Customer Reviews

Early Writings (Penguin Classics)

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Indispensable for a correct reading of Karl Marx. To fully understand his point of view and critics you need to cover the early writings first, so that you won't form a wrong idea what Marxism is about, like most people usually do.

Part of the function of this compilations inaccessibility, on which other reviewers have commented, is the nature of the translation. For instance, although I have read several translations of "On the Jewish Question," I found this translation to be the most difficult. A beginner would do much better to start with "The Marx-Reader," which includes "Capital" part I as well as other important works by Marx and Engels.

Rarely do I find a Penguin Classic that is true to the Classic off which Penguin is cashing in.

As someone who thought he had a relatively good grasp of what Marxist philsophy is comprised of, it came as something of a surprise that this text was so incomprehensible. This was the first actual Marx I have ever set out to read. I believed that _Early Writings_ might a good place to start (you know: start at the beginning, as they say). At any rate, I would encourage someone who is a novice at this sort of thing to start with another book. From the very start I had a difficult time determing exactly what Marx was getting at. The first 200 pages are a refutation to a Hegelian concept of the state. If you are not familiar with the writings and ideas of Hegel, you will not want to read that particular work. The second half of the book is more approachable, but not what I would term "accessible" by any means. I would recommend this only to people that already have extensive knowledge of Marx's terminology and belief systems. Without this prerequisite, you might as well be reading Latin.

This book gives the reading a kind of "before they were stars" approach. It provides a good spring board to seeing how Marx metamorphasized from Das Capitol into the Communist Manifesto. I recommend this book for anyone who is looking to get to the base of and learn more about this influential write and philosopher.