The importance of a reading order

[Kingfish]

Currently in the process of acquiring a copy of the Tucker's Marx Engles Reader, so Im relying on a library copy for now. The order of the works in this differs quite substantially from those suggested by Q and TheGodlessUtopian.

My question is: does the order these works are read really matter and if so is the order in this book any good?


Order contained in the book

Marx on the history of his opinions (preface to A contribution to the Critique of political economy)
For a ruthless criticism of everything existing (letter to Arnold Ruge)
Contribution to the critique of Hegel's Philosophy of right : introduction
On the Jewish question
Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844 : selections
Alienation and social classes (from The holy family)
Theses on Feuerbach
The German ideology : part I
Wage labour and capital
Capital : selections
On the realm of necessity and the realm of freedom (from Volume three of Capital)
On the division of labour in production (from Anti-Dühring) The Communist manifesto
Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League
Inaugural address of the Working Men's International Association
Critique of the Gotha Program
Circular letter to Bebel, Liebknecht, Bracke, and others
The tactics of social democracy (Engels' introduction to Marx's The class struggles in France 1848-1850)
Speech at the anniversary of the People's paper
Working-class Manchester (from The condition of the working class in England in 1844)
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
The Civil War in France
On imperialism in India
On social relations in Russia
Speech at the graveside of Marx
Socialism : utopian and scientific
Letters on historical materialism
On the origin of the state (from The origin of the family, private property, and the state)
Versus the anarchists (letter to Theodor Cuno)
On authority
On morality (from Anti-Dühring)

I know it seems a tad pedantic but given time constraints, I would really like to engage this work as effectively as possible.

[CriticalJames]

It certainly does matter and some concepts build off from eachother. For example, it would be best to read a bit of Marx before you go onto read Lenin.

As long as the reading order seems logical to you, you should be fine. Just keep trying to refer back to stuff you've previously read.

[The Idler]

Yeah, some orders will suit some and not others. Marx himself recommended reading the chapters Capital in a different order than it was printed.

[RedBen]

Yeah, some orders will suit some and not others. Marx himself recommended reading the chapters Capital in a different order than it was printed.
interesting, i'll have to look into that

[ed miliband]

Yeah, some orders will suit some and not others. Marx himself recommended reading the chapters Capital in a different order than it was printed.

i'm pretty, pretty sure this is untrue. Marx says the first three chapters are difficult, but that one has to expect difficulties when approaching a new science (or something to that effect, i'm heavily paraphrasing); he doesn't say 'read the bit on the working day first, then go back to value', that was althusser and others.

some marxologists would say the order of capital is of central importance.

[The Idler]

see here
http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2012/01/18/walking-through-capital-david-harvey

Marx himself, in a letter, suggested that students might read chapter 10 first, to “get into” the book, before attempting chapter 1.
and
http://hutnyk.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/read-marxs-capital-at-goldsmiths-all-welcome/

Marx himself suggests, in a letter to Kugelman, starting with the chapter the Working Day. Actually, this is advice to Kugelman’s wife.

[ed miliband]

fair enough! although i'd be interested to see it in marx's own words.

[Zukunftsmusik]

I don't really see how reading Capital in any particular order matters, though

[ed miliband]

i guess becuase the first three chapters establish marx's method and categories which - to use the cliche - unfold throughout the rest of capital. so whilst they are the most difficult, grasping them is the most important for understanding the rest of the book, whilst reading the chapter on the working day won't make it any easier to understand the first three chapters.

althusser disregarded the first three chapters as hegelian, so he said to skip them and read the later chapters. so it's interesting that marx apparently said that in letters.

[Zukunftsmusik]

i guess becuase the first three chapters establish marx's method and categories which - to use the cliche - unfold throughout the rest of capital.

Well, I agree with this, so I guess it does matter after all, even to me. I guess my tone was more directed at those who always have this code to "really get" Capital, by reading in this or that order.


althusser disregarded the first three chapters as hegelian

He really means this?