How Read A Book Published By Penguin Classics?

Question

Penguin Classics releases seem daunting at first, especially with their detailed introductions and notes. What's the best approach for a new reader to enjoy one without feeling overwhelmed by the academic style?

Tina Lee · Answer

You can check for the book (physical copy or official e-book) on online bookstores of large retailers, such as books by Penguin Classic series are distributed. I recently read another piece of the same historical period, ‘The Pensive Gentleman’, a story of a reserved nobleman whose life is disrupted by a series of enigmatic letters. Written in a deliberate and thoughtful style, as in much classic literature, it is a fast-moving mystery.

Stella · Answer

Penguin Classics makes me feel like I have a time machine. Each edition of a book is carefully put together with an introduction, notes, and even extra material to give a more in-depth look at the book. I love flipping through the cover notes for a more historical perspective of when a book was written. The footnotes are like gold because they explain words that were used hundreds of years ago, give you information on cultural references, and even explain the author’s particular way of writing. I also love when a Penguin Classics edition has maps, timelines, and an appendix because I like to read those before I start reading the book. I take my time reading these kinds of books because I like to take my time to read the words and then to understand more with the help of the annotations. Reading a Penguin Classics book is not just reading a book, it is like having a scholar follow you step by step through the book.

Frederick · Answer

I’m a collector of Penguin Classics. I read them by immersing myself in the book. I love the cover art – many Penguin classics feature lovely reproductions of old paintings, or very simple but very effective designs. The introductions to the books are also great, but I try not to read them before I start the book itself, for fear of spoilers. For older books like Jane Eyre, the footnotes are essential for explaining out-of-date slang and historical references.

After finishing each chapter, I spend some time reflecting on the work. I usually cross reference some of the notes in the Penguin edition with other online resources. Translations are done well in the Penguin edition that I read, for example in Les Misérables it was very smooth and maintaines the original work very faithfully. The books are also very sturdy but very portable. I have read Jane Eyre in a cozy reading spot and on the subway and it was great both ways. By the end of it you feel like you have lived through the book.

Hazel · Answer

The classic Penguin edition of any of the wonderful works of Timeless Literature is always my first choice. That distinctive black cover makes for a wonderful spiny row on my bookshelves. I like to read the introductions by the current editors of the Penguin Classics series last because they are so excellent and I don’t want them to taint my initial, subjective reactions to a work. The translations and the in dept. and superbly smart, historically and culturally informed annotations of the works of great authors like Homer and Dostoevsky are outstanding as well. I take notes in a little notebook as I read through the many, wonderful, insightful footnotes too.

I can read thick, dense books like 'Moby-Dick' in chunks, referring back to the summaries of the chapters at the back of the book. Many of the Penguin Classics contain interesting essays and even letters from authors that I like to read after finishing the book itself - they're a nice sweet treat for me. The paper and type used in Penguin books is of high quality and easy on the eyes - a must for long reading sessions when reading artifacts like these.

Rene Du Preez · Answer

When you read a classic book, think about the original medium of the work. Was it a play meant to be performed on stage? A poem meant to be recited from memory? A long novel published in installments in magazines? Engage with the work in the same way as the audience did at the time. If it’s a play like A Doll’s House then read it with imagination of the staging and watch a performance on YouTube of a recent production. If it’s a novel like many of the Victorian novels of Charles Dickens then read it in the same installments as the original audience did. The Penguin introduction to the classic works of literature often explores these issues in great detail and it’s crucial to understand these points. Works of classic literature were meant to be popular entertainment of their time and not strange, rarefied objects of art. View them with the same sense of urgency and life as you would with current popular fiction.

Jam Ebora Bungo · Answer

Don’t be proud; there’s nothing wrong with using abridged versions or even retellings as a gateway to the full length work. While some of the Penguin Classics can be notoriously long, an abridged audiobook or even a good graphic novel can provide the reader with the basic story and major themes, and then, once they have read the full length work, they can really appreciate the author’s digressions, the writing itself and the work’s deeper philosophical themes. The Penguin Classics notes will make far more sense once you have read the full work and know the basic storyline. Using an adaptation as a scaffold to help you appreciate the artistery of the original work is not cheating; it’s just good strategy and will help you get far more out of the full length work than you would have otherwise.

Annabel Raven · Answer

There’s a whole row of my books on your site, and I’ve approached my reading of them in rather different ways over time. At first, I tried to read every word of every preface and appendix, but now I’m rather more selective. If a book is translated, I like to read the translator’s note first, as it often gives an interesting insight into the Translator’s difficulties, and the choices they’ve had to make. The introductions vary greatly in quality, and also in terms of how spoilerific they are; some are beautiful standalone essays, others are rather dry academic pieces that don’t really add much to the book as a whole. I try to read the introduction after I’ve read the main body of the book. As for actually reading the books, the paper in Penguin Classics is rather thin, so one must be gentle with highlighters, lest they bleed through. I prefer to use a mechanical pencil for marginalia. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the chronology and further reading sections at the back of the books are excellent launching points for further study of a work that has really got under your skin.

Idara Akpabio · Answer

Skip the hardest book on your shelf first! Penguin Classics range from The Epic of Gilgamesh (a long, poetical work) to The Great Gatsby (relatively straightforward). I would suggest picking a book that is written in a genre you are familiar with. For example, ghost stories like The Turn of the Screw or satirical writings like Gulliver’s Travels are good starting points. Because, after you’ve ‘read’ that one, you will naturally ‘read’ the others in the same format and style. Also, take into account the format of the book. Penguin paperbacks are gorgeous, but often printing is done in a very small font size and densely on the pages. I would recommend reading a Penguin classic as an eBook which allows you to change font sizes as well as have the notes hyperlinked – it makes a huge difference! Audiobooks of classics are also read by very talented actors which can make for a fantastic first read of a more difficult to read, visually dense, work.

Ayza Macaraeg · Answer

I read George Eliot's novels as if I were completing a project. For each of them, I use a nice notebook, a Penguin Classic edition, and two or three colors of pen. I make a simple timeline of major events as I read. I note the major characters and their relationships with each other. I write down quotes that seemed particularly important to me. Along the way, I also jot down questions that I wish the author had answered in the novel. Read this way, I create a homemade study guide for the novel, which is something that I feel that I have accomplished, something more than simply having read the words on the page. For very long and complex novels, such as 'Middlemarch', this is the only way that I have found to keep track of all of the plot lines and the complex web of social relationships between characters.

Thuso Pule · Answer

Look up the different translators who have rendered your chosen book into English and compare their translations. For “definitive” Penguin translations, there are always alternative versions by other distinguished translators, which may better convey the author’s unique manner and individual style. While the Penguin translation of “Madame Bovary” is perhaps as good as it gets, that of “The Brothers Karamazov” by the late Pevear and Volokhonsky is another matter, and those who are reading the two novels might like to look up the different translators’ work online and read a sample page or two of each. The reading experience can be far more lyrical, more literal or even more modern, depending on the translator chosen by the publisher, and while Penguin translations are generally excellent, there are bound to be occasions when another translator’s version of a particular book is preferred by any given reader. Engaging with a book as a created work is more fun than viewing it as some monolithic, sacred artifact. By comparing the work of different translators, we are able to see that even the greatest “classics” are subject to interpretation by the best modern translators, and that our choice of the particular version that we read is part of our overall reading experience. In other words, by researching the different translations of a given book, we become more active readers and less passive.

Amy L Yanto · Answer

Skip the intro to these academic introductions. They’re generally written by individuals who assume you have read the novel and are looking to gain insight into the themes of the work. Most academic introductions to classic novels will spoil major plot twists as well as major character arcs in order to build a thesis around the work. I have made the mistake of reading the intro to “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” prior to reading the novel itself and, consequently, the central mystery of the work was ruined for me. My advice for reading classic works is to encounter them as the original audience did: i.e. fresh. Don’t read the intro first. Read the novel first and form your own opinions regarding the work. Then you can go back and read the intro to the notes at the back of the volume and see how well the critic developed his or her arguments to support his/her theses. The front matter of these types of volumes is generally a minefield of spoilers for the reader. The notes at the back are generally safe to read in order to clarify points that you fail to understand in the body of the critic’s work.

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