this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2026
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one hour later and less than 5 paragraphs... only half read/understood. lol
The meme wasn't about capital, it was about the communist manifesto, which is very short and easy to read and understand. Engels principles of communism is even easier.
It’s about ghosts or something, which is cool, I guess!
It takes you more than an hour to read five paragraphs?
is it possible to ready anything from capital and understand it the first pass? lol
It is possible to read capital and understand parts of it in the first pass, yes. Especially if read with a group, and/or with supplementary stuff. PSL's Reading Capital with Comrades podcast was a great review every two chapters. I also recommend David Harvey's lectures or supplements for deeper dives, after its had time to digest. David Harvey's got some funny views on Marxism, but he digs into a lot of the footnotes and history which is where all the flavor is.
Reviewing Harvey's material while criticizing his politics is a great practical application of Marx's method of critique!
Have you checked out the new lectures going over the Reitter translation? Was considering following that for my next read of Capital.
I didn't know about this new translation and I think it's cool, that people do the work to make it more accessible. I'm just a bit surprised to learn, that it's still based on the second German edition, because "it's the last edition approved by Marx" before he died. Is Reitter mistrusting Engels? In German language, everyone reads the MEW version, which is based on the fourth edition. Engels says in the foreword to the third edition, that the changes are based on detailed comments by Marx on the French version. I trust him on that. He adds more of Marx changes and additional changes to the fourth edition of the German text by Marx daughter Eleanor, which are sensible too: she adds the original English versions of citations from English texts, instead of the versions which were translated to German and then retranslated to English. Which just makes total sense, but was also a lot of work for Eleanor, to find the original English versions of all those cited books. Everything else added by Engels is clearly marked.
The MEW version of capital, based on the fourth German edition, was published by the SED of the GDR and closely based on the version approved by the Soviet Unions CPSU. Reitter basing it on the second German edition instead, doesn't avoid the necessity of all this editorial work, it just replaces Engels as an editor, which I find a bit strange. But still, I'm not against this edition. It's great, that it exists. It's just interesting to think that everyone is reading slightly different versions of the text.
Yea, it's very strange to me. It is more approachable when it comes to language, and there are tons of footnotes for comparing with different versions, but the odd way it's handled means it isn't the definitive version, but a version.
Not yet, I'm gearing up for a re-read though. I've heard mixed things about the new translation. Good to know Harvey's got some lectures out on it though! I'd be interested to hear his takes about differences. I might check out his lectures on it as a pre-read, def a good call-out!
Do you have a copy of it yet? When are you planning on rereading it?
It isn't actually Harvey that has lectures, but instead Paul North, the editor! That's why I am curious about it, more than anything. I do have the book, but have not begun it and don't plan on reading it until next year at the earliest (too many works ahead of it on my reading list for now).
Yeah makes sense. I've been absolutely crawling through Black Reconstruction, but its a work that lends itself to a slow burn. Too much IRL organizing, not enough time for reading! In my heart I'm just a book club left comm, which is why I gotta keep my ass in the struggle lol.
It's become where most of my reading is articles and internal communiques/bulletins, ntm writing. It does make me miss when study was my highest priority. I'm sure you can relate! But practical work leads to practical study. I'm just a self educated worker, so I never learned to like "complete assignments". Instead, a comrade says something that pisses me off and it sends me on a quest to prove them wrong. Currently doing a deep dive on Gramsci's formulation of hegemony, and how it relates to academic formulations particularly in the field of international relations. But stuff like this pulls me away from cracking a 1000+ page doorstop and crushing it, like I used to.
Education and pedagogy is a full time job! On top of all the other work i find myself doing. Especially in our current sectarian phase where even the most clearheaded comrades are ideologically all over the place.
Lol kind of a side quest comment
Yep, can definitely relate to feeling overwhelmed! Trying to lower my social media consumption and limit it to specific windows of time and place, otherwise it's always distracting me in the back of my mind. Good luck!
Grab the new Reitter translation, it flows a lot better.
He's talking about the manifesto, which was written so thay your average literate person could understand in the 19th century. Marx himself suggested that you don't start Capital from chapter one because its the most philosophical and complicated part of the book. He suggested people look at chapter three or something I can find my copy of capital with an intro from the 1890s where he said kinda sexistly that women shouldn't start with the first chapter because of how heavily it leans on Hegelian philosophy.
I wish he had lived long enough to write his book on the state 🙁
"A linen coat costs what it does because women be shopping"