Purchasing texts!

ABE also has lots of used books (although prices can be a bit bizarre sometimes): www.abebooks.com
There's no need to buy everything, though. Take advantage of libraries - that's what they're there for, after all. :wink:

Reply 4

Angelil

19

^^ Yes, good point, I definitely over-bought in my first year...

Reply 5

Angelil

^^ Yes, good point, I definitely over-bought in my first year...

Who doesn't? :biggrin:

Reply 6

EmptyhollowTree

OP

Thank you all for your replies. I had forgotten the library! I feel a great deal better now but I shall also take advantage of Amazon because I quite like having my own copy of a text!

Thanks again,

Mark

Reply 7

silence

also, when you get to university you might come across students, or adverts posted around your department by students, offering to sell books which they don't need.

Reply 8

silence

also, when you get to university you might come across students, or adverts posted around your department by students, offering to sell books which they don't need.

The most efficient solution will of course be finding a friend who's one year above you. :p:

Reply 9

epitome

11

Charity shops! Cambridge has a very handy Oxfam bookshop, which is a bank balance saver - look out for things like that! Lots of university towns have facilities like this. :smile:

(Know what you mean about wanting your own copy of books).

Reply 10

Andy Peters

Charity shop are your friend. Don't rely on the library as ours empties out the week before the set text, you could of course plan in advance and just renew.

I like having new books, so i tend to always buy new; and yes, you should also have read most of them before you start the course if you can. It gives you a huge advantage and will save you lots of time in the first semester.

Reply 11

Apricot Fairy

What's on your reading list? University departments quite often put a lot of books on the list that you will never actually need to read. If you post the list on here, some of us might be able to tell you which ones are actually worth buying. For example, I bought about seven or eight books before starting uni, and the only ones I've really used are the Norton Anthologies, the Riverside Shakespeare and the Bennett and Royle introduction to literary criticism. I bought a few general guides, grammar books and dictionaries of literary terms which I didn't need at all. I don't think I even have them with me this year. Could quite easily have dipped into the ones in the library if needed.

Reply 12

Circa1892

9

I've had a look at the York list and nabbed The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism off ebay. Even if I don't get in I can sell it for as much as, if not more than, I paid for it £14 inc p&p. And I can read a bit over the summer to set me in good stead!

Reply 13

Renegade Dagger

9

I have a question for you all.

Does it matter what version (publisher, date, edition etc) of the book we buy? I don't want to make it harder on myself by having a completely 'awkward' copy.

I presume that people have very different copies, but I could be wrong.

Reply 14

empfrench

^^

The reading list I was sent was very specific about editions.

Reply 15

silence

Renegade Dagger

I have a question for you all.

Does it matter what version (publisher, date, edition etc) of the book we buy? I don't want to make it harder on myself by having a completely 'awkward' copy.

I presume that people have very different copies, but I could be wrong.

a lot of the time it does - i think it depends on how long you have to study the text for. if it's an anthology, classical text (e.g. virgil/homer) or a relatively old text, the edition is quite important. for the first two types, it's because you're likely to use it for all three years of the degree, so having the recommended edition helps. for the latter, where the literature isn't from the last 150 years or so, different editions are more likely to consist of different readings of various manuscripts etc. for example, an arden edition of hamlet will be different to (and far better than) a wordsworths classics one.

with novels and poetry from the last century or two, i find that you tend to get the same text in most editions - the only thing some editions will have are explanatory notes, useful introductions and certain appendices. in my experience (and perhaps specific to my type of course), a novel or two a week means that the most important thing is to get the text read, whatever edition it is. for example, if it's suggested that we buy a penguin edition of middlemarch, it wouldn't be too much of a problem if i bought an oxford world's classics edition - the main text itself should be the same.

i would say though that it's worth getting the recommended editions for the majority of the first year, as it does take a while to realise what you can and can't get away with. though certain editions which you might discuss in class will obviously require everyone to have the same page numbers otherwise the tutors get a bit annoyed when you ask which paragraph of which chapter etc.

Reply 16

epitome

11

Yeah, sometimes the editions can be important (various reasons - "best" edition; good notes; page numbers matching in classes...).
HOWEVER, if in doubt, go for the Oxford World's Classics range - they print pretty much every book I've ever needed, are almost invariably affordable, and have excellent introductions and - often - notes. They are a VERY good edition to fall back on (and, indeed, to turn to first).

Reply 17

epitome

Yeah, sometimes the editions can be important (various reasons - "best" edition; good notes; page numbers matching in classes...).

Or when there's different versions of a text, as with Pope's Dunciad, for example. Although in such a case the reading list should tell you which one to get.

HOWEVER, if in doubt, go for the Oxford World's Classics range - they print pretty much every book I've ever needed, are almost invariably affordable, and have excellent introductions and - often - notes. They are a VERY good edition to fall back on (and, indeed, to turn to first).

Seconded. Although if you know you won't actually read introductions and notes anyway (not everybody does, after all), you may as well get the slightly cheaper Penguin editions.

Reply 18

silence

if it is suggested that we can a scholoarly version (e.g. broadview), i'll often read the introduction and all other bonus material from a library copy. then get myself a cheap one to read at leisure.

Reply 19