No.

If the paraphrase is simpler, then that means that either they are missing some details, or they are taking ten words when one will do. Furthermore, what you are reading is not what the original philosopher wrote, it is what someone else thought they wrote, which means additional details might have been added (even accidentally) because of the biases/opinion/culture of the interpreter.

If you find the original too hard to read, then by all means read a later book, just keep in mind that what you are reading is not "the philosophy of X as explained by Y", it is "the philosophy of Y, inspired by X".

If your goal is just to get a broad overview of the subject, I'd suggest not even bothering with interpretations of specific philosophers. Instead, look for books that are specifically designed to provide an overview - i.e. "the history of existentialism" rather than "the philosophy of Sartre".

I don't think that reading a more recent rewrite is going to be helpful, or is even necessarily a good idea.

If the paraphrase is simpler, then that means that either they are missing some details, or they are taking ten words when one will do. Furthermore, what you are reading is not what the original philosopher wrote, it is what someone else thought they wrote, which means additional details might have been added (even accidentally) because of the biases/opinion/culture of the interpreter.

If you find the original too hard to read, then by all means read a later book, just keep in mind that what you are reading is not "the philosophy of X as explained by Y", it is "the philosophy of Y, inspired by X".

If your goal is just to get a broad overview of the subject, I'd suggest not even bothering with interpretations of specific philosophers. Instead, look for books that are specifically designed to provide an overview - i.e. "the history of existentialism" rather than "the philosophy of Sartre".