4 ms·

I've owned the entire collection including the Shelf Of Fiction. The main thing to consider is that for the works written originally in english or are hard to

I've owned the entire collection including the Shelf Of Fiction. The main thing to consider is that for the works written originally in english or are hard to find these are good resources. For the works which have been translated there are usually much better translations available (and worth paying for). Very glad to see these freely available though.

devindotcom 12y ago
Yeah, I have a few Harvards, but really the only reason is the nice binding for a few classic titles. The Arabian Nights is the Lane translation, and if you're going classic, you have to go Burton. Same for a few others - you can go older or newer, but there's no particular reason to go for the Harvards. Same for any big classics set. That said it's not a bad place to start. I loved the Butler prose translation of the Iliad and Odyssey because it was fun to read and straightforward. Now that I have moved on and love Pope's and Lattimore's, I would recommend those over it - but if someone bought one, I wouldn't "tut tut" or anything. My advice with translations is always to gather a few, read the first few pages or chapter in each, and go with the one that you like. There's always the chance you'll end up with a Bowdlerized version or something (I did with the Count of Monte Cristo, the old ~1850 anonymous translation) but if you enjoy the book that's what matters - you can always read it again or fill in the blanks.
walterbell 12y ago
We need the individual public-domain works to be separated out of the Harvard Classics (or other collections) onto github as individual epub files with unique metadata. This would simplify discovery of works which are not available elsewhere, as well as discovery of works which have been (re)translated and are available for purchase. Something like http://openlibrary.com http://openlibrary.com at the level of individual works, assigning unique identifiers to each, since ISBNs were not around back then. Maybe there's already a project or standard within the library community for identifying these works uniquely.

devindotcom 12y ago

Yeah, I have a few Harvards, but really the only reason is the nice binding for a few classic titles. The Arabian Nights is the Lane translation, and if you're going classic, you have to go Burton. Same for a few others - you can go older or newer, but there's no particular reason to go for the Harvards. Same for any big classics set. That said it's not a bad place to start. I loved the Butler prose translation of the Iliad and Odyssey because it was fun to read and straightforward. Now that I have moved on and love Pope's and Lattimore's, I would recommend those over it - but if someone bought one, I wouldn't "tut tut" or anything. My advice with translations is always to gather a few, read the first few pages or chapter in each, and go with the one that you like. There's always the chance you'll end up with a Bowdlerized version or something (I did with the Count of Monte Cristo, the old ~1850 anonymous translation) but if you enjoy the book that's what matters - you can always read it again or fill in the blanks.

walterbell 12y ago

We need the individual public-domain works to be separated out of the Harvard Classics (or other collections) onto github as individual epub files with unique metadata. This would simplify discovery of works which are not available elsewhere, as well as discovery of works which have been (re)translated and are available for purchase. Something like http://openlibrary.com http://openlibrary.com at the level of individual works, assigning unique identifiers to each, since ISBNs were not around back then. Maybe there's already a project or standard within the library community for identifying these works uniquely.