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Rating: 
Summary: Tough but Worthwhile
Review: A collection of seven notebooks on capital and money, drafted during the winter of 1857-8, exploring the themes and theses that dominate his later writings, including Marx's own version of Hegel's dialectics, and thoughts on alientation. While not as sophisticatedp--or lengthy--as Das Kapital, it remains a "must read" for anyone interested developing a sophisticated understanding of Marxist philosophy.
Rating: 
Summary: You're supposed to get down? Damn, that's already low.
Review: I own the Ben Fowkes translation of this book (generally reputed to be Marx's most complete theoretical statement, and none too early); but trying to find it on Amazon makes me wonder if I should. The Penguin edition of this book is widely available, the Vintage formerly so, the German Dietz-Verlag version on Amazon.de, and the International Publishers version (directly from "critical" edition MEGA) not at all. How much does the "approved" translation cost? $50.00 for two hardback volumes. Is this something people might want to buy in lieu of an inexpensively produced paperback? Yeah. Is this the most important book ever written? Marx certainly wouldn't have you think that. But is this particular version worth owning? Sure -- don't expect to find this at your local library.
Rating:
Summary: You're supposed to get down? Damn, that's already low.
Review: I own the Ben Fowkes translation of this book (generally reputed to be Marx's most complete theoretical statement, and none too early); but trying to find it on Amazon makes me wonder if I should. The Penguin edition of this book is widely available, the Vintage formerly so, the German Dietz-Verlag version on Amazon.de, and the International Publishers version (directly from "critical" edition MEGA) not at all. How much does the "approved" translation cost? $50.00 for two hardback volumes. Is this something people might want to buy in lieu of an inexpensively produced paperback? Yeah. Is this the most important book ever written? Marx certainly wouldn't have you think that. But is this particular version worth owning? Sure -- don't expect to find this at your local library.
Rating:
Summary: A classical of marxian economic thought
Review: This book is a sketch of what would become, a couple of years later, the author's masterpiece: Das Kapital. It was written in an intense effort during revolutionary agitations in Europe, such hard work had as goal to show the inherent contradictions of capitalism and the way it would soon collapse. Well, capitalism did not collapse then and did not so far, but this book remains a classic in the critique of classical political economy. It is indded shorter than Das Kapital, and in parts not as mature as, but it has the advantage of providing discussion on themes not discussed elsewhere in marxian works. Thus, the most famous part of Grundrisse are its Introduction and the part on "Pre-capitalistic modes of production". A must for anyone who wish to get acquainted with marxian thought.
Rating:
Summary: Critical Reading
Review: Unlike many other works, the Grundrisse exposes in more obvious ways Marx's dialectical thought. The Introduction should really be read as a great antidote to the 1859 Preface to a Critique of Political Economy, which gave us the base-superstructure analogy. The weakest link in Marx's though may very well be found there. The Grundrisse Introduction starts from the point of view of class struggle, whereas there is no place for the class struggle as the driving force in the base-superstructure schema.Also, Grundrisse starts in a different place from Capital. There is a reason for this, and a good discussion of this can be found in the writing of Raya Dunayevskaya and a counter discussion can be found in Roman Rosdolsky. The choice to eventually shelve the organization of the Grundrisse for the organization of Capital flows in part from the changes in the intervening years, most notably the U.S. Civil War. Real life constantly shaped Marx's thinking, hardly fitting the representation we commonly get of him from ideologues and capital's priests (economists). As a result, Grundrisse also has serious limitations in its understanding of the logic of capital. Basing the entire understanding of Marxism and capital on Grundrisse leads to the kind of mistakes made by Italian Autononmist Marxism, esp. Antonio Negri, who find themselves engaged in a very subjectivist understanding of capitalism. A useful, but sympathetic, antidote can be found in Werner Bonefeld and John Holloway's writings.
Rating:
Summary: Critical Reading
Review: Unlike many other works, the Grundrisse exposes in more obvious ways Marx's dialectical thought. The Introduction should really be read as a great antidote to the 1859 Preface to a Critique of Political Economy, which gave us the base-superstructure analogy. The weakest link in Marx's though may very well be found there. The Grundrisse Introduction starts from the point of view of class struggle, whereas there is no place for the class struggle as the driving force in the base-superstructure schema. Also, Grundrisse starts in a different place from Capital. There is a reason for this, and a good discussion of this can be found in the writing of Raya Dunayevskaya and a counter discussion can be found in Roman Rosdolsky. The choice to eventually shelve the organization of the Grundrisse for the organization of Capital flows in part from the changes in the intervening years, most notably the U.S. Civil War. Real life constantly shaped Marx's thinking, hardly fitting the representation we commonly get of him from ideologues and capital's priests (economists). As a result, Grundrisse also has serious limitations in its understanding of the logic of capital. Basing the entire understanding of Marxism and capital on Grundrisse leads to the kind of mistakes made by Italian Autononmist Marxism, esp. Antonio Negri, who find themselves engaged in a very subjectivist understanding of capitalism. A useful, but sympathetic, antidote can be found in Werner Bonefeld and John Holloway's writings.
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