Thank you so much for this video, incredibly helpful! “Eau de nil” (Nile water) is the name of the color of the Modern classics. Found it confirmed in one of the clothbound penguin publications “Penguin Modern Classics Book”. Since discovering the name, I’ve become obsessed with it.
Yup, originally it was 80 books, for 80p each, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Penguin Classics! Hopefully they won't go up too much in the near future. 🙂
Great video and explanation!! I have the box set of the Little Black Classics (and a handful of the additional volumes) but now I want the Penguin Modern set! 🤣
I guess just because it's a super-cheap and portable way to get a taste of the longer work. But I certainly see your point. I think I mentioned in the video that if I wanted to read The Wife of Bath (as an example), I'd rather take out this little book than the larger work of the complete Canterbury Tales.
I have a diff perspective. As english is not my first language, I have hard time deciding what should I pick up next. As in which author suits my level of english best. And not just difficulty wise but content, flow, perspective etc. These series are like short trailers and I can get taste of what that author feels like. So extremely helpful for someone like me…
Well I have a doubt regarding these little black classics, since u mentioned that these are a part of longer works, will I be able to understand the story/essay if I haven't read the original full book ?
Yes, I think so. It might be an essay, or a short story from a collection of short stories. From a nonfiction work, it could just be a section that stands well on its own.
