Re: Communist Writings

["Julio Huato" <juliohuato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

My first recommendation is Marx's Capital.  Take it one chapter (or even one
page) at a time.  And the best way to approach it might be the way you'd
paint a wall.  One coat, let it dry a bit.  Another coat, etc.

Capital can be read and studied after some familiarity with Hegel and some
of Marx's other writings on method (Preface to the Contribution and
Grundrisse's 1857 Introduction).  Don't postpone Capital too much.  Nowadays
there's a bunch of resources out there to help you in the task
(philosophical dictionaries, history of ideas web sites, etc.).

While, one way or another, you'll have to deal with layers and layers of
interpretation laid over Marx's Capital after it was published, it's good to
develop a sense of 'what he meant' standing by itself, against its own
historical background.

Another work you don't want to miss is Grundrisse.  That's an even more
'Hegelian' experience.  A work that was very helpful to me in dealing with
Grundrisse was the Genesis, etc. written by Roman Rosdolsky.  Lenin's
Philosophical Notebooks are great help to deal with Grundrisse.

Capital and Grundrisse represent the output of Marx's work at his full
intellectual maturity.  IMO, once you are familiar with Capital, the other
works by Marx and Engels are best understood.
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