsky
every book by tolstoy
every book by hugo
etc
>>7645972
My copy of Anna Karenina spoils that she's killed by a train.
>>7645972
Crime and Punishment, The Sound and the Fury, Romeo and Juliet.
The Romeo and Juliet one bothered me the most. How the fuck was their deaths trivial enough to be revealed in the introduction? It's literally the biggest plot twist in the entire play!
>>7645972
Every time there's an anniversary edition, the guy writing the foreword (often even author) assumes everyone is 73-years old and read it when it came out.
>>7645980
FUCK YOU, SOMEONE TELL ME THIS ISN'T TRUE
>>7645782
Why would you read the communist mainfesto without the introduction though? You can't expect the average person to know what bourgeois and proletariat means.
The holy bible had Preface to 1611 Translation and I just skipped it. It's not like it's going be a good reference
>>7645862
But most introductions read like an extended review. By the time I have a book I would rather read it and come back to the intro if I feel like more.
>>7645990
If they're reading Marx you probably can.
>>7645972
The copy of Snow Country that I have does it, came out of nowhere too.
>>7645909
>not saving this image
SHIGGYDIGGY
>>7645985
It's not true.
>>7645980
Use spoilers faggot. It doesn't really ruin the book but still that's what the spoiler function is for. Also what version of AK are you taking about?
>>7646066
There is no version. I haven't read the book. That is the only thing I know about the plot.
I'm reading the penguin edition of thus spoke zarathustra and I found the introduction to be very helpful without being long-winded or redundant
>>7646068
>there is no version
Okay... Which edition do you own? What is the ISBN? Who translated it?
>>7646079
I don't own the book. I haven't read it. I've never held it.
>>7645980
>My copy of Anna Karenina spoils that she's killed by a train.
>>7646091
>I don't own the book. I haven't read it. I've never held it.
>reading introductions
toppei kekku desu senpai
>footnotes on one of the first pages of moby dick states 'melville always intended for the whale to live'
>>7646004
Nigga what are you doin
>book's introduction is basically some asshole trying to sell his own book
>'hyuck hyuck you won't be able to understand this book unless you read mine!'
>>7645831
don't forget
>author's preface from the 1887 edition
>author's preface from the 1889 edition
>author's preface from the 1905 edition
>author's preface from the 1923 edition
>author's preface from the 1945 edition
>author's preface from the 1977 edition
>author's preface from the 1998 edition
>author's preface from the 2015 edition
And they're all just variations on, "lol I guess my books popular so a new edition's out lol."
>>7645990
>You can't expect the average person to know what bourgeois and proletariat means.
haha stay pleb fag
>>7645729
I'm reading Keats Complete Poems. The introduction was a 80 pages show off of scholarly knowledge by the editor.
>>7647116
>introduction is just an extended apologia as to why this new edition "was absolutely necessary" given the "insufficiency" of all previous editions. this is finally the edition to end all editions
>>7645980
I already spoiled myself the ending, and I haven't even started the book.I found out about it reading a paper about suicide in literature that quotes the most famous suicides in literature.
Pleb thread
>>7647172
The long introduction aims to convince us that they had other reasons to publish a classic aside of being a work without copyright.
>>7645972
The intro in my copy of Stoner basically summarizes the whole book
>>7645803
you hate your life just be honest
>>7645972
Just read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" the intro and the back of the book are spoilery as fuck. Like it talks about things that happen about 150 pgs deep as if they are common knowledge, kills a lot of suspense. This Barnes & Noble version btw
>Publisher has their own translation just to have their own translation and it fucking sucks
>>7647133
The prefaces are always somewhat funny, though, because most of the time the author has a total lack enthusiasm towards writing yet another preface.
>>7647384
I really like Cervantes' preface of Don Quixote.
>>7645990
>bourgeois
The happy merchant having a blast (because thanks to merchantilism he finally had a chance to become more than a farmer and can use his wits rather than his arms to acquire wealth and power, fuck you Marx you butthurt fag you were wrong about Capitalism).
>proletariat
Poorfags whose sole possessions is their offsprings, "prole" in my language means just that, which makes understanding the term easier, anyway they were poorly treated because working had no standards yet, so they got shit pay, working hours, an awful working environment because there were no regulations or the common sense that an happy worker is a productive worker, see also sweatshop workers.
There, done.
I for one read it without any long ass introduction, (100 pages? That would make it longer than the manifest), because I was taught these things in primary school, of course knowing the historic background of this work before reading it is a good idea indeed.
>>7647197
that introduction felt silly as heck, and in general I don't know how should I feel about them, should they help me understand and guide me in knowing how should I feel and understand the events that unravel in the book?
Should they frame the context of the narration and historic background to not be fooled by the contemporary standards of morality and intellect?
>>7646107
Maybe, just fucking maybe, he's read the plot of the book in Wikipedia. You stupid cunt.
>>7645972
The classics (Rabelais, Cervantes, Swift, etc.) Title the chapters that for some bizzare reason.
>>7645808
it happens to be an excellent introduction.
>>7647408
I agree
>>7647440
yikes! try not to post at all in future.
>>7647664
Can you read at all?
>reading for plot
>>7647133
>>7647384
>preface by someone who isn't the author
>spoilers in the introduction
If you haven't read the book before, read the introduction LAST. That way you can have a deeper understanding of what it is talking about (having actually read the book it is introducing) and it won't spoil the plot.
>>7645729
>The book has a giant dictionary of made up words in it
I rarely even bother with them anymore. The vast majority spoil the entire book. Do people not care about spoilers anymore or something?
>>7648228
Some fags read books for "The prose" and not the story
>>7648226
>yfw you realize all words are made up
>>7648228
some people to pretend like theyre true patricians by not caring about story/plot
>>7648237
Sorry m8, but if I have to flip to a dictionary to know what your try hard make believe word means you're a terrible writer.
>>7645990
The hardship of understanding Marx is not in prole/bourgeois, but in the historical and philosophical tradition he stood in.
His relationship to Hegel, and from Hegel to Kant, and Kant to Hume / Descartes, is quite important. The political philosophy from Plato, Rousseau, Locke (and Smith) is also very important to understand what background he's writing from.
The hegelian systematic philosophy is very important, and most of all, the view on history
>>7648210
Fucking this. Now I read it only after finishing the book.
>introduction by unknown publisher
>an article about the author from 19th century
>comments by the publisher
>finally the novel
>>7648235
>prosefags
>>7648204
>preface by someone who isn't the author followed by a preface by the author.
>there's an introduction for the introduction
