The Folio Society - The Best Novels

The Folio Society's novels are wonderful. I'll look at the twenty books I upgraded this year, and attempt to whittle them down to a list of the Top 5 Folio novels I own.
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#foliosociety

[@Sams911]

I have a large book collection, but the gems' of my collection are my limited edition Folio Society's - Moby Dick 2009, Alice in Wonderland 2015, Ulysses 2022, Lord of the Rings 2022, Thucydides 2024, and Beowulf 2024... works of literary art on another level.

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

I haven't stepped into the Limited Edition Folio realm myself, but I'm especially envious of that Moby Dick. I hope they re-release the standard edition some day, as I'm a big fan of the classic Rockwell Kent illustrations. The LE features all of them as well, right?

[@amysteppe6485]

I just bought "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion. I love the look and feel of this book. It is my favorite of my Folio Society books. I am a huge fan of Joan Didion and this is the book that made her Joan. Next I want "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe and "Stalin The Court of the Red Czar" by Simon Seabag Montefiore.

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

Those are some great looking titles. When I get the catalogue, I always drool over the non-fic...but I force myself to stick to the novels. And that's still pricey enough as-is!

[@hannahbrennan2131]

I'm starting to collect some of the Folio Society editions of some of my favorite books. I have all the Earthsea books that they released editions for so far, the Phantom of the Opera book, the Hobbit book, and the Silmarrilion book is currently on the way.

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

Oooh, that’s a nice start. Those Earthsea books look fantastic, and the Tolkien designs are Folio classics. Enjoy the satisfying (but often pricey) upgrade journey!

[@hannahbrennan2131]

@@Upgradeyourbooks The Lord of the Rings set is next.

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

@@hannahbrennan2131 I figured as much. As I understand it, the illustrator for LOTR and The Hobbit did not do the illustrations for The Salmarrilion, as he had passed away before they published it. So they hired Francis Mosley to complete the artwork on the fifth Tolkien book, and by all accounts he did a bang-up job delivering the same style of work so the series feels cohesive. I’ve also heard rumblings that some printings of the standard edition Folio LOTR trilogy are more desirable than others in terms of the quality, but am not fully aware of the nuances of this distinction.

[@jolyonholloway483]

The Ala

[@KlingonCaptain]

I can't upgrade all of my favorite novels to Folio Society editions for two reasons. The first reason is that not all of my favorites are published by Folio. The second reason is that with many of my favorite books, I prefer other editions and my space is limited, so I'm not going to own multiple copies of the same novel. For example, my top five favorite novels are: The Time Machine, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, 1984, Moby Dk or The Whale (misspelled to keep yt from blocking my comment), and Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma. Of those, Dani Doir never has and never will get a Folio Society edition. While I chose Folio for 1984, and will probably go with Folio for The Road, I chose the Easton Press for Moby Dk. I just felt like the leather over wood with the silk end pages was more appropriate for Moby. I also plan on upgrading my copy of The Time Machine with the Easton Press. Among some of my other favorite books, I'll probably upgrade Jurassic Park and The Lost World through Folio Society, and I recently ordered The Neverending Story from Folio (it hasn't arrived yet). Another exception is A Christmas Carol. Because I prefer the replica of its very first printing, I won't upgrade with either Folio or Easton. On another note, I recently heard about the Limited Edition Club, where you buy real first editions. I haven't checked them out yet, but I plan to. Though I probably can't afford to buy anything from Limited Edition Club. 😢

[@aftertheshowmoviepodcast]

I’m not quite sure how to put this, but…I’m kind of a big deal…I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

[@Elizabeth-ei7ne]

Would love to see your take on Folio's version of Kafka's Metamorphoses and The Castle!

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

Great suggestion Elizabeth. I love me some Kafka. That matching set of the four Folio Kafka books (Metamorphoses, The Castle, The Trial, and Amerika) looks great - are you lucky enough to own some of them yourself?

[@Elizabeth-ei7ne]

@@Upgradeyourbooks Sadly I don't own any of them (yet) as they're not my preferred translation and I'm not looking to collect multiple translations of these particular titles right now. They look like beautiful editions though, and I've been tempted by them more than once.

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

@@Elizabeth-ei7ne Alright. I'm intrigued - who should I be looking for as a translator when shopping for Kafka? In the past, I've always just grabbed whatever I could land on, but lately I've gotten a bit fussy with finding 'the right' translator for me when it comes to Tolstoy and Cervantes, so I ought to apply that to Kafka too. I'd appreciate any opinion/insight you can provide!

[@Elizabeth-ei7ne]

@@Upgradeyourbooks I prefer the classic translations by Willa and Edwin Muir to what I've seen of Harmon (The Castle) or Hofmann (Metamorphosis), but I'm not an expert and my taste in translations is abominable! The Muirs worked from a wonky original manuscript and their translations, quite apart from suffering other eccentricities, were never intended to be strictly literal. But heck, they’re pretty, and for me, beautiful prose trumps accuracy. I realize I'm in the extreme minority here! Another part of it is that I think there's something to be said for a classic translation that's become a cultural touchstone in its own right. Most people who've read Kafka in English have read the Muirs, and even if it's not word-for-word what Kafka wrote, it's the text most people are remembering when they talk about Kafka in English. For example, the Muirs’ classic translation describes Gregor Samsa as transforming into a “gigantic insect.” Hofmann clarifies and writes that he was specifically a “monstrous cockroach.” But the ambiguity about what sort of an insect Gregor is, exactly, is often an interesting point of discussion in English (and, I believe, German). If you were only aware of Hofmann’s translation, such conversations would be nonsensical and you’d miss out on the Kafka as English speakers generally know him. I highly recommend you head over to archive.org and try out a few translations for yourself to see which you like best. welovetranslations.com can also be very helpful if you happen to be looking into a book they’ve covered. For a little taste, here are the first lines in The Castle in the Muirs’ translation: “It was late in the evening when K. arrived. The village was deep in snow. The Castle hill was hidden, veiled in mist and darkness, nor was there even a glimmer of light to show that a castle was there. On the wooden bridge leading from the main road to the village, K. stood for a long time gazing into the illusory emptiness above him." And here’s Harmon’s: “It was late evening when K. arrived. The village lay under deep snow. There was no sign of the Castle hill, fog and darkness surrounded it, not even the faintest gleam of light suggested the large Castle. K. stood a long time on the wooden bridge that leads from the main road to the village, gazing upward into the seeming emptiness.” Honestly, I don’t think there’s a bad choice here, they’re much more similar than they are different (which is another reason I’m not terribly set on buying multiple translations - epics like The Iliad can read wildly differently and that’s where I get interested in multiple copies!). Nevertheless, if I have to split hairs and choose one translation, the Muir edges out ahead for me mostly because I think it flows better. I wouldn’t look askance at someone who felt the opposite way though, and if I were to have multiple copies of Kafka, I’d be more than happy to have any of the Folio translations on my shelf!

[@Elizabeth-ei7ne]

Okay, I can't resist, since we didn't get to see any really momentously different lines in the two versions of Kafka, here are the opening lines from three highly regarded translations of The Iliad. This is how translations can be addictive! Alexander Pope, 1720: "Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing! The wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain; Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore, Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore: Since great Achilles and Atrides strove, Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!" Richard Lattimore, 1951: "Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians, hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished since that time when first there stood in division of conflict Atreus' son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus" Stanley Lombardo, 1997: "Rage: Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls Of heroes into Hades' dark, And left their bodies to rot as feasts For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done. Begin with the clash between Agamemnon-- The Greek warlord--and godlike Achilles." I own all three of these, I can't choose between them!

[@jscottgp2011]

I have clearly not paid enough attention to them! I have my whole set of Game of Thrones but the longer I’m on the site the more I see I want. Wish they put a little more work into the slipcases but I’ll take a plain slipcase over no slipcase!

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

I haven’t looked too hard at the GoT books (because I’m scared of the price) but what I’ve briefly glanced at seems stunning. The last few Folio books I’ve bought in 2022-2023 have indeed had illustrated slipcases: Fear and Loathing, Cat’s Cradle, and Interpreter of Maladies. I hope they continue to work it into the budget - even at their lowest price-point - because it is really something I personally value as a customer!

[@Sorobai]

Everytime you said we have to eliminate this one it was like a stab direct to my heart lol Just kidding 😂

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

Oh don't worry - it hurt my heart each time too!

[@sofadhana1289]

I have the mirrorcase version of Brave New World, and it's easily the worst release of FS I have out of the dozens I have. Absolutely appalling imo. Glad to hear they've released a better version.

[@Upgradeyourbooks]

I've always wanted to take a look at that shiny older one, just to compare them. I think I've heard that the interior font is especially atrocious - does that sound right?

[@sofadhana1289]

Yeah, the font is really bad. Monophoto Univers Light, a sans serif :o There's also a full frontal naked girl illustration on the starting endsheet just in case you wanted another reason to be bemused by FS' choices :D @@Upgradeyourbooks