Jane Eyre is my all time favorite book so I was so happy to see you had made a video about these editions! I like collecting different editions and displaying them at different times of the year. It's one of those classics that has a lot of cover designs so there's plenty to work with in terms of seasonal decor, haha!
Nice. Yeah, it's certainly an older edition. Mine probably dates from around that time. To be honest, I don't recall where I was when I bought it, but I did read it when I was doing my undergrad in the 90s.
I love notes in classics. Whether I end up using them or not - I like having them just in case. I can and do admire the special editions on other peoples shelves, but as lovely as these editions like the Deluxe and Cloth Bound are - no notes is a deal breaker for me (with one exception being the Everyman’s Library). My favorite editions of classics are the newer Oxford World’s Classics. Excellent notes and consistently, excellent quality books. Nice size, great font and paper quality and usually good flop. My go to editions. Followed by Norton Critical (excellent notes, but pricey and size and paper quality are not consistent), and then the Penguin black spines - with which I have a love/hate relationship. Haha. Some are so well made (the new Grapes of Wrath!!) and others are just sloppy quality with atrocious font. No consistency in quality even with the newer edition. And the notes are often a bit overdone..? For example in Wuthering Heights, there are many notes cross-referencing themes and word/phrasing found with Emily’s poetry. All nice and well, but not relevant to the story, and I ended up ignoring all the notes by the end. Sorry for the essay, I guess I had a lot to say. ;)
@@Katarzyna.O @Katarzyna.O I can see it not working for everyone, but I actually quite like the font. One of my favorite aspects about these editions.
No apology required for your essay. This is excellent feedback and I thank you for it. I hear you on the black spines. Tess of the D'Urbervilles was good. The flop was just right and I love the creaking sound the pages make when you flop the book. The font was okay. For paper and print and feel I love the Deluxe Classics. Clothbound I'm not a fan of because the decals come off on my fingers. I don't think I have any Norton editions at all.
Excellent video, I enjoy getting a closer look into different editions!I'm finishing up the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and there are several pages of notes for each of the books three parts. I wonder what determines which of their books have these sorts of features included?
Yeah, weird that one Deluxe has notes and another does not. I think with translations I get it if it's down to the translator. I have seven different versions of Crime and Punishment so I know about that from the translation side. For English native books though, who knows? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I read J.E. for the first time just a few years ago. I intentionally bought a cheapie paperback in case I hated it. Imagine my surprise when I instantly fell in love with it! I've read it twice and hope to be rereading the rest of my life. I do want to get a better copy because my poor little paperback got soaked in an unexpected rainstorm. I did my best to rescue it. Alas, it's in bad shape. I may still keep it forever. I don't have the heart to throw it out. It has all my original little tabs of favorite portions. But I know it will fall apart after a couple more re-readings. That edition is lovely. I don't always seek books with notes. Sometimes there's too much personal commentary and I don't want that coloring my view of a book I am reading for the first time. Sometimes I'll read that information later. But, yes, if you're calling something "deluxe" (and charging for it) it seems only fair to have notes. I do seem to struggle keeping those flappy books open. I do most of my reading on the go, even sometimes while walking. But I still may get it. I'm debating between this one and an affordable hardcover. We'll see. Thanks, this was helpful.
That's a good way to roll with a cheapie to get started. Was it you who had the bag that wasn't waterproof? Was it Jane Eyre that was the victim of that rainstorm? I think I remember your saying that. And reading while walking? I haven't done that in a while, but I did do it a lot when I was at uni. St Andrews was pretty safe for that once you got off the main road.
@@CamsCampbellReads I may have said it once before. :) I used to feel awkward, wondering if people were looking at me like I was nuts. But now that I see everyone staring at their phones while walking, I don't feel so weird. I'm also at the point where I usually don't care what people think about me anymore. One of the few perks of getting older!
Thank you so much for the video! I’m glad I could look inside this edition. It is strange that the deluxe edition doesn’t have any notes and is a paperback with glued binding. The pluses of this edition are the acid-free paper and fairly large print, but for a deluxe edition, that’s definitely not enough. As for Oxford World’s Classics, they would be perfect if it weren’t for the tiny print. I’m also considering the Norton Critical Edition, even though the commentary there is quite extensive. Well, I’ll have to find a compromise. I’ve been searching for the perfect edition of "Jane Eyre" for almost two months, and I’ve noticed that although there’s a huge selection, many editions are of poor quality. And I like smelling books too. :) Katie
Yeah, sounds like finding that perfect edition is a challenge. I'm okay with having two, so Deluxe for the joy and another for the notes. Or maybe go with a Kindle version beside the Deluxe so I can highlight and have it go into my Notion books database and use the Kindle to read notes. Although, having said that, I don't love the Deluxe Anna Karenina, mainly because of the cover. It's a different material, incongruous artwork and a fingerprint magnet. I still bought it though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@CamsCampbellReads To be honest, I don't like the cover art of the "Jane Eyre" deluxe edition at all. It's so gothic, and this novel isn't entirely steeped in gothic elements; gothic is just one aspect of it. Looking at this cover, one might expect a horror story. However, for me, the artwork is secondary. As for Kindle, it feels a bit strange to me to buy a book that doesn't physically exist. Paper books have been around for ages, and technology is changing before our eyes. How can we know if today's e-book formats will work in 20 years? The software in e-readers will change, and it might turn out that the current formats no longer work because they're outdated. But perhaps these are just my excessive worries. The search for the perfect edition has its advantages. I hadn't heard of acid-free paper before (I thought the yellowing of pages was a natural phenomenon). I also hadn't known that a hardback combined with glued binding is a recipe for a broken spine. These two months of searching have taught me all this and let me get to know various publishers. And finally, two hours ago, I've ordered what I think is the perfect edition of "Jane Eyre" - Norton Critical Edition 3rd (revised) from 2001, used, available in my country, at a very affordable price. :)
@@CamsCampbellReadsI've already got the Norton Critical Edition. Unfortunately, the font is too small because of my vision impairment. I'm disappointed.
What an absolutely beautiful book😊
It really is!
Jane Eyre is my all time favorite book so I was so happy to see you had made a video about these editions! I like collecting different editions and displaying them at different times of the year. It's one of those classics that has a lot of cover designs so there's plenty to work with in terms of seasonal decor, haha!
Oxford edition, my high school edition back in 1990 .....I still have this book.
Nice. Yeah, it's certainly an older edition. Mine probably dates from around that time. To be honest, I don't recall where I was when I bought it, but I did read it when I was doing my undergrad in the 90s.
I love this edition ❤ on my list to order
I love notes in classics. Whether I end up using them or not - I like having them just in case. I can and do admire the special editions on other peoples shelves, but as lovely as these editions like the Deluxe and Cloth Bound are - no notes is a deal breaker for me (with one exception being the Everyman’s Library).
My favorite editions of classics are the newer Oxford World’s Classics. Excellent notes and consistently, excellent quality books. Nice size, great font and paper quality and usually good flop. My go to editions. Followed by Norton Critical (excellent notes, but pricey and size and paper quality are not consistent), and then the Penguin black spines - with which I have a love/hate relationship. Haha. Some are so well made (the new Grapes of Wrath!!) and others are just sloppy quality with atrocious font. No consistency in quality even with the newer edition. And the notes are often a bit overdone..? For example in Wuthering Heights, there are many notes cross-referencing themes and word/phrasing found with Emily’s poetry. All nice and well, but not relevant to the story, and I ended up ignoring all the notes by the end. Sorry for the essay, I guess I had a lot to say. ;)
The font is the biggest (and probably the only) downside of the Oxford World's Classics.
@@Katarzyna.O @Katarzyna.O I can see it not working for everyone, but I actually quite like the font. One of my favorite aspects about these editions.
No apology required for your essay. This is excellent feedback and I thank you for it. I hear you on the black spines. Tess of the D'Urbervilles was good. The flop was just right and I love the creaking sound the pages make when you flop the book. The font was okay. For paper and print and feel I love the Deluxe Classics. Clothbound I'm not a fan of because the decals come off on my fingers. I don't think I have any Norton editions at all.
Excellent video, I enjoy getting a closer look into different editions!I'm finishing up the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and there are several pages of notes for each of the books three parts. I wonder what determines which of their books have these sorts of features included?
Right? I'm sure they have their way of deciding. But, from the customer's point of view, there doesn't seem to be much consistency. Who knows!
Ooh, the Heart of Darkness Deluxe is nice. I contemplated that one in Waterstones.
Yeah, weird that one Deluxe has notes and another does not. I think with translations I get it if it's down to the translator. I have seven different versions of Crime and Punishment so I know about that from the translation side. For English native books though, who knows? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I read J.E. for the first time just a few years ago. I intentionally bought a cheapie paperback in case I hated it. Imagine my surprise when I instantly fell in love with it! I've read it twice and hope to be rereading the rest of my life. I do want to get a better copy because my poor little paperback got soaked in an unexpected rainstorm. I did my best to rescue it. Alas, it's in bad shape. I may still keep it forever. I don't have the heart to throw it out. It has all my original little tabs of favorite portions. But I know it will fall apart after a couple more re-readings.
That edition is lovely. I don't always seek books with notes. Sometimes there's too much personal commentary and I don't want that coloring my view of a book I am reading for the first time. Sometimes I'll read that information later. But, yes, if you're calling something "deluxe" (and charging for it) it seems only fair to have notes. I do seem to struggle keeping those flappy books open. I do most of my reading on the go, even sometimes while walking. But I still may get it. I'm debating between this one and an affordable hardcover. We'll see. Thanks, this was helpful.
That's a good way to roll with a cheapie to get started. Was it you who had the bag that wasn't waterproof? Was it Jane Eyre that was the victim of that rainstorm? I think I remember your saying that.
And reading while walking? I haven't done that in a while, but I did do it a lot when I was at uni. St Andrews was pretty safe for that once you got off the main road.
@@CamsCampbellReads I may have said it once before. :)
I used to feel awkward, wondering if people were looking at me like I was nuts. But now that I see everyone staring at their phones while walking, I don't feel so weird. I'm also at the point where I usually don't care what people think about me anymore. One of the few perks of getting older!
Thank you so much for the video! I’m glad I could look inside this edition. It is strange that the deluxe edition doesn’t have any notes and is a paperback with glued binding. The pluses of this edition are the acid-free paper and fairly large print, but for a deluxe edition, that’s definitely not enough.
As for Oxford World’s Classics, they would be perfect if it weren’t for the tiny print. I’m also considering the Norton Critical Edition, even though the commentary there is quite extensive.
Well, I’ll have to find a compromise. I’ve been searching for the perfect edition of "Jane Eyre" for almost two months, and I’ve noticed that although there’s a huge selection, many editions are of poor quality.
And I like smelling books too. :)
Katie
Yeah, sounds like finding that perfect edition is a challenge. I'm okay with having two, so Deluxe for the joy and another for the notes. Or maybe go with a Kindle version beside the Deluxe so I can highlight and have it go into my Notion books database and use the Kindle to read notes. Although, having said that, I don't love the Deluxe Anna Karenina, mainly because of the cover. It's a different material, incongruous artwork and a fingerprint magnet. I still bought it though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@CamsCampbellReads To be honest, I don't like the cover art of the "Jane Eyre" deluxe edition at all. It's so gothic, and this novel isn't entirely steeped in gothic elements; gothic is just one aspect of it. Looking at this cover, one might expect a horror story. However, for me, the artwork is secondary.
As for Kindle, it feels a bit strange to me to buy a book that doesn't physically exist. Paper books have been around for ages, and technology is changing before our eyes. How can we know if today's e-book formats will work in 20 years? The software in e-readers will change, and it might turn out that the current formats no longer work because they're outdated. But perhaps these are just my excessive worries.
The search for the perfect edition has its advantages. I hadn't heard of acid-free paper before (I thought the yellowing of pages was a natural phenomenon). I also hadn't known that a hardback combined with glued binding is a recipe for a broken spine. These two months of searching have taught me all this and let me get to know various publishers. And finally, two hours ago, I've ordered what I think is the perfect edition of "Jane Eyre" - Norton Critical Edition 3rd (revised) from 2001, used, available in my country, at a very affordable price. :)
@@CamsCampbellReadsI've already got the Norton Critical Edition. Unfortunately, the font is too small because of my vision impairment. I'm disappointed.
@@Katarzyna.O oh no.