Are Norton Critical Editions worth the extra money? How about

>>9818708

ive heard they are definitive. i decided to go with the NCE for moby dick because the annotations are on the page and im pretty sure that all of the editions come with criticism essays in the back as well as a decent introduction.

if its an important, difficult work or one of your favorites that you wish to explore more, get them. alternatively, most of the "classics" editions have bibliographies that will allow for secondary sources to explore the texts. norton just does a good job of presenting it for you.

>>9818708
they're very good, especially if you want a "deeper" understanding of the work. the critical essays can be hit or miss but they aim to give you a sense of the wide range of approaches twoards critically studying any particular work

in any case, the annotations, footnotes/endnotes, and immediate supplementary material (reproductions of the primary sources that were cited in the text, for example) are almost uniformly excellent.

now whether or not that's "worth it" is a diff matter. maybe try to find gently used copies.

>>9818708

Only if you're interested in the academic approach to the book or you're working with text from before the 19th century and you need the critical apparatus to understand cultural background and references.

From what I've seen they don't even cost that much more. The Heart of Darkness one is like 2 dollars more than Penguin, and four times as thick. You're definitely getting your money's worth.

>>9818857
>From what I've seen they don't even cost that much more

I see them at used book stores all the time. Usually older editions, but I don't care.

>>9818857
HOD Norton is GOAT. Even includes Conrad's Congo diaries.

>>9818857
The only thing that slightly annoys me is the number of footnotes, many of which I feel aren't really necessary. But otherwise very solid

The NCE of the Bible is awesome, I'll tell you that much.

>>9818708
They're fucking kino.
You can buy their entire library of like 500 books for only 2000 dollars too. You just have to call them.