How we compare

Two kinds of guide

For a book written in another language, the translator matters more than anything else about the copy, so the guide compares translations. For a book written in English, the text is nearly the same everywhere, so the guide compares the books themselves: how they are made and how long they will last.

Comparing translations

For each translation in print, we look at five things.

Form

Verse or prose, and what kind of verse. Some translators match the original line for line; others do not.

Literal to free

Where the translation sits between following the original closely and rewriting it as natural English. The marker in each table is our judgement, from reading the translations side by side and from what the translators say about their own aims. It is a position, not a score: neither end is better.

Voice

How it reads: plain or grand, quick or slow, modern or old-fashioned.

In the book

The introduction, notes, maps, glossary and other material printed with the text.

The first line

The same opening passage in several translations, so you can hear the difference. We quote translations that are in the public domain. Modern translations appear only once the publisher gives permission; until then you will see a placeholder.

Once a translation is chosen, we list the printings of it worth buying: usually a paperback, a hardcover and, where one exists, a student edition with extra material.

Grading physical books

For books where the copy itself is the choice, we look at five things.

Binding

Sewn pages open flat and stay in. Glued pages crack and come loose with age.

Paper

Acid-free stock does not yellow. Opaque stock stops the next page showing through.

Type

Size, line spacing and margins decide whether a book is comfortable to read.

Covers

Cloth over boards outlasts paper over boards, which outlasts a paper cover.

Extras

Ribbon, slipcase, illustrations, introduction and notes.

The build-quality bar

Each edition gets a mark from one to five for how well it is made. It is about the object, not the text.

1. One: likely to fall apart with ordinary reading.
2. Two: a glued paperback in decent condition. Fine to read and mark up; not built to keep.
3. Three: a sound hardback with at least one weak point, such as glued pages or thin paper.
4. Four: sewn and durable, with one compromise, such as small type.
5. Five: sewn, cloth or equivalent covers, acid-free paper. Built to last a lifetime.

What we will not claim without a copy in hand

Binding, paper and the build-quality mark appear only when we have handled a copy, or when we cite a source that has. Otherwise the guide says "not yet checked". Publisher descriptions are often vague or wrong about binding, so we do not rely on them.

Checking every edition

Before an edition appears in a guide with a link to buy it, we check its ISBN, publisher, format and year against the publisher's own listing. Editions that have not been checked are left out. We record the date of each check and recheck guides when editions go out of print or new ones appear.

What we leave out

Public-domain classics attract cheap reprints, and many are bad. We leave out any copy that shows these signs:

• No named publisher or imprint on the listing
• Printed on demand, one copy at a time
• Text scanned from an old copy, with errors left in
• Oversized pages with wide, cramped lines

We also leave out editions that are out of print and hard to find, unless they are the best choice for a reader.

Choosing the short answer

Each guide opens with up to four picks, each tied to a kind of reader: someone reading for the first time, a student, a gift buyer. There is rarely one best edition, but there is usually a best one for a particular reader. Each pick comes with a one-line reason.

Prices

We do not show exact prices. They change too often to keep accurate, and some retailers do not allow prices to be shown unless they come live from their own systems. Where a price matters to the choice, we give a rough band, such as "under $20".

Independence

We earn a small commission when you buy through some links on this site. It never changes a pick, and editions we recommend are not always the ones that earn us the most. More about how the site is paid for.

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Corrections

If you find a mistake, such as a wrong ISBN, an edition now out of print or a binding we got wrong, please tell us. We fix errors as soon as we have checked them. How to contact us.