Art in the world of books
What is a book cover worth? The answer will vary depending on the reader. I know my brother, Alex, always removes the dust jacket when he is reading. He claims to like the feel of the book. I have a working theory that he does this to avoid bias. The cover art will not influence him as a reader if he has stripped it bare. Of course, I can hear him laughing as I make this claim.
As for me, I judge a book by its cover all the time. This doesn't mean an attractive cover will guarantee an attractive story. It just means at first glance I'll be more likely to approach certain books over others. I also enjoy comparing different versions of the same book. Here is an example of various Harry Potter covers from around the world:
Top, left: Finland. Top, right: France. Bottom, left: Germany. Bottom, right: United States (and elsewhere). The bottom right is the most popular version.
Book Covers is a blog dedicated to "the appreciation of book cover design." Many of the selected covers I would describe as being artsy-fartsy, which is a good thing, by the way. I agree with the majority of their selections.
One of my favorite book covers of all time is this version of The Catcher in the Rye. However, other versions exist for the novel. Let us compare:
To the right we have interesting, striking, the red draws me in... And on the left we have simple, boring, this cover puts me to sleep. In high school I read the novel with what I view as the boring cover. Later, I found the horse version and my aesthetic senses were quite pleased. If I were the publisher and had the kind of power to determine which version would be on bookshelves I'd go with the horse version. Of course, if I were Holden Caulfield I'd probably go with the boring version, except I'd make it black to match the color of my soul.
(If you don't understand what I'm talking about, don't worry. The character, Holden Caulfield, reminds me of a modern day emo kid and so you'd probably need to read the novel and understand what emo is to get the joke.)
I've also found I almost always prefer the original cover art over the movie version that is released for certain books. This is true with the novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. Compare:
I feel like the original cover is more authentic, whereas the movie version is a little too glossy for me.
What are your favorite book covers, and why? I'd love to hear your answers.
As for me, I judge a book by its cover all the time. This doesn't mean an attractive cover will guarantee an attractive story. It just means at first glance I'll be more likely to approach certain books over others. I also enjoy comparing different versions of the same book. Here is an example of various Harry Potter covers from around the world:
Top, left: Finland. Top, right: France. Bottom, left: Germany. Bottom, right: United States (and elsewhere). The bottom right is the most popular version.
Book Covers is a blog dedicated to "the appreciation of book cover design." Many of the selected covers I would describe as being artsy-fartsy, which is a good thing, by the way. I agree with the majority of their selections.
One of my favorite book covers of all time is this version of The Catcher in the Rye. However, other versions exist for the novel. Let us compare:
To the right we have interesting, striking, the red draws me in... And on the left we have simple, boring, this cover puts me to sleep. In high school I read the novel with what I view as the boring cover. Later, I found the horse version and my aesthetic senses were quite pleased. If I were the publisher and had the kind of power to determine which version would be on bookshelves I'd go with the horse version. Of course, if I were Holden Caulfield I'd probably go with the boring version, except I'd make it black to match the color of my soul.
(If you don't understand what I'm talking about, don't worry. The character, Holden Caulfield, reminds me of a modern day emo kid and so you'd probably need to read the novel and understand what emo is to get the joke.)
I've also found I almost always prefer the original cover art over the movie version that is released for certain books. This is true with the novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. Compare:
I feel like the original cover is more authentic, whereas the movie version is a little too glossy for me.
What are your favorite book covers, and why? I'd love to hear your answers.
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