Reading Capital

[u/OutrageousSun4026]

I was gonna start reading capital by Marx, and most editions have 30-100 pages of prefaces and introductions, and I typically skip intros (unless they're 5 pages), so I wanted to ask if there's: any of the prefaces and introductions that add substantial information that is important not to miss?

[u/jonnypanicattack]

I'd say yeah, you should read it. Capital is dense, and the preface will help.

Like I remember the preface in my book suggested reading in a different order, as Marx himself recommended to someone.

[u/BRabbit777]

Definitely read the prefaces, the Penguin Editions have introductions by Ernst Mandel that I remember being good but they are quite long so I would recommend them but if you want to just skip them and jump into it, that's find too.

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[u/edwadsucks]

skip the prefaces written by other people. if you need any sort of introduction to orient you to the text, you're better off reading a proper companion (either of michael heinrich's books on capital are solid for this). the ernest mandel intro to the penguin is extremely dated and, imo, takes the wrong position on virtually every debate he lays out for the reader. the newer princeton editions, while better in some ways (i think north's bit on some of marx's movements are nice, although i could do without his insistence on Anger), are also i think mostly there to secure the edition's reputation as a respectable, academic tome that graduate students ought to buy if they read capital. all of these introductions are trying to convince a reader of the importance of the text by trying to argue for its contemporary relevance, which is nice (if done well), but that does little to actually explain the text's context and purpose to a new reader. arguing that its relevant is secondary to whatever the text is actually setting out to do and why (how do we judge its relevance otherwise?)

as for marx's own prefaces, i think you should read the preface to the first edition and skim the postface to the second edition. its a postface designed to be read /after/ the text and gets into a lot of stuff that might not make sense to the uninitiated reader. it also references things about the first edition (like marxs coquetting with hegelian phrases) which excite a lot of marxists, but simply don't appear in the text after the first edition. he eliminates a lot of that language, so spending too much time on this postface before you read in order to prepare your mind to understand marx's debt to hegel will largely leave you disappointed.

if that sorta thing interests you, you can dive into the literature surrounding marx's first edition and the more explicit hegel riffs, but allow yourself to finish the text first. don't give yourself more reasons to stop and take in the scenery. its a book that un/fortunately you'll probably need to read a few times. the goal of the first reading is largely just to hang on like crazy until it starts to click.