And if so, to what extent? Have you browsed through part of it or have you studiously analysed all 3 (or should that be 4?) volumes?
I'm currently settling down with volume I making extensive notes as I go. It's going to be very long and arduous at this rate (I have volumes II and III waiting) but I think it will be useful. Which brings me onto a second question: For those who have read it, how useful did you find it?
No,only fragments.
I find it pretty hard to read and even harder to comprehend.
No I've never read Kapital. Perhaps I will some day, I just never have time to sit down and read it and don't have a good attention span.
Once capitalists know we can release the Kraken, they'll back down and obey our demands for sure.
_Comrade Gulper
Voted yes. I've read Part I in its entirety. I got pretty far into Part II, and I've read excerpts of Part III. I mean I'm basically pretty sure I know more or less what the books say.
I never found it particularly hard to read, to be honest. Then again I was about 17 at the time and probably just skimmed over the difficult parts without noticing my failure to really understand stuff. But I remember how the beginning of Part II, in which Marx explains the dialectics of exploitation and class society - not the dialectics within exploitation or class society, but the way in which the class society itself and the phenomenon of explitation are in a dialectical relationship - was absolutely mindblowingly awesome. I definitely have to reread it. "Don't know why i'm still surprised with this shit anyway." - Loz
Soviet cogitations: 3765
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 11 Nov 2009, 07:13 Ideology: Other Leftist Politburo
Did you read it in the original German? That might have made it easier for you.
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Yeah, but it didn't seem much easier to me than the English translation.
"Don't know why i'm still surprised with this shit anyway." - Loz
Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44 Ideology: None Philosophized
I've never managed to slog through Das Kapital or the Grundrisse. I've read bits and pieces of both, but mostly concentrated on Wage Labor & Capital/Value, Price, & Profit, a handy two-fer of two much shorter pieces that manages to explain most of Marx's economic theory in a much more easily digestible format. So I'd recommend getting that volume before slogging through the big bulky behemoths.
Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."
The difference is like calculus vs. real mathematics. The dialectics of the topic isn't presented in detail at all in these works.
"Don't know why i'm still surprised with this shit anyway." - Loz
Hmm..No, I only read the comic version (Das Kapital for Beginners).
Inggris Kita Linggis, Amerika Kita Setrika ! -Sukarno-
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Soviet cogitations: 987
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 27 Apr 2007, 18:04 Ideology: Marxism-Leninism Komsomol
Finished part I once, but it was so hard I'll probably have to reread it a couple of times before I fully understand.
Volumes I, II and III with notes scribbled all over.
The moment one accepts the notion of 'totalitarianism', one is firmly locked within the liberal-democratic horizon. - Slavoj Žižek
Soviet cogitations: 5437
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 28 Sep 2009, 00:56 Ideology: Democratic Socialism Unperson
First few chapters of volume one, before I collapsed in despair at not being able to comprehend anything that I was reading. However I think the copy I had was a particularly awkward translation.
lol I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything at all, but how is this hard? I'm sincerely puzzled by that. I mean it gets terribly tedious in the middle, but how is hard to understand?
Especially since most of you guys already know what a commodity is and how capitalist production works ... Does anybody want to discuss some of these harder parts? I'm starting to wonder if there's anything in them that I've overlooked so far. "Don't know why i'm still surprised with this shit anyway." - Loz
Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44 Ideology: None Philosophized
An older, contemporaneous translation would likely be full of antiquated philosophical and economical terms, as well as plenty of very proper Victorian English, which was a particularly slow moving, fully descriptive sort of prose. So I can see how someone of this century may have problems with its pacing and over-stuffed paragraphing.
Bottom line: read lots of smaller, easier works that are full of concise definitions and easy to grasp language before you try to tackle the big bulky primary volumes. I'm not ashamed to say that's how I finally managed to get a grasp on it all. Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."
Soviet cogitations: 5437
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 28 Sep 2009, 00:56 Ideology: Democratic Socialism Unperson Mabool wrote: That's what confused me the most. I sort of knew what Marx was talking about, but the actual words on the page (well, not page, since I was using a shitty online version) made no sense at all. It's just way too antiquated for me to deal with. Though I haven't even looked at a copy for years, so maybe I should have another go. Otherwise it's generally accepted that english people suck at english. I'm not surprised you found it easier to read.
Maybe I should write a simplified version now that I have infinite free time.
"Don't know why i'm still surprised with this shit anyway." - Loz
Or translate that GDR version that you mentioned a long time ago. Apparently it was more digestable?
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Yeah but that had 900 pages (since it also deals with socialism).
"Don't know why i'm still surprised with this shit anyway." - Loz
Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44 Ideology: None Philosophized
The thing to do would be to translate it into short-attention-span, 21st century internet speak, without losing the definitive quality of the original. It's definitely a task for someone younger than I am.
Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."
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