The Steppenwolf Effect, pt.2: Books, Covers, and Judgement

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Achtung: it seems Comments were disabled on this and another post recently. This was not intentional. I will try to be more diligent in making sure that visitors can respond (when Blogger will allow).

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One thing I wanted to mention, way back when I was in Steppenwolf mode (see here), was that book covers have come a long way since I was a kid.

Let me put it this way, if you have a faint interest in reading, let's say, Pride and Prejudice (figuring that you hadn't seen any of the filmed adaptations, but simply heard good things), what would go through your head when you saw this:

Let me guess: the most boring book in the world? Tedium personified? 300 pages about drollness?

Of course that's not true. Most people who've read P&P consider it a classic. People get into arguments about its film/TV adaptations, which is a good sign that the book rules over them all. But the cover! The cover stinks! Let's face it, this is not a cover intended to sell a book, it's a cover intended to put you to sleep (unless you are a Victorian fetishist).

Now, you say, look here chap - don't you know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover? Yes. I agree. But why bother having an illustration on the cover, or some semblance of design if it does nothing for what it represents? The only reason Jane Austen allows that cover on her book is that she's dead and there's nothing she can do about it.

Quite frankly, I prefer this as an alternative, if I had the choice:

Why?

Because it doesn't fill me with preconceived notions about the subject matter.

If I wanted to read P&P, the above cover wouldn't stop me from doing so. I'd be forced to read it in order to find out if I liked it or not, without the mediation of what is often for "classic literature" terrible book design.

This is why Steppenwolf figures into this story. Check out the cover that I grew up looking at:

While yes, technically it incorporates many of the elements of the book, it's such a literal and terribly dated approach, it's always turned me off. It's a James Bond poster by way of Aldous Huxley. *Blech* - no thank you.

Now, when I finally picked up a copy last year, this is what I saw on the shelf:

It's a book! It's a book! Not a movie, not an illustrated story, but a book, with an author! I like this approach because it's direct yet cryptic at the same time - it's telling me nothing about the novel, yet ties in the title of the book with a visual artifact. That's it. Nothing more. Aside from the synopsis on the back cover, you're on your own.

To me - and I should tread carefully here because my wife happens to design books - this is what book design is about. Forget about "don't judge a book by its cover" - that's a nice aphorism as it applies to people, but to books - considering there are so many vying for our attention, the covers should support the material they...um...cover.

If you've got a moment, check out this f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c site which shows all of the major cover designs of HG Wells' The War of the Worlds. That is, from 1898 to the present, from different countries and featuring a vast array of designs and interpretations. It gives you a fascinating look at how book design has evolved over the decades.

A late Friday's amusement...

I don't normally post cute/funny pictures. But it's 22:20 on a Friday night and I'm still sitting in the same f*cking mixing studio that I've been sitting in since Thursday morning, so humour me. In any case, I like the subtle brilliance of this.

Cheers to Charles Taylor

From the Globe & Mail:

NEW YORK — Charles Taylor, a Canadian philosopher who says the world's problems can only be solved by considering both their secular and spiritual roots, was named Wednesday as the recipient of a religion award billed as the world's richest annual prize.

Dr. Taylor, a professor of law and philosophy at Northwestern University, has won this year's Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries About Spiritual Realities. The award is worth more than $1.5-million (U.S.).

In a career spanning more than four decades, Dr. Taylor, 75, has investigated a wide range of issues, including how it is that the search for meaning and spiritual direction can end in violence. He contends that relying only on secular analyses of human behaviour leads to faulty conclusions.
(read the rest)

Not only am I happy that a nice Canadian boy won the prize, but that a well-measured and (dare I say, in this fractured age of ours) balanced look at the price society pays, being the lost children in the divorce between the strictly secular social sciences and the often inflexible tenets of religion.

I will definitely check out this man's work - please read the full article.

Stress

It creeps up on you like nausea mixed with fire. Your stomach muscles tighten as if someone has just thrown cold water on the back of your neck. Beads of sweat form on your forehead; your skin feels both cool and feverish. You can't hear clearly or focus on peripheral tasks.

A rollercoaster you never paid to ride, there is no visible end to the loops in the rails.

You take notice of everything around you that invokes hatred and irritation: crying children, inconsiderate drivers, the playlist on the radio. You try to ignore the rupturing stream in the hope that you can keep it from igniting a base fury rumbling in the darkness of some primal ancestry.

You cannot sleep. You cannot pay attention.

You are immobilized and nothing anyone can say will help.

...but it will pass...

You will survive.

There is no devil manipulating things behind the curtain of consciousness; no wheel of fortune spinning capriciously against you. The day will come when you will wake up and the sun will be shining and you will realise that your world, while unpredictable, isn't likely to combust as you have feared.

You learn to breathe; you wash your face of worry and watch the dirt whirl down the drain into the blackness of limbo. You realise that the future is full of new days, both dark and light, and that those who succeed are the ones who see clearly, who manage to allow the darkness to pass around them and not through.

This Blog is One Year Old

My 85th post is to thank everyone for their feedback, comments, intermittent visits, and occasional votes of support.

(insert image of birthday cake, etc.)