Great Dialogues of Plato

the pages are literally coming off!!! what the hell

In a Philosophy course I took around 4 years ago, we’d discussed Plato’s Republic and I had read certain passages of it. I wanted to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of it, so I ordered this book. Needless to say that this work is truly a masterpiece and the translation has done justice to it and is very clear. The summary of each book at the very beginning of The Republic has also been very useful to me.Some of the works (like Ion, Apology and Crito) are only about 20 pages on average while The Republic is 370 pages.I wouldn’t say that anyone interested in Philosophy should read these works as I believe since everyone has the capacity to think and to follow logical arguments, they would be able to understand these material. Therefore in essence, I suggest everyone to read these works as it’ll make the thinking process orderly and it’ll also help in establishing a clear direction to one’s thoughts.

I bought the mass market paperback in July 2023. The paper is shiny. It's an American copy. This translation by Rouse is better than Jowett. The style differs. You see, Rouse died in 1950 whereas Jowett died in 1893. The style, as I have found out, differs.Another thing, I must point out, this book is little, tini. I mean, of course I didn't expect a large tome out of a mass market paperback, but, you see, give the sheer number of pages, in this case, about six hundred, I was rather expecting it to be a little heavier, which, I must admit, is, quite fortunately, not the case. Really, this book is a good one. And, also, had it been of Indian manufacturing, I would have sent it back immediately, for the sheer deplorable and disgusting page and print quality of those that are manufactured in India are quite intolerable. Fortunate I was. It isn't of Indian manufacturing. It was, as I had already point out, manufactured in the US. And so, the pages are, to my surprise, quite shiny as well. I am not quite acquainted with the debate around the very many translators of Greek works, but this, in my perception, is more down to earth than Jowett, somehow.Buy it! It's a fine one.

Two pages in and I can already tell this is the perfect translation, since so many miss the nuance in references to the divine in Plato, which are necessary for understanding the text.My only complaint, and it's so minor I won't even mark it down, is that the ink smears if you touch it for too long. Turn the pages by the corners.

It has a Good Collection of Plato's Major works as well as Socrates Apology & Republic, both of which I was actually lookin to buy. Give it a read and see for yourself.

Important works to a fantastic price.