This is exactly why I like "Everyman's Library" & "Library of America" editions: smyth-sewn bindings, that open super flat, extremely good acid-free paper quality (and for great prices)
Yes! Everyman's Library did excellent readable hardbacks. I also recently bought a Cranford Collection edition of Jane Eyre that opens flat and has just the right sized font for me.
@@abitmuch7682 really? The (new-style) hardcovers? I’ve not seen that and I’ve got over a hundred of them (many second hand, very old editions of the current “style”). The only ones I’ve seen with so significantly yellowed/discoloured pages were ones that suffered smoke damage. Regardless, can’t rate LOA and EL highly enough. They’re definitely excellent quality.
Yes, I agree. These editions are a joy to read, and to look at, and very affordable. I raved on about all their wonderful qualities in another comment here, but thanks for reminding me how super they are, because I was almost wooed into buying a cloth-bound Penguin Edition of Proust, and now I have a better plan that will make my shelves look tres chique and matchy-matchy as well.
Finally, someone speaking about this! I can't believe readers do not mind that the cover artwork disappears when you touch it. I meant to collect them until I discovered the quality of the design. I bought one in Waterstones, and by the time I came home the artwork had disappeared because of sitting in my linen bag! I was so upset haha. And yes, they're uncomfortable to hold.
I know ! It is such a shame that they suck too because my edition of Wuthering Heights by them had some really lovely prefacing and introduction which made the story much more approachable to new readers. I find it hard to find good quality hardcover with pertinent editing 🥲
The covers look so good. I wish they made the cheap paperbacks and treat the hardcovers with sewn spines, ilustrations, specific fonts, colored pages etc.
Just wanted to say that I really, really like how you don't constantly cut out the areas when you aren't talking. You allow the viewer a chance to think and process what you're saying. It's slower and calming. It feels like an actual conversation. Thank you for keeping that "dead space" in the audio there! I don't like the trend with the loud, fast, and clipped talking!
I feel like mass-market hardcovers are just a horrible idea. The appeal of mass-market is to make book ownership accessible to all or to make reading the book on-the-go easy, so the glue-bound, softcover books really achieve that purpose well. But throwing a hardcover onto a glue-bound book is just a recipe for disaster. If anything, it makes the book's lifespan shorter than it would be if it was softcover. And it makes it difficult to read (hard to open, and if forced it wrecks the spine). What drives me insane is when publishers/shops will sell these kind of hardbacks for way too high a price. I hope people will know not to spend money on those, but to save for a nicer, sewn-bound hardback. (It's a shame those penguin book's beautiful cover design is wasted on that book production).
Oddly enough, the entire reason Allen Lane set up Penguin books was to put good quality paperback editions of "good" books within the financial reach of ordinary people. Now the company seems to have turned 180 degrees from that!
@@LucyGooseyVault33 If you look at the top of the book at the spine, there is a braid, and you will see the book is divided into sections. Sometimes, if you find the middle of the sections, you can see that every inch of so there is a pinch point where the thread holds the section together. If they are glued, there are no sections, although some publishers put some braid on to make it look as if it could be sewn. (That's how I do it, anyway!)
@@LucyGooseyVault33 Sewn books are usually made up of "signatures". A signature is when you take - for example - a stack of A4 paper, and fold in it half to create a little booklet of A5 size. You will see thread either running down the middle of these folds or perhaps in smaller joins at top and bottom. Think about a time when you've torn a page out of a notebook, and its corresponding page on the other side falls out (and so instead you go to the centre and pull out two pages together so you don't create loose pages). Those are signatures. In sewn books, pages are never going to fall out unless threads are cut.
the readability and handling of books is such an important topic to me and it rarely gets mentioned online. thank you for this video. i prefer floppy paperbacks
I honestly wouldn't mind that they're so heavy, or even annoying to hold open, if the design didn't rub off so easily. It is absolutely crazy that it can't withstand a single regular use without rubbing off. That is how you truly know it was designed to be displayed, not handled.
That would drive me crazy! I can't believe that's even a thing. I'm kind of glad I'm broke these days, otherwise I would have bought some and would've been so disappointed and angry.
I was so disappointed when I realized my Anna Karenina book design was coming off from my hand. I also struggled to keep it open but I was new-ish to buying books, I read it very uncomfortably as to not rub off designs or scared to break the book if I opened it too much, but later on as I read all types of books of different design, I came to the same realization as this.
I don't really understand the problem that much, I've got several, and all of them still look fine having read them in its entirety. Read The Prince by Machiavelli, Art of War by Sun Tsu and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and all were fine and still look good after reading them in the train, thus taking them everywhere with me. I love the penguin versions. Great translations and really good forewords giving historical context to the books. But all 3 of those are significantly shorter than the examples given in the video. The Prince is only 172 pages.
those cloth bound classics are pretty, but I agree, definitely NOT meant to be read. I had one, read it once and was disappointed at how quickly the front and the spine faded very quickly. Not worth the money considering they don't hold up to a single reading. I won't buy anymore of them. One of my heaviest books is Leonardo da Vince by Walter Isaacson. I think it's due to the paper weight. it's just good quality paper. Great topic!
I think it depends on the book, I've had no issues with the penguin classics, but for example The Prince by Machiavelli is only 172 pages. So maybe it depends on which one.
@@jaspermooren5883 That makes sense. the smaller books take less time to read and are handled less often. And the longer books that take longer to read will show more wear. And I'm sure it depends on if the reader is dominant left handed or right handed whether the front cover shows more wear or the back does. btw, did you like Prince by Machiavelli? It's on my tbr, but I don't have a copy yet.
@@BookZealots I think it's a really cool book. I mean the man was absolutely crazy and had some extremely unethical views, but his analysis of the politics of renaissance Italy is very interesting if you are into that kind of stuff. But don't think you'll get a useful guide on how to live life. Unless you're an absolute psychopath and have no moral compass whatsoever and just care about results. Like, just kill 10.000s of people to repress them otherwise you have to send more troops, and that's expensive, levels of immoral advice.
@@jaspermooren5883 The psychopathy is what intrigues me. Imagine, he was so awful, the medical industry created machiavellianism to label his "traits" of atrocities. And why weren't people like Stalin and Mao labled machiavellian? Thank you for the info.
I don’t tend to read in bed or anything, so I don't run into some of the challenges you mention here. I do agree that these clothbound classics are definitely designed more with a collection in mind and not reading, which I don't like. I own War and Peace in this edition and don't find it horrible to read, but I also never sit to read for long periods of time with it. What I've noticed is that the image on the cover doesn't last well. The commets on the front are wearing off and I don't carry it around a lot or anything.
I think a lot of people do but these cloth-bound editions just for the 'aesthetic'. I know people who have two copies of their favourite classics: one they actually read and one for their bookshelves, such as these. Each to their own, but I don't fancy paying £20+ for a book I can't comfortably read. When I first got into classics, I found that the best place to find them was second-hand; chairty shops, Ebay and other places have so many used books that are like new for only a couple of pounds. I know I'm speaking from the UK, but I imagine it's the same in the US too. And like you say in your video, even the pengun classic versions are better quality and cheaper. In my opinion, it is a shame to see the poor quality of this series. A lot of people do but books just to look pretty on shelves so it's tapping into that market and the price isn't that bad for how they look for those who want pretty books on a budget but it's not my cup of tea.
Yes, second hand book stores are great for finding classics in good readable editions such as the Oxford World Classics (one of my favourites to read out of). My family on both sides (my fam and my partners) ask for a "wish list" around birthday and christmas. I always give them a book list. That list is usually made up of current/modern writers, writers who are working now and need to be supported through book sales. So full price goes to them, and I get my classics second-hand.
@@circleofleaves2676 Oxford World Classics!!! I know that's right, they're the best!! They sadly live in the shadow of Penguin Classics comparatively LOL but they're just as good if not better (depending on what you're reading) and about as ubiquitous in secondhand stores. There's also just a good number of series Oxford has that Penguin doesn't.
watched this because my girlfriend is an avid reader and also has a few beloved books in her collection that are decidedly not for reading. even the ones that are, she ensures to never open them wide enough to crease the spine. I love how she enjoys her books, but I’m definitely the exact opposite. I grew up reading decades-old paperback sci-fi and horror novels in found in my dad’s garage. love a book i can fold in half if need be and seeing the creases accumulate in the spine as I read through them excites. i will dog ear pages no problem. the concept of books not meant to be read was so foreign to me when we met, but now i kind of get it. i would never buy something like this, but she would love them.
me and my boyfriend are the reversal of this. he’s scared to lend me any of his books. but hey, I wouldn’t ruin someone else’s book, but if it’s mine I will absolutely cease the spine, write in it, earmark, etc
I'm a heavily-loved paperback person too. Nothing better than yellowed pages, someone's name on the inside cover, the price (pennies) in pencil and that old book smell.
Depends on the book. If I love a book I'll buy one nice edition and one paperback to highlight quotes. Wordsworth and Collins classics and even Dover editions are cheap and great for all your reading destruction.
I usually prefer to buy books second. If I can't find it in bookstores, I'll buy them secondhand online. It's hard for me to justify buying a $50 book for a book I can't really slightly mishandle.
These books are designed to be bought. They're designed to feel heavy ("quality") and to look beautiful so they'll sell well, but no thought has been put into anything beyond that (and/or costs were cut with cheap construction). It doesn't matter what happens after they've been bought because the profit has already been made. This reminds me of trends in fast fashion e.g. how the sole on high heels have got stiffer over time, which makes them look great on a shelf or in a photography studio but incredibly difficult to walk in.
I’m glad someone finally said it! I love that the classics sections of bookstores are getting more spotlight, but you’re right, I avoid most of the publishers and hardcovers in favor of readability and ease of access. I don’t want a pretty bookshelf when I’d rather have books I actually enjoy but holding, opening, and reading from. Spot on!
Clothbound editions don't make for the most comfortable reading, for sure, but I usually open the book forcefully in a way that breaks the spine and allows the book to open flat. I know not everyone likes to do that though.
The problem is not cloth-binding, but the absence of sewn in pages. Cloth-binding is the best binding. The problem is the glueing. Glue prevents the books opening flat.
@@MrSyntheticSmile ^Yes, this so much! Glue binding should only be the realm of cheap paperbacks, combining one of the most hard-wearing kinds of cover with a downright disposable binding is illogical. I have an old copy of White Fang from the '70s designed to be handed out to school kids that's bound in thread; it's been through hell between being given to disinterested teenage schoolboys, over 6 house moves, and handed down to a seven year old, but I've never felt like it was in danger of falling apart or needed to be handled carefully despite how beaten up it looks. I can't say the same for my beautiful but glue-bound copy of the Books of Earthsea whose map I've had to glue back in several times! There is no reason but greedy cost saving that a premium collectable hardback should be glue bound.
I recently got rid of all my hardcover books just because I hate the reading experience overall with hardcovers. They're heavy and bulky. Uncomfortable to read in bed or in public transport. That's why I now exclusively buy paperbacks. Just makes the reading experience better. You made some great points in this video. Just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's better!
My grandparents had soviet collection edition hardbacks which were excellent. The pages were thick enough, they opened nicely and still had the outer artwork after decades of use 😬
The first time I got a floppy paperback in my 20s (they're not really a thing in the UK) I nearly cried. I couldn't believe how much more enjoyable the reading experience was. I still really enjoy hardbacks and got through loads in lockdown when I wasn't going anywhere, but it made me so much more aware of how 'unreadable' a lot of editions are.
I can relate. I had the Dorian Gray and the white design on the black cover rubbed off bit by bit. It wasn't the thickest book but it was hard to keep open and felt cumbersome. And the somewhat stiff paper and Times New Roman-like font didn't invite reading, personally -- looks too much like the papers and essays we had to write in school... not the texture and look that I prefer in a book. They look great lined up on the shelf at the bookstore but their appeal is more decorative than functional, for me. (And to go off on a tangent, I feel like most shoes are the same -- made to look cool or elegant, but not for wearing! They hurt just trying them on at the store and walking for two seconds, haha.)
As someone who is designing books I'm really glad that you made this video. I had a hard time too when I tried to read a Dickens novel in the cloth bound edition.
As beautiful as most hardcovers look on a shelf, I always boot to get paper back. Most hardcovers for me are uncomfortable anyway. I like be able to one hand a book. But some series I love to much I have to get the hardcover. Also great video btw!! ❤
I think some hardcover books are only made to be collected and look pretty on your bookshelves. However, others are made for reading but it's hard to do so because you can't open them all the way as you could damage the entire book; this happens with hardcover and paperback books alike. I came across this method that helped me: you lay your book on a flat surface, open just the covers so you have the pages of the book 'standing' in the middle; we know the book won't open on its own so you take more or less ten pages from the front and flatten them gently toward the surface and do the same with the pages in the back. It should be front-back and then front-back again until you reach the middle of the book. This was an old method used when most of the books printed were hardcover. I used this method for my anatomy books the prevent damage to the spine as I got the hardcover version and it's safe to say they are still intact even though they went through a lot while I was preparing the exam. However, this doesn't work on all books some will just fall apart despite taking good care of them. It's just how they are made. (I hope everything is clear enough, English isn't my first language)
I learned this technique from my dad and funnily enough he calls this "breaking the book". Some books still fell apart but for most, I can see the spine holds up for much longer because the pages bend at the creases that are put in, instead of pulling directly apart where they are glued or sewn.
I bought one penguin clothbound (Charles Dickens Christmas writings). I read A Christmas Carol last year in it and it was so difficult to hold the book open in bed to read. It was making my hands hurt because I had to struggle to keep it wide so I could read the words near the interior of the pages. I was also worried the print on the outside would rub off so I was trying to be careful with my hands….I’ll never buy another clothbound. 😅I recommend either the penguin paperbacks or for hardback the everyman’s library editions.
I always look at hardcover spines; I rarely buy fancy hardcovers without sewn bindings. I remember seeing these books in the store, checked the spine, didn’t know why they'd go to such effort and get painted cloth covers on a perfect bound spine. I didn’t realize the paint came off so easily, that's just a poor choice of materials tbh.
One of the problems with the linen bound classics is that they have a too small margin in the inner crease (or gutter) - so the text vanishes into the gutter.
I’m kinda torn about this topic because “spreads open” cannot be the end all be all of requirements for a good edition. Cuz it’s something that it may not even happen with the fanciest and most expensive sewn bound editions (subterranean press, suntup press, grim oak press, folio society, etc). This is why learning how to properly break in a book must be among the first skills a reader must acquire. Criticism regarding the long term durability of these penguins classics cloth bound editions is valid (and even then, I would argue that the price kinda reflects the quality we end up getting), but comparing them to a paperback kinda defeats the whole purpose because, yes, it spreads open easily, but it won’t last tho. It won’t last a single read in the hands of somebody who doesn’t know how to break a spine properly, or somebody with sweaty hands, or somebody who just isn’t careful overall.
100%. I recently learned a new technique for breaking open a spine so my paperbacks don't get creases, and it increases the longevity of the book. I had no idea breaking the spines was even a thing before that point but now I do it with every book I read!
@@antix527 What's your method? I do what I call "book yoga". I gently open to the middle and pull down until there is resistance. Then I go to the 1/3 position in the book, do the same. Then the 2/3 position. then back to the middle again, just pushing a little bit through the point of resistance each time.
I definitely consider the Penguin Clothbound Classics to be more of collector items rather than actual reading copies. My Virago Modern Classic editions of du Maurier's works are the same, beautiful but so stiff to open all the way! I'll buy a clothbound of a favorite book but if I'm actually looking to read I'll be going for the Penguin black spines that you showed or an Oxford. Both of those editions have a wider catalogue anyway. I know that when I seriously started getting into classics I was introduced to so many editions: the Oxfords, the black spines, Vintage red spines, Penguin Classics Deluxe, Penguin modern classics, Penguin English Library, etc. It was a pleasant journey figuring out which ones were suited to my actual physical reading taste and my collecting taste or both.
Agreed. I have one Penguin Clothbound, Emma, but I don't use it for every re-read because it's uncomfortable and I'm afraid the cover art is going to disappear sooner or later. Basically it's there to be pretty, which is ok because Emma is my favourite novel and I have several copies, but I wouldn't spend the money for any other book. Everyman's are prettier, in my opinion, better made, and more comfortable to actually read.
Yes I agree. Everymans Library editions are more expensive, but they are well-made. The binding is sewn and tight, the margins and font is good, they are not overly heavy, they open well.
To be honest if I were to buy a classic it would be a pretty version. My reasoning is that if comfort is the important aspect, I would download free it from project gutenberg into my kindle or is probably already free in amazon already. So, when I need confort I would read it in the kindle and when I am in the desk with a lamp I would continue in the pretty hardcover. Comfort and pretty cover at the same time.
I have The Barnes and Nobles book covered editions that are a soft material, but not cloth-It’s published by the Sterling Publishing Co exclusively for Barnes and Nobles these are pliable and don’t weigh very much but very pretty; maybe, try finding these? These editions come in pink and mint green, etc. I enjoyed your video. And yes, like your Peter Pan edition and I’m evil-I crack the spines.😂
The paint comes off those penguin classic cloth bound covers with the warmth of your hand. I purchased that exact same Dracula book you have and the black painted designs came off as I was holding that book on my way to a college class.
you made me think about something i haven't considered before! i always go for hardcovers when i can because i assumed they're made to last for longer. it seems like this new surge of pretty hardcovers isn't actually going to last longer and that's something for me to really think about, thanks!
Thank you for saying this. This is why I have to pass by some library books. I'm grateful for ebboks and audioboks. Specific titles may not be affordable in these forms, however. Just saying I have felt the same. Thanks again.
perfect bindings for a collectable hardcover is criminal. perfect binding is a cost cutting measure which is great for cheap paperback (which i would love to see these cover designs on), and I can sort of understand for a new release hardcover, but its terrible to use it in a product that is clearly intended to be a luxurious collectable edition of a classic. Its going to be very irritating for readers when they pull that book off of the shelf in 15 years time and find the pages falling out because the glue has dried
for people who want collectible classics that are readable and more compact, I'd recommend the Chiltern Classics. Theyre durable but also very beautiful!
This is why I love used books! I have a hardback of Jane Eyre from 1954, only slightly beat up, perfectly readable, smells amazing, gold foil on the spine still going strong -- and it was $10 on ebay.
Read this edition of Les Miserables when I was sixteen and by the time I had finished half the cover art had rubbed off. Which meant two weeks! Have never purchased another of these. You're so correct about everything. It's a shame because I love Penguin classics and modern classics as paperback editions (because they're well edited and have a fantastic range nowadays) and would certainly enjoy a hardback line from them. Great video, thank you!
THIS. In December 2023 I had to buy another copy of Persuasion because very old, very battered paperback copy finally fell apart. It took me so long to find a copy that was both pretty AND readable. I was attracted to the editions you showed at 5:10, but as you said the pages are glossy (meaning you can't write in the margins, which I always do) and the print was insultingly small. I don't know who or for what purpose those books were made. I ended up getting the 2019 Barnes & Noble Edition by Sterling Publishing with covert art by Jessica Hische. It is beautiful, the pages are great, it stays open, it has marble endpapers and a satin page marker. A few months ago I treated myself to a new copy of Dracula, and I chose the gorgeous and readable Union Square Edition with illustrations by Edward Gorey. Because of my previous experience a few months earlier with Persuasion, I didn't even bother to browse the "pretty" classics section. Thank you for calling this out!
Yes! And the graphics come off the covers. I bought Crime and Punishment in December as a Christmas gift and thought I'd carefully read it first -- sneaky, I know! I was horrified to see the graphics coming off the cover on my fingers. And I was being super careful! I still gave the book as a gift -- daughter's boyfriend, he's cool -- but it was a little embarrassing. I agree about those Deluxe editions through. I love them so much. In fact I bought another two today and was hoping that Waterstones would have War and Peace, but they didn't, so I'm gonna order it online. Nice channel - new sub!
Those Penguin Classics series are literally just a paperback with a nice cover. They are perfect bound, just like a paperback (and most books when they first come out in hardcover), and because of that, they are a strain to hold open; they're even worse than paperbacks due to the hardcover that offers up resistance. Perfect bound is fine for a cheap paperback, but when you want something that is a premium hardcover, you really do need to look for something that is stitched. Perfect bound books also have a tendency to fall apart, as the glue becomes old and brittle. I loved the look of those books, but when I saw the binding, I was very disappointed. In my local Waterstones, they have loads of these, and on a small shelf among them are a few copies from the far superior Macmillan Collector's Library. These are small format hardbacks, with bookmark, gilded edges, and are all stitched. The small format doesn't allow for the pages to easily lie flat, but they are light enough that it doesn't matter. They have a nice uniform design, though the covers leave much to be desired. They also cost less.
I'm very fond of Macmillans, too. I've only had to get rid of one of them (The Woman in White, again!) due to font size being too small. But I've had much better luck with them in general, and they are pretty affordable.
Since I read throughout the years Pride and Prejudice many times, I thought I'd buy the entire Jane Austen collection. I first ordered the Macmillan collection, which is nice, good quality, but the font is a bit too small so it kind of bothered me, because I want to be able to read them comfortably in 30 years from now on. So, I returned them and ordered Penguin's Clothbound edition, where, as you did, after opening them, noticed the same issues that might occur reading them. Send them back and now I've bought and kept Everyman's library. They are a pleasure to read. As long as they will offer this quality standard, I'll always buy from this publisher. As another user said, I see no use in buying hardcover only for their anesthetic and just keeping them on shelves. Book-like boxes would actually do the job for that. Instead, I prefer books that I can dearly and carefully read many time as long as I live, even pass on, and still be in a good shape.
I have a few beautiful books published by Colliers about a hundred years ago that are a delight to hold, easy to page through, and simply lovely. They’re soft bound, and very nicely crafted. If only more books were available in this style. I can’t help thinking that reading would be more popular if the standard volumes were as thoughtfully put together. As others have mentioned, the old three volume style was very practical.
So I own one of these nice classics. It is The count of Monte Cristo. The reason why I have it is because the translation that I wanted they only had two options and it was of the really nice one or the cheap paperback and the cheap paperback had a lot of negative reviews of not holding up together and the only negative reviews of the penguin classic was that sometimes the printing on the cover of the design would rub off and that was a better negative than the page is falling out of of the other option. The translation that I like is by Robin bus. And I could only find two published editions of that translation in English. So I went with the one that had the option of the design rubbing off but the page is staying intact. It is heavy but I read it with it on my lap. I have a specific pillow that I use for reading heavy books.
i am also now looking toward this hardcover as the best of worse, since i for the life of me will not survive the experience of reading 1000+ pages book in a paperback, 700+ fantasy paperback already gives me a headache with trying to read, annotate and flip pages all at the same time
I used to be a die-hard 'real book' person, until one day I read a book on my dad’s Kindle....From then on, I swore by Kindles! It was light, I could carry hundreds books, get books from across the world, change the font size and style, read in the dark, be more environmentally friendly, look up unfamiliar words on the spot, and all the while, I could make the screen look like real paper pages. I do love the look and smell of books, and on a sadder note, it is unfortunate that bookstores are slowly dying out, but these perks, especially for someone who is dyslexic, were simply too good to go back. Watching you struggle with these beautiful books and even the chucker of War and Peace (which I read on my Kindle) only makes me more sure to say with e-books!
The best type of book for readability and durability is the thread-sewn binding hardback. It opens flat without damage. Old hardbacks are thread-sewn bound. But they're expensive to produce.
I actually have a copy of that Oliver Twist shown in the textbook, and what I remember more than the story is the reading experience. I have sweaty hands and every time I picked up the book, I would remove some of the cover design. You can actually see this on your copy of the Woman in White, as the birds at the bottom are all worn out from the book being handled and held. I was afraid to read my book because I didn't want to wear off the design I liked so much. And it was heavy and didn't stay open. It was pretty though, and I think there's a place for pretty books and a place for utilitarian books. With these classics especially, there are so many editions that someone can pick up a pretty edition or one that is more friendly, and the reading experiences might not be better or worse overall, just different, whatever that person prefers. I did like the feeling of the Oliver Twist book, aside from the poor manufacturing of the design; the somewhat clunky but pretty design felt kind of nice. Like I said, what I remember most about the book is the "prestige" reading experience. There's a place for book designs that stand out and a place for designs that are so user-friendly they are almost unnoticed.
tbh as a lover of these editions of classics, i agree :’) i try to only read books i borrow from my local library if i can, and only buy books if i already know i like them. i don’t have the space or money to buy every book i want to read lmao. so i’m happy to spend a little extra on books when i do buy them, because 1. i don’t do it very often, 2. since i’ve already read them, they’re mainly for collection/display purposes, and 3. i already know i like them, so i know i’m not completely wasting my money. i don’t know if most of the people who buy these have the same reasons as me, but i would guess they are more for collection purposes either way. i personally wouldn’t spend that amount of money on a book i haven’t read and won’t know if i like, especially if it’s a classic that you could even find at a second hand place for a few dollars
Yes, the Penguin clothbounds have their problems. Thanks for addresing this. I also hate when the hardcover book won't stay open. That Tolstoy paperback cover is really nice btw.
Thanks for this video. I'm a lifelong avid reader, and am just getting into bookbinding. These are definitely things to take into consideration, things that I've never thought about before, even as someone who's always read a lot. There are ways to make books beautiful while still being practical to read.
I prefer buying second hand books for reading classics. Books of the late 19th and early 20th century are cheap and way higher quality than contemporary editions nowadays.
ive only got one of the penguin clothbounds + havent read that edition since it was a gift for my mum (i also didnt have the design rubbing issues ive seen other ppl have but think i got lucky) and im pretty glad i only have one now. its weird to see books with aesthetics over the actual reading experience since i feel like the reason people buy nice copies of books they like is so they have a book that will last over all the rereads + or to let people borrow when they visit?? im all for buying pretty books, personally i also really like the aesthetics of a beaten up cheap paperbcak so ive got a foot in both camps, but these feel like books designed to fill up shelving in a showroom since the readability is an issue.
oh i'm so glad i came across this video!! i work at barnes and i'm not fond of these at all either. everything you said is so true. also, the sound the cover fabric makes when it's scratched makes my skin crawl
I personally love the penguin clothbound classics because I dislike opening books all the way. I find penguin deluxe editions and other such ‘floppy’ books are very irritating as they switch pages too easily with a little pressure. I also never read books on desks or such, so the stiffer the better
I hadn't thought about the fact of them being difficult to keep open but now that you mention it it makes a lot of sense why I have not been drawn to buy them. Of course, I also am not a fan of tiny print or editions that do not have illustrations if there's another edition that does have them. I love illustrations.
This kind of ties into a video on booktok earlier that talks about how booktok turned reading as a hobby into owning books to seem intellectual and as collectible. It's called Booktok and the Importance of Being a Hater by Alisha not Ahlisha
Thank you for this thoughtful and eloquent video. I totally agree that uncomfortable experience makes some people avoid reading altogether. Personally, I'm very picky with editions for myself, but these collectible books are probably meant as an option of a present. People buy them because they want to give someone an eye candy and they're not the one who is going to read it.
Couldn't agree more! I recently picked up a second hand copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and I was worried I was going to have this problem because the cover was so pretty but the book is so light and easy to read so now I'm going to be hunting down more of the Paper Mill Press classics with the "suede-like" foiled covers. I can't stand all these "decor books".
There are pretty hardcovers in some classic editions that aren’t expensive. I bought myself a pretty hardcover edition of Jane Austen’s Persuasion for $8 for my birthday. I’d include a picture of TH-cam allowed that.
The Penguin Deluxe Edition paperbacks are a joy to hold and flip and read, especially for the bigger books. Tolstoy and Middlemarch become ergonomic in the hand, it's really such a nice reading experience. They're much more thoughtfully designed than those more beautiful-looking but impractical editions.
The gloss coat paper is more often used in art/photography books, or coffee table books because it works well for full colour images, same reason photo paper tends to be glossy. I don't personally think the gloss really gets in the way of reading them, but they are also not the sort of books you would lug outside, where there would be more issues with glair. It is unusual to find a book that uses that sort of paper that doesn't have a lot of images. For heavy hardbacks I tend to prop them up on a cushion so I don't have to hold them up, generally I prop up books anyway because tilting my head down can be pretty painful sometimes. I've been thinking about getting a book stand, but the cushion thing works well enough.
Bought 'Crime and Punishment' recently, and I'm so glad to have went with Canterbury Classics instead of Penguin Clothbound even though it looked absolutely gorgeous and enticing.
Thank you ❤️ This motivated me! I’m going to try and read a couple chapters from my Penguin cloth-bound copy of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. I bought it at the Isabella Stewart-Gardner Museum in Boston and it’s beautiful. I loved reading it, and it’s a beautiful book, but I stopped a short while into the book and read the deluxe Dune hardcover you showed😂. As someone with ADHD, reading is challenging for me, but a nice cloth-bound hardcover book with good design helps, I believe. I hope they make good designed beautiful books in the future 🤞
I'm in the middle of reading my frankly beautiful copy of 1984 by George Orwell, and I find myself struggling to open that thing up enough so I can read it comfortably. I love when books have a bigger font, that's my main reason as to why I prefer more modern editions of classics, but when I read and my fingers hurt after 30 minutes it becomes a problem. Next time, I'll definitely pay more attention to the way the book opens and if I feel comfortable holding it. Thank you, you explained the problem I've had for a while, but always just assumed It's because the book is new and hasn't been properly broken in yet
Have that exact edition of Dracula and don’t remember noticing anything like this while reading it. Though I almost never read at a desk or lay books flat.
I think I was in my early 30's when I started noticing type that was too small. I agree with your review of these books' physicality. I'm glad that there's a push to make them more appealing, but yeah, making them readable is important too. (If you can, find a copy of Brave New World in its original typeface - it will blow you away.)
I did get in fact an injury from these Penguin Clothbounds. Well, sort of. After spending some time with their version of Middlemarch my shoulder started to hurt and it took a couple of days until it finally faded away. I then tossed that copy out and replaced it with a way more readable version. Since then I've been avoiding these editions like the plague.
I cope and read the heavy cloth and leather bound but you are right, it can prove to be an uncomfortable reading experience. I think people definitely get these to look good on the shelf. I wish we could just have both at a not terrible price smh
I noticed your preferred reads were all paperbacks. I definitely prefer hard covers over paperbacks when reading specifically because I like the weight and the feel of it. I dislike how flimsy and easily bendable paperbacks are. It is more down to preference and what style of book you prefer to read. I do have some collectors books I would never choose to read, simply because they are too big and heavy, but I prefer most hard-covers over even the most well made paperbacks.
I agree, that's why I bought a Kindle. The weight, the size and uncomfortable situations books have brought me in the last years. My apartment is small. So, that's it. 🤷🏻♀️
So glad I saw this - I was thinking of getting a few of these. Thank you! I found an old Modern Library double with Woman In White AND The Moonstone. Old books are best❤
Everyman's and LOA are great options for quality editions on a budget. For those for whom price is no obstacle, Easton Press, The Franklin Library (yes I know they've been out of business for decades now but on the used market they're easy to find), and Folio Society.
It is a workout reading The woman in white even when is not a hardback. In Spanish translation we have Alba they are heavy but they open beautifully, it is a great experience.
There are some flaws and problems - beautification at the expense of quality is silly. It's flagrant mass marketing with the usual drawbacks. Thank you for your thoughtful and fair video. These concerns have been on my mind as I shop for books. Further barriers to the classics equals bad idea, I fully agree. 🙂
I bought two Penguin Clothbound Classics, a copy of The Odyssey and a copy of The Ring of the Nibelung. I tried reading both and had to give up simply for the reasons you stated in this video. The Odyssey was not comfortable to hold. I have since bought a paperback edition of the Odyssey and I’m so glad I did because it became one of my favorite books and helped me get out of a really bad reading slump. I will never be buying penguin clothbound classics ever again.
I agree with those pretty books. I was buying those when I started reading literature and I quickly realized they are for looks. So I’ve replaced mine with editions that actually work for me, taking things into consideration like translation, quality, font size, etc. I love the penguin classic deluxe editions too. I wish I would have known at the start of my literature reading journey, I would have saved myself some money. But now I know to take my literature book buying a little more seriously and not just get the prettiest one I see.
I definitely agree. Large and heavy books that lay flat are a dream to read. They cover your entire lap. I just want THOSE kind of books to have THOSE kind of covers.
This is something I've noticed something myself! I've read some of Jane Austen's novels and plan to read them all, so my friend gifted me a B&N edition of all of Austen's novels in one edition. It's BEAUTIFUL and I loved it when I got it, but was so unable to use it because of how difficult it is to keep open & the pain it caused my shoulder. I thought all big books were like that and it was my fault... until much later, when I got my hands on a copy of a giant Shakespeare edition with a bunch of his plays which was almost the same size and gave me much less trouble.
As someone with cerebral palsy this used to be my experience even with paperbacks, fighting with the pages etc. I settled with reading with the help of paperweights. It's why I'll continue to support ebooks and eReaders forever. I don't miss anything about physical books, not even the smell.
When I was a bookseller, and these types of books started coming out, I wanted all of them! Thankfully, I was able to hold them and riffle through them ; and it was fairly obvious that they would not work to actually read. My problem was not the covers, it was more of a formatting thing; they just seemed like a physical digital copy somehow; and that was not going to work for me. Bullets dodged! Anyway, the Everyman library is a great alternative, or just the basic Penguin black spine paperbacks.
It's one of the reasons I never got any of that series, another booktuber mentioned how her copies, the printing on the cover wore off after 1 read. I love the design but I just couldn't justify the cost for a book I would be too scared to read. Instead I got the paperback penguins, there's fewer of them, but designs on cover are the same or similar. Paper it rough yellowish cheap but readable, if very small font.
The clothbound editions are pretty, but yeah I agree they’re just for displaying. Had a few editions but not anymore. One of them was Anna Karenina, which takes a while to finish. After one read, a single read, the decorations on the cover had significantly rubbed out. So I haven’t bought any since then.
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
My review of The Woman in White: th-cam.com/video/QZB_XLcmTU4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2ULNvF_Q-FwlPiLy
This is exactly why I like "Everyman's Library" & "Library of America" editions: smyth-sewn bindings, that open super flat, extremely good acid-free paper quality (and for great prices)
Yes! Everyman's Library did excellent readable hardbacks. I also recently bought a Cranford Collection edition of Jane Eyre that opens flat and has just the right sized font for me.
Everyman's are good but the pages definitely yellow over time, I've seen them in my local library. LAB is superior tbh.
@@abitmuch7682 really? The (new-style) hardcovers? I’ve not seen that and I’ve got over a hundred of them (many second hand, very old editions of the current “style”). The only ones I’ve seen with so significantly yellowed/discoloured pages were ones that suffered smoke damage.
Regardless, can’t rate LOA and EL highly enough. They’re definitely excellent quality.
Yes, I agree. These editions are a joy to read, and to look at, and very affordable. I raved on about all their wonderful qualities in another comment here, but thanks for reminding me how super they are, because I was almost wooed into buying a cloth-bound Penguin Edition of Proust, and now I have a better plan that will make my shelves look tres chique and matchy-matchy as well.
LOA is incredible!
Finally, someone speaking about this! I can't believe readers do not mind that the cover artwork disappears when you touch it. I meant to collect them until I discovered the quality of the design. I bought one in Waterstones, and by the time I came home the artwork had disappeared because of sitting in my linen bag! I was so upset haha.
And yes, they're uncomfortable to hold.
I know ! It is such a shame that they suck too because my edition of Wuthering Heights by them had some really lovely prefacing and introduction which made the story much more approachable to new readers. I find it hard to find good quality hardcover with pertinent editing 🥲
Not to mention the barcode stickers that often come on these editions. Once you peel them off the covers, the ink comes off as well.
@@loogoo YES! Ugh.
I care very much. Bought two… saw the problems… no more. Not happy.
OMG YES i’m always scared to hold clothbound classics bc all the oils and sweat on my hands will rub the patterns off
Yet another reason to never purchase hardcovers with glued pages. Just isn't worth it.
My editions are bound not glued wonder 🤔 why
One of my hardcovers with glued pages began to fall apart because I tried to actually read it for a few hours.
Well like that stops me😂 ✋
I have a brand new text book like that and it’s literally the worst. What good is a reference book that falls apart in a year of normal use
That why I will always avoid hard covers if possible 😬😬
The covers look so good. I wish they made the cheap paperbacks and treat the hardcovers with sewn spines, ilustrations, specific fonts, colored pages etc.
Yeees🎉
Thus is the digital age. When people see hardcovers on Amazon for cheap, they can't resus buying.
Just wanted to say that I really, really like how you don't constantly cut out the areas when you aren't talking. You allow the viewer a chance to think and process what you're saying. It's slower and calming. It feels like an actual conversation. Thank you for keeping that "dead space" in the audio there! I don't like the trend with the loud, fast, and clipped talking!
I feel like mass-market hardcovers are just a horrible idea. The appeal of mass-market is to make book ownership accessible to all or to make reading the book on-the-go easy, so the glue-bound, softcover books really achieve that purpose well. But throwing a hardcover onto a glue-bound book is just a recipe for disaster. If anything, it makes the book's lifespan shorter than it would be if it was softcover. And it makes it difficult to read (hard to open, and if forced it wrecks the spine).
What drives me insane is when publishers/shops will sell these kind of hardbacks for way too high a price. I hope people will know not to spend money on those, but to save for a nicer, sewn-bound hardback.
(It's a shame those penguin book's beautiful cover design is wasted on that book production).
Oddly enough, the entire reason Allen Lane set up Penguin books was to put good quality paperback editions of "good" books within the financial reach of ordinary people. Now the company seems to have turned 180 degrees from that!
How do I tell if a book is a sewn hardback?
@@LucyGooseyVault33 If you look at the top of the book at the spine, there is a braid, and you will see the book is divided into sections. Sometimes, if you find the middle of the sections, you can see that every inch of so there is a pinch point where the thread holds the section together. If they are glued, there are no sections, although some publishers put some braid on to make it look as if it could be sewn. (That's how I do it, anyway!)
@@Old_Scot Thank you so much!😊
@@LucyGooseyVault33 Sewn books are usually made up of "signatures". A signature is when you take - for example - a stack of A4 paper, and fold in it half to create a little booklet of A5 size. You will see thread either running down the middle of these folds or perhaps in smaller joins at top and bottom. Think about a time when you've torn a page out of a notebook, and its corresponding page on the other side falls out (and so instead you go to the centre and pull out two pages together so you don't create loose pages). Those are signatures. In sewn books, pages are never going to fall out unless threads are cut.
the readability and handling of books is such an important topic to me and it rarely gets mentioned online. thank you for this video. i prefer floppy paperbacks
I honestly wouldn't mind that they're so heavy, or even annoying to hold open, if the design didn't rub off so easily. It is absolutely crazy that it can't withstand a single regular use without rubbing off. That is how you truly know it was designed to be displayed, not handled.
That would drive me crazy! I can't believe that's even a thing. I'm kind of glad I'm broke these days, otherwise I would have bought some and would've been so disappointed and angry.
I was so disappointed when I realized my Anna Karenina book design was coming off from my hand. I also struggled to keep it open but I was new-ish to buying books, I read it very uncomfortably as to not rub off designs or scared to break the book if I opened it too much, but later on as I read all types of books of different design, I came to the same realization as this.
I don't really understand the problem that much, I've got several, and all of them still look fine having read them in its entirety. Read The Prince by Machiavelli, Art of War by Sun Tsu and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and all were fine and still look good after reading them in the train, thus taking them everywhere with me. I love the penguin versions. Great translations and really good forewords giving historical context to the books. But all 3 of those are significantly shorter than the examples given in the video. The Prince is only 172 pages.
those cloth bound classics are pretty, but I agree, definitely NOT meant to be read. I had one, read it once and was disappointed at how quickly the front and the spine faded very quickly. Not worth the money considering they don't hold up to a single reading. I won't buy anymore of them. One of my heaviest books is Leonardo da Vince by Walter Isaacson. I think it's due to the paper weight. it's just good quality paper. Great topic!
I cover them with plastic while reading my jane eyre and bliss copies and they're still holding up
I think it depends on the book, I've had no issues with the penguin classics, but for example The Prince by Machiavelli is only 172 pages. So maybe it depends on which one.
@@jaspermooren5883 That makes sense. the smaller books take less time to read and are handled less often. And the longer books that take longer to read will show more wear. And I'm sure it depends on if the reader is dominant left handed or right handed whether the front cover shows more wear or the back does.
btw, did you like Prince by Machiavelli? It's on my tbr, but I don't have a copy yet.
@@BookZealots I think it's a really cool book. I mean the man was absolutely crazy and had some extremely unethical views, but his analysis of the politics of renaissance Italy is very interesting if you are into that kind of stuff. But don't think you'll get a useful guide on how to live life. Unless you're an absolute psychopath and have no moral compass whatsoever and just care about results. Like, just kill 10.000s of people to repress them otherwise you have to send more troops, and that's expensive, levels of immoral advice.
@@jaspermooren5883 The psychopathy is what intrigues me. Imagine, he was so awful, the medical industry created machiavellianism to label his "traits" of atrocities. And why weren't people like Stalin and Mao labled machiavellian?
Thank you for the info.
I don’t tend to read in bed or anything, so I don't run into some of the challenges you mention here. I do agree that these clothbound classics are definitely designed more with a collection in mind and not reading, which I don't like. I own War and Peace in this edition and don't find it horrible to read, but I also never sit to read for long periods of time with it. What I've noticed is that the image on the cover doesn't last well. The commets on the front are wearing off and I don't carry it around a lot or anything.
I think a lot of people do but these cloth-bound editions just for the 'aesthetic'. I know people who have two copies of their favourite classics: one they actually read and one for their bookshelves, such as these. Each to their own, but I don't fancy paying £20+ for a book I can't comfortably read. When I first got into classics, I found that the best place to find them was second-hand; chairty shops, Ebay and other places have so many used books that are like new for only a couple of pounds. I know I'm speaking from the UK, but I imagine it's the same in the US too. And like you say in your video, even the pengun classic versions are better quality and cheaper.
In my opinion, it is a shame to see the poor quality of this series. A lot of people do but books just to look pretty on shelves so it's tapping into that market and the price isn't that bad for how they look for those who want pretty books on a budget but it's not my cup of tea.
Yes, second hand book stores are great for finding classics in good readable editions such as the Oxford World Classics (one of my favourites to read out of). My family on both sides (my fam and my partners) ask for a "wish list" around birthday and christmas. I always give them a book list. That list is usually made up of current/modern writers, writers who are working now and need to be supported through book sales. So full price goes to them, and I get my classics second-hand.
@@circleofleaves2676 Oxford World Classics!!! I know that's right, they're the best!! They sadly live in the shadow of Penguin Classics comparatively LOL but they're just as good if not better (depending on what you're reading) and about as ubiquitous in secondhand stores. There's also just a good number of series Oxford has that Penguin doesn't.
watched this because my girlfriend is an avid reader and also has a few beloved books in her collection that are decidedly not for reading. even the ones that are, she ensures to never open them wide enough to crease the spine. I love how she enjoys her books, but I’m definitely the exact opposite.
I grew up reading decades-old paperback sci-fi and horror novels in found in my dad’s garage. love a book i can fold in half if need be and seeing the creases accumulate in the spine as I read through them excites. i will dog ear pages no problem. the concept of books not meant to be read was so foreign to me when we met, but now i kind of get it. i would never buy something like this, but she would love them.
me and my boyfriend are the reversal of this. he’s scared to lend me any of his books. but hey, I wouldn’t ruin someone else’s book, but if it’s mine I will absolutely cease the spine, write in it, earmark, etc
I'm a heavily-loved paperback person too. Nothing better than yellowed pages, someone's name on the inside cover, the price (pennies) in pencil and that old book smell.
Depends on the book. If I love a book I'll buy one nice edition and one paperback to highlight quotes. Wordsworth and Collins classics and even Dover editions are cheap and great for all your reading destruction.
I do both, if its a book I love I'll buy a collector version of it but for actual reading used paperbacks are king
I usually prefer to buy books second. If I can't find it in bookstores, I'll buy them secondhand online. It's hard for me to justify buying a $50 book for a book I can't really slightly mishandle.
These books are designed to be bought. They're designed to feel heavy ("quality") and to look beautiful so they'll sell well, but no thought has been put into anything beyond that (and/or costs were cut with cheap construction). It doesn't matter what happens after they've been bought because the profit has already been made.
This reminds me of trends in fast fashion e.g. how the sole on high heels have got stiffer over time, which makes them look great on a shelf or in a photography studio but incredibly difficult to walk in.
I’m glad someone finally said it! I love that the classics sections of bookstores are getting more spotlight, but you’re right, I avoid most of the publishers and hardcovers in favor of readability and ease of access. I don’t want a pretty bookshelf when I’d rather have books I actually enjoy but holding, opening, and reading from. Spot on!
Clothbound editions don't make for the most comfortable reading, for sure, but I usually open the book forcefully in a way that breaks the spine and allows the book to open flat. I know not everyone likes to do that though.
The problem is not cloth-binding, but the absence of sewn in pages. Cloth-binding is the best binding. The problem is the glueing. Glue prevents the books opening flat.
@@MrSyntheticSmile ^Yes, this so much! Glue binding should only be the realm of cheap paperbacks, combining one of the most hard-wearing kinds of cover with a downright disposable binding is illogical. I have an old copy of White Fang from the '70s designed to be handed out to school kids that's bound in thread; it's been through hell between being given to disinterested teenage schoolboys, over 6 house moves, and handed down to a seven year old, but I've never felt like it was in danger of falling apart or needed to be handled carefully despite how beaten up it looks. I can't say the same for my beautiful but glue-bound copy of the Books of Earthsea whose map I've had to glue back in several times! There is no reason but greedy cost saving that a premium collectable hardback should be glue bound.
I recently got rid of all my hardcover books just because I hate the reading experience overall with hardcovers. They're heavy and bulky. Uncomfortable to read in bed or in public transport. That's why I now exclusively buy paperbacks. Just makes the reading experience better. You made some great points in this video. Just because it's pretty doesn't mean it's better!
My grandparents had soviet collection edition hardbacks which were excellent. The pages were thick enough, they opened nicely and still had the outer artwork after decades of use 😬
“We could go into font sizes” that would be so much fun! Really enjoying your videos
The first time I got a floppy paperback in my 20s (they're not really a thing in the UK) I nearly cried. I couldn't believe how much more enjoyable the reading experience was. I still really enjoy hardbacks and got through loads in lockdown when I wasn't going anywhere, but it made me so much more aware of how 'unreadable' a lot of editions are.
I can relate. I had the Dorian Gray and the white design on the black cover rubbed off bit by bit. It wasn't the thickest book but it was hard to keep open and felt cumbersome. And the somewhat stiff paper and Times New Roman-like font didn't invite reading, personally -- looks too much like the papers and essays we had to write in school... not the texture and look that I prefer in a book. They look great lined up on the shelf at the bookstore but their appeal is more decorative than functional, for me. (And to go off on a tangent, I feel like most shoes are the same -- made to look cool or elegant, but not for wearing! They hurt just trying them on at the store and walking for two seconds, haha.)
As someone who is designing books I'm really glad that you made this video. I had a hard time too when I tried to read a Dickens novel in the cloth bound edition.
As beautiful as most hardcovers look on a shelf, I always boot to get paper back. Most hardcovers for me are uncomfortable anyway. I like be able to one hand a book. But some series I love to much I have to get the hardcover.
Also great video btw!! ❤
Daniel at @GuiltyFeat has just created a video about how quickly the fabric on his Penguin clothbound book has faded after only a few weeks
That's another downside to these editions I forgot to mention!
I think some hardcover books are only made to be collected and look pretty on your bookshelves. However, others are made for reading but it's hard to do so because you can't open them all the way as you could damage the entire book; this happens with hardcover and paperback books alike.
I came across this method that helped me: you lay your book on a flat surface, open just the covers so you have the pages of the book 'standing' in the middle; we know the book won't open on its own so you take more or less ten pages from the front and flatten them gently toward the surface and do the same with the pages in the back. It should be front-back and then front-back again until you reach the middle of the book.
This was an old method used when most of the books printed were hardcover.
I used this method for my anatomy books the prevent damage to the spine as I got the hardcover version and it's safe to say they are still intact even though they went through a lot while I was preparing the exam.
However, this doesn't work on all books some will just fall apart despite taking good care of them. It's just how they are made.
(I hope everything is clear enough, English isn't my first language)
You write more clearly than many native speakers.
I learned this technique from my dad and funnily enough he calls this "breaking the book". Some books still fell apart but for most, I can see the spine holds up for much longer because the pages bend at the creases that are put in, instead of pulling directly apart where they are glued or sewn.
@@riverw4721 seconded, that was impeccable.
I bought the Dorian Gray one awhile ago and can vouch it was a very difficult read like it's very hard to open and opening it feels like breaking it
papermill classics are a personal favorite of mine. beautiful, elegant, and the book feels so good in my hands!
I bought one penguin clothbound (Charles Dickens Christmas writings). I read A Christmas Carol last year in it and it was so difficult to hold the book open in bed to read. It was making my hands hurt because I had to struggle to keep it wide so I could read the words near the interior of the pages. I was also worried the print on the outside would rub off so I was trying to be careful with my hands….I’ll never buy another clothbound. 😅I recommend either the penguin paperbacks or for hardback the everyman’s library editions.
I always look at hardcover spines; I rarely buy fancy hardcovers without sewn bindings. I remember seeing these books in the store, checked the spine, didn’t know why they'd go to such effort and get painted cloth covers on a perfect bound spine. I didn’t realize the paint came off so easily, that's just a poor choice of materials tbh.
One of the problems with the linen bound classics is that they have a too small margin in the inner crease (or gutter) - so the text vanishes into the gutter.
I’m kinda torn about this topic because “spreads open” cannot be the end all be all of requirements for a good edition. Cuz it’s something that it may not even happen with the fanciest and most expensive sewn bound editions (subterranean press, suntup press, grim oak press, folio society, etc). This is why learning how to properly break in a book must be among the first skills a reader must acquire.
Criticism regarding the long term durability of these penguins classics cloth bound editions is valid (and even then, I would argue that the price kinda reflects the quality we end up getting), but comparing them to a paperback kinda defeats the whole purpose because, yes, it spreads open easily, but it won’t last tho. It won’t last a single read in the hands of somebody who doesn’t know how to break a spine properly, or somebody with sweaty hands, or somebody who just isn’t careful overall.
100%. I recently learned a new technique for breaking open a spine so my paperbacks don't get creases, and it increases the longevity of the book. I had no idea breaking the spines was even a thing before that point but now I do it with every book I read!
What are your secrets? @@antix527
@@antix527 What's your method? I do what I call "book yoga". I gently open to the middle and pull down until there is resistance. Then I go to the 1/3 position in the book, do the same. Then the 2/3 position. then back to the middle again, just pushing a little bit through the point of resistance each time.
Real readers break the spine and read over breakfast, at the beach etc. who cares if the book looks used lol
And those folio society editions aren’t really for reading but for collecting. Just like these are. Welcome to the point of the video
I definitely consider the Penguin Clothbound Classics to be more of collector items rather than actual reading copies. My Virago Modern Classic editions of du Maurier's works are the same, beautiful but so stiff to open all the way! I'll buy a clothbound of a favorite book but if I'm actually looking to read I'll be going for the Penguin black spines that you showed or an Oxford. Both of those editions have a wider catalogue anyway. I know that when I seriously started getting into classics I was introduced to so many editions: the Oxfords, the black spines, Vintage red spines, Penguin Classics Deluxe, Penguin modern classics, Penguin English Library, etc. It was a pleasant journey figuring out which ones were suited to my actual physical reading taste and my collecting taste or both.
Penguin clothbounds are the worst. I love everymans, if you want classy clothbound books.
Seconded. Would also add Library of America editions too (but a bit harder to find outside of the USA)
Agreed. I have one Penguin Clothbound, Emma, but I don't use it for every re-read because it's uncomfortable and I'm afraid the cover art is going to disappear sooner or later. Basically it's there to be pretty, which is ok because Emma is my favourite novel and I have several copies, but I wouldn't spend the money for any other book. Everyman's are prettier, in my opinion, better made, and more comfortable to actually read.
Yes I agree. Everymans Library editions are more expensive, but they are well-made. The binding is sewn and tight, the margins and font is good, they are not overly heavy, they open well.
To be honest if I were to buy a classic it would be a pretty version. My reasoning is that if comfort is the important aspect, I would download free it from project gutenberg into my kindle or is probably already free in amazon already. So, when I need confort I would read it in the kindle and when I am in the desk with a lamp I would continue in the pretty hardcover. Comfort and pretty cover at the same time.
The point is that these aren’t really readable on a desk
I have The Barnes and Nobles book covered editions that are a soft material, but not cloth-It’s published by the Sterling Publishing Co exclusively for Barnes and Nobles these are pliable and don’t weigh very much but very pretty; maybe, try finding these?
These editions come in pink and mint green, etc. I enjoyed your video. And yes, like your Peter Pan edition and I’m evil-I crack the spines.😂
The paint comes off those penguin classic cloth bound covers with the warmth of your hand. I purchased that exact same Dracula book you have and the black painted designs came off as I was holding that book on my way to a college class.
you made me think about something i haven't considered before! i always go for hardcovers when i can because i assumed they're made to last for longer. it seems like this new surge of pretty hardcovers isn't actually going to last longer and that's something for me to really think about, thanks!
Thank you for saying this. This is why I have to pass by some library books. I'm grateful for ebboks and audioboks. Specific titles may not be affordable in these forms, however. Just saying I have felt the same. Thanks again.
perfect bindings for a collectable hardcover is criminal. perfect binding is a cost cutting measure which is great for cheap paperback (which i would love to see these cover designs on), and I can sort of understand for a new release hardcover, but its terrible to use it in a product that is clearly intended to be a luxurious collectable edition of a classic. Its going to be very irritating for readers when they pull that book off of the shelf in 15 years time and find the pages falling out because the glue has dried
for people who want collectible classics that are readable and more compact, I'd recommend the Chiltern Classics. Theyre durable but also very beautiful!
Absolutely loved this video! Could you do one where you go into depth about formatting and font sizes?
This is why I love used books! I have a hardback of Jane Eyre from 1954, only slightly beat up, perfectly readable, smells amazing, gold foil on the spine still going strong -- and it was $10 on ebay.
Read this edition of Les Miserables when I was sixteen and by the time I had finished half the cover art had rubbed off. Which meant two weeks! Have never purchased another of these. You're so correct about everything. It's a shame because I love Penguin classics and modern classics as paperback editions (because they're well edited and have a fantastic range nowadays) and would certainly enjoy a hardback line from them. Great video, thank you!
These publishes are printing new editions to get more out of free to read books, by republishing them in a different format. It is about money.
Thank you for making this video. I wish more booktubers would call Penguin out rather than sigh and coo over how pretty these books are!
THIS. In December 2023 I had to buy another copy of Persuasion because very old, very battered paperback copy finally fell apart. It took me so long to find a copy that was both pretty AND readable. I was attracted to the editions you showed at 5:10, but as you said the pages are glossy (meaning you can't write in the margins, which I always do) and the print was insultingly small. I don't know who or for what purpose those books were made. I ended up getting the 2019 Barnes & Noble Edition by Sterling Publishing with covert art by Jessica Hische. It is beautiful, the pages are great, it stays open, it has marble endpapers and a satin page marker. A few months ago I treated myself to a new copy of Dracula, and I chose the gorgeous and readable Union Square Edition with illustrations by Edward Gorey. Because of my previous experience a few months earlier with Persuasion, I didn't even bother to browse the "pretty" classics section. Thank you for calling this out!
Yes! And the graphics come off the covers. I bought Crime and Punishment in December as a Christmas gift and thought I'd carefully read it first -- sneaky, I know! I was horrified to see the graphics coming off the cover on my fingers. And I was being super careful! I still gave the book as a gift -- daughter's boyfriend, he's cool -- but it was a little embarrassing.
I agree about those Deluxe editions through. I love them so much. In fact I bought another two today and was hoping that Waterstones would have War and Peace, but they didn't, so I'm gonna order it online.
Nice channel - new sub!
I bought myself that same Dracula book she has and the ribbon frayed off really bad, and wherever my hand touched the book, the graphics came off.
Those Penguin Classics series are literally just a paperback with a nice cover. They are perfect bound, just like a paperback (and most books when they first come out in hardcover), and because of that, they are a strain to hold open; they're even worse than paperbacks due to the hardcover that offers up resistance. Perfect bound is fine for a cheap paperback, but when you want something that is a premium hardcover, you really do need to look for something that is stitched. Perfect bound books also have a tendency to fall apart, as the glue becomes old and brittle.
I loved the look of those books, but when I saw the binding, I was very disappointed. In my local Waterstones, they have loads of these, and on a small shelf among them are a few copies from the far superior Macmillan Collector's Library. These are small format hardbacks, with bookmark, gilded edges, and are all stitched. The small format doesn't allow for the pages to easily lie flat, but they are light enough that it doesn't matter. They have a nice uniform design, though the covers leave much to be desired. They also cost less.
I'm very fond of Macmillans, too. I've only had to get rid of one of them (The Woman in White, again!) due to font size being too small. But I've had much better luck with them in general, and they are pretty affordable.
The weight is not the biggest problem.
The real problem is the awful quality of the Penguin clothbound cover print.
I discovered your channel today through this video. Happy Reading! 😎📚👍
Since I read throughout the years Pride and Prejudice many times, I thought I'd buy the entire Jane Austen collection. I first ordered the Macmillan collection, which is nice, good quality, but the font is a bit too small so it kind of bothered me, because I want to be able to read them comfortably in 30 years from now on. So, I returned them and ordered Penguin's Clothbound edition, where, as you did, after opening them, noticed the same issues that might occur reading them. Send them back and now I've bought and kept Everyman's library. They are a pleasure to read. As long as they will offer this quality standard, I'll always buy from this publisher.
As another user said, I see no use in buying hardcover only for their anesthetic and just keeping them on shelves. Book-like boxes would actually do the job for that. Instead, I prefer books that I can dearly and carefully read many time as long as I live, even pass on, and still be in a good shape.
I have a few beautiful books published by Colliers about a hundred years ago that are a delight to hold, easy to page through, and simply lovely. They’re soft bound, and very nicely crafted. If only more books were available in this style. I can’t help thinking that reading would be more popular if the standard volumes were as thoughtfully put together. As others have mentioned, the old three volume style was very practical.
I usually read classics on my kindle or from the library and then I get the pretty copy's for my shelves.
So I own one of these nice classics. It is The count of Monte Cristo. The reason why I have it is because the translation that I wanted they only had two options and it was of the really nice one or the cheap paperback and the cheap paperback had a lot of negative reviews of not holding up together and the only negative reviews of the penguin classic was that sometimes the printing on the cover of the design would rub off and that was a better negative than the page is falling out of of the other option. The translation that I like is by Robin bus. And I could only find two published editions of that translation in English. So I went with the one that had the option of the design rubbing off but the page is staying intact. It is heavy but I read it with it on my lap. I have a specific pillow that I use for reading heavy books.
i am also now looking toward this hardcover as the best of worse, since i for the life of me will not survive the experience of reading 1000+ pages book in a paperback, 700+ fantasy paperback already gives me a headache with trying to read, annotate and flip pages all at the same time
I was thinking of buying that specific translation too, I'm super careful with my books so hopefully if I get the paperback edition it will survive 😢
I used to be a die-hard 'real book' person, until one day I read a book on my dad’s Kindle....From then on, I swore by Kindles! It was light, I could carry hundreds books, get books from across the world, change the font size and style, read in the dark, be more environmentally friendly, look up unfamiliar words on the spot, and all the while, I could make the screen look like real paper pages. I do love the look and smell of books, and on a sadder note, it is unfortunate that bookstores are slowly dying out, but these perks, especially for someone who is dyslexic, were simply too good to go back. Watching you struggle with these beautiful books and even the chucker of War and Peace (which I read on my Kindle) only makes me more sure to say with e-books!
I had never seen Penguin Deluxe editions in the UK. I love the way they fall open
Me neither! All I see is the clothbound classic editions in waterstones :(
I see them in Waterstones from time to time. They aren't very new anymore so probably why you see them less frequently these days
The best type of book for readability and durability is the thread-sewn binding hardback. It opens flat without damage. Old hardbacks are thread-sewn bound. But they're expensive to produce.
I actually have a copy of that Oliver Twist shown in the textbook, and what I remember more than the story is the reading experience. I have sweaty hands and every time I picked up the book, I would remove some of the cover design. You can actually see this on your copy of the Woman in White, as the birds at the bottom are all worn out from the book being handled and held. I was afraid to read my book because I didn't want to wear off the design I liked so much. And it was heavy and didn't stay open. It was pretty though, and I think there's a place for pretty books and a place for utilitarian books. With these classics especially, there are so many editions that someone can pick up a pretty edition or one that is more friendly, and the reading experiences might not be better or worse overall, just different, whatever that person prefers. I did like the feeling of the Oliver Twist book, aside from the poor manufacturing of the design; the somewhat clunky but pretty design felt kind of nice. Like I said, what I remember most about the book is the "prestige" reading experience. There's a place for book designs that stand out and a place for designs that are so user-friendly they are almost unnoticed.
tbh as a lover of these editions of classics, i agree :’) i try to only read books i borrow from my local library if i can, and only buy books if i already know i like them. i don’t have the space or money to buy every book i want to read lmao. so i’m happy to spend a little extra on books when i do buy them, because 1. i don’t do it very often, 2. since i’ve already read them, they’re mainly for collection/display purposes, and 3. i already know i like them, so i know i’m not completely wasting my money. i don’t know if most of the people who buy these have the same reasons as me, but i would guess they are more for collection purposes either way. i personally wouldn’t spend that amount of money on a book i haven’t read and won’t know if i like, especially if it’s a classic that you could even find at a second hand place for a few dollars
Yes, the Penguin clothbounds have their problems. Thanks for addresing this. I also hate when the hardcover book won't stay open. That Tolstoy paperback cover is really nice btw.
Thanks for this video. I'm a lifelong avid reader, and am just getting into bookbinding. These are definitely things to take into consideration, things that I've never thought about before, even as someone who's always read a lot. There are ways to make books beautiful while still being practical to read.
I prefer buying second hand books for reading classics. Books of the late 19th and early 20th century are cheap and way higher quality than contemporary editions nowadays.
ive only got one of the penguin clothbounds + havent read that edition since it was a gift for my mum (i also didnt have the design rubbing issues ive seen other ppl have but think i got lucky) and im pretty glad i only have one now.
its weird to see books with aesthetics over the actual reading experience since i feel like the reason people buy nice copies of books they like is so they have a book that will last over all the rereads + or to let people borrow when they visit??
im all for buying pretty books, personally i also really like the aesthetics of a beaten up cheap paperbcak so ive got a foot in both camps, but these feel like books designed to fill up shelving in a showroom since the readability is an issue.
oh i'm so glad i came across this video!! i work at barnes and i'm not fond of these at all either. everything you said is so true. also, the sound the cover fabric makes when it's scratched makes my skin crawl
I personally love the penguin clothbound classics because I dislike opening books all the way. I find penguin deluxe editions and other such ‘floppy’ books are very irritating as they switch pages too easily with a little pressure. I also never read books on desks or such, so the stiffer the better
I hadn't thought about the fact of them being difficult to keep open but now that you mention it it makes a lot of sense why I have not been drawn to buy them.
Of course, I also am not a fan of tiny print or editions that do not have illustrations if there's another edition that does have them. I love illustrations.
Penguin deluxe editions are really great!
This kind of ties into a video on booktok earlier that talks about how booktok turned reading as a hobby into owning books to seem intellectual and as collectible. It's called Booktok and the Importance of Being a Hater by Alisha not Ahlisha
This is so disappointing since I tend to buy hardcover over paperback due to the former lasting longer. Clearly, that's not the case anymore.
Thank you for this thoughtful and eloquent video. I totally agree that uncomfortable experience makes some people avoid reading altogether. Personally, I'm very picky with editions for myself, but these collectible books are probably meant as an option of a present. People buy them because they want to give someone an eye candy and they're not the one who is going to read it.
Couldn't agree more! I recently picked up a second hand copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and I was worried I was going to have this problem because the cover was so pretty but the book is so light and easy to read so now I'm going to be hunting down more of the Paper Mill Press classics with the "suede-like" foiled covers. I can't stand all these "decor books".
It be like that sometimes
There are pretty hardcovers in some classic editions that aren’t expensive. I bought myself a pretty hardcover edition of Jane Austen’s Persuasion for $8 for my birthday. I’d include a picture of TH-cam allowed that.
The Penguin Deluxe Edition paperbacks are a joy to hold and flip and read, especially for the bigger books. Tolstoy and Middlemarch become ergonomic in the hand, it's really such a nice reading experience. They're much more thoughtfully designed than those more beautiful-looking but impractical editions.
The gloss coat paper is more often used in art/photography books, or coffee table books because it works well for full colour images, same reason photo paper tends to be glossy. I don't personally think the gloss really gets in the way of reading them, but they are also not the sort of books you would lug outside, where there would be more issues with glair. It is unusual to find a book that uses that sort of paper that doesn't have a lot of images.
For heavy hardbacks I tend to prop them up on a cushion so I don't have to hold them up, generally I prop up books anyway because tilting my head down can be pretty painful sometimes. I've been thinking about getting a book stand, but the cushion thing works well enough.
Bought 'Crime and Punishment' recently, and I'm so glad to have went with Canterbury Classics instead of Penguin Clothbound even though it looked absolutely gorgeous and enticing.
Thank you ❤️ This motivated me! I’m going to try and read a couple chapters from my Penguin cloth-bound copy of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. I bought it at the Isabella Stewart-Gardner Museum in Boston and it’s beautiful. I loved reading it, and it’s a beautiful book, but I stopped a short while into the book and read the deluxe Dune hardcover you showed😂. As someone with ADHD, reading is challenging for me, but a nice cloth-bound hardcover book with good design helps, I believe. I hope they make good designed beautiful books in the future 🤞
I'm in the middle of reading my frankly beautiful copy of 1984 by George Orwell, and I find myself struggling to open that thing up enough so I can read it comfortably. I love when books have a bigger font, that's my main reason as to why I prefer more modern editions of classics, but when I read and my fingers hurt after 30 minutes it becomes a problem. Next time, I'll definitely pay more attention to the way the book opens and if I feel comfortable holding it.
Thank you, you explained the problem I've had for a while, but always just assumed It's because the book is new and hasn't been properly broken in yet
Have that exact edition of Dracula and don’t remember noticing anything like this while reading it. Though I almost never read at a desk or lay books flat.
I quite like the Chiltern editions that I have. They're stunning and have sewn bindings so open well. However, the paper is a bit glossy.
I think I was in my early 30's when I started noticing type that was too small. I agree with your review of these books' physicality. I'm glad that there's a push to make them more appealing, but yeah, making them readable is important too. (If you can, find a copy of Brave New World in its original typeface - it will blow you away.)
I did get in fact an injury from these Penguin Clothbounds. Well, sort of. After spending some time with their version of Middlemarch my shoulder started to hurt and it took a couple of days until it finally faded away. I then tossed that copy out and replaced it with a way more readable version. Since then I've been avoiding these editions like the plague.
That's horrible :( seems they did not test these with actual readers
Thank you for this! I was planning to start buying some of these (the ones I want to read) but I definitely won't be now!
I cope and read the heavy cloth and leather bound but you are right, it can prove to be an uncomfortable reading experience. I think people definitely get these to look good on the shelf. I wish we could just have both at a not terrible price smh
I noticed your preferred reads were all paperbacks. I definitely prefer hard covers over paperbacks when reading specifically because I like the weight and the feel of it. I dislike how flimsy and easily bendable paperbacks are. It is more down to preference and what style of book you prefer to read.
I do have some collectors books I would never choose to read, simply because they are too big and heavy, but I prefer most hard-covers over even the most well made paperbacks.
I agree, that's why I bought a Kindle. The weight, the size and uncomfortable situations books have brought me in the last years. My apartment is small. So, that's it. 🤷🏻♀️
So glad I saw this - I was thinking of getting a few of these. Thank you! I found an old Modern Library double with Woman In White AND The Moonstone. Old books are best❤
Everyman's and LOA are great options for quality editions on a budget. For those for whom price is no obstacle, Easton Press, The Franklin Library (yes I know they've been out of business for decades now but on the used market they're easy to find), and Folio Society.
It is a workout reading The woman in white even when is not a hardback.
In Spanish translation we have Alba they are heavy but they open beautifully, it is a great experience.
However Alba are very expensive
There are some flaws and problems - beautification at the expense of quality is silly. It's flagrant mass marketing with the usual drawbacks. Thank you for your thoughtful and fair video. These concerns have been on my mind as I shop for books. Further barriers to the classics equals bad idea, I fully agree. 🙂
I bought two Penguin Clothbound Classics, a copy of The Odyssey and a copy of The Ring of the Nibelung. I tried reading both and had to give up simply for the reasons you stated in this video. The Odyssey was not comfortable to hold. I have since bought a paperback edition of the Odyssey and I’m so glad I did because it became one of my favorite books and helped me get out of a really bad reading slump. I will never be buying penguin clothbound classics ever again.
I agree with those pretty books. I was buying those when I started reading literature and I quickly realized they are for looks. So I’ve replaced mine with editions that actually work for me, taking things into consideration like translation, quality, font size, etc.
I love the penguin classic deluxe editions too. I wish I would have known at the start of my literature reading journey, I would have saved myself some money. But now I know to take my literature book buying a little more seriously and not just get the prettiest one I see.
I definitely agree. Large and heavy books that lay flat are a dream to read. They cover your entire lap. I just want THOSE kind of books to have THOSE kind of covers.
This is something I've noticed something myself! I've read some of Jane Austen's novels and plan to read them all, so my friend gifted me a B&N edition of all of Austen's novels in one edition. It's BEAUTIFUL and I loved it when I got it, but was so unable to use it because of how difficult it is to keep open & the pain it caused my shoulder. I thought all big books were like that and it was my fault... until much later, when I got my hands on a copy of a giant Shakespeare edition with a bunch of his plays which was almost the same size and gave me much less trouble.
As someone with cerebral palsy this used to be my experience even with paperbacks, fighting with the pages etc. I settled with reading with the help of paperweights. It's why I'll continue to support ebooks and eReaders forever. I don't miss anything about physical books, not even the smell.
When I was a bookseller, and these types of books started coming out, I wanted all of them! Thankfully, I was able to hold them and riffle through them ; and it was fairly obvious that they would not work to actually read. My problem was not the covers, it was more of a formatting thing; they just seemed like a physical digital copy somehow; and that was not going to work for me. Bullets dodged! Anyway, the Everyman library is a great alternative, or just the basic Penguin black spine paperbacks.
It's one of the reasons I never got any of that series, another booktuber mentioned how her copies, the printing on the cover wore off after 1 read. I love the design but I just couldn't justify the cost for a book I would be too scared to read. Instead I got the paperback penguins, there's fewer of them, but designs on cover are the same or similar. Paper it rough yellowish cheap but readable, if very small font.
Stretch the binding of your new books! It helps so much and I never have any issues with cracking spines or books not wanting to stay open
I love those penguin clothbound edition but I know they're just for the display 😅 but still I covet it!! 😍😍
The clothbound editions are pretty, but yeah I agree they’re just for displaying. Had a few editions but not anymore. One of them was Anna Karenina, which takes a while to finish. After one read, a single read, the decorations on the cover had significantly rubbed out. So I haven’t bought any since then.