Occasionally, I get in a weird contemplative mood about book covers. Especially the Uglies series. And Narnia. But today I noticed that Gone With The Wind has gotten a new face lift. Have you seen the 2008 cover for the mass market edition? If you have, what do you think of it?
For reference, here is another newish edition--Amazon reveals this one as the 2007 cover. Of the two, I prefer the nice blue one. It looks classier. The other looks like a bodice-ripper. I like the calming blue tone too. Gone With The Wind--more often than not always plays to the red and orange tones. I suppose that is in reference to passion and/or the burning of Atlanta. See what I mean:
and this one...
Both of those draw on inspiration from the movie. Something I don't particularly care for. The book is so very different from the movie. It's so much better really. And I like covers that are able to make the distinction. (Note: I do like the movie. I'm not saying I don't appreciate it. But it's just not the book. I like to keep the two clearly separated.)Which is why the original cover seems the classiest and most grown-up to me.
It looks like it's a serious book. A book for grown-ups. A book for women and men. A book that is about much more than a story of love unrequited.Which of these covers (if any) speak to you? Which say read me, read me? What ones do you think do the most justice to the content of the book? Do you find any of the covers limit the audience too much?
For the record, it was never the cover that drew me into reading Gone With The Wind. My first copy had no jacket to admire. Just turquoise-blue-worn splendor. See its condition now:
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
13 comments:
I very much prefer the new blue one. The 2007 (orange and red) looks way too much like a steamy romance novel - which this story is so much more than that. Like you, though, I'm particularly partial to the original cover.
It's too funny how much difference the cover makes, but it really does.
I do like the blue one the best-it is more intrigue than bodice-ripping romance! What a wonderful book...of course, we know the book is always better than the movie.
I actually like both of the new ones. I love the font on the first one. My copy is the fourth one you have listsd, although I also have a leather bound one. I don't really like that tan one, makes it look much more boring than it actually is.
Lisa, I *like* the look of the new one just not for for this book ;) If that makes any sense. The font is nice.
I didn't even know they had a leather one.
I prefer the blue one on the right. I agree that the new red one looks like a romance novel as does the old red one. I don't like the original, too bland and you said for women and men but I don't see men picking that up either.
AS for your old blue copy, I fairly recently gave away 7 or more boxes of books in blue covers like that.
Out of the newer versions, I like the blue one on the right. The other one seems to romance "novelish" for me. I haven't read "Gone With The Wind" (even though I have tried) but it really isn't a romance novel.
It's usually the old books (like your falling-apart blue one) that attract me... I think it's the history behind it. I wonder who read it before me and what they thought, etc.
Besides that, the blue one and the original appeal to me, too! The others are kind of sad. lol The top left new one made me think of a bodice-ripper before I read what you said, too. lol
They say we can't judge a book by its cover but I guess we do...
I like the old cover the best. I have only seen the movie once, and after reading the book, so the actors never sealed themselves in the roles of the book for me. I prefer a cover then that doesn't show them at all, so I can picture my own characters.
I do like the new blue one a lot. I agree that the book is way more than the movie, although I love the movie too, and is much more than a romance. I've never been fond of romances, but I loved Gone with the Wind. I remember clearly the first time I read it. I was 13 years old and had chicken pox, and my mom got a bunch of books for me from the library to help me pass the time. Of that stack of books, Gone with the Wind is the only one I remember reading.
This is neither here nor there, Sheila, but I was introduced to the movie Gone With The Wind when I was sick in bed with pneumonia. I was eight. I didn't read the novel until about three or four years later.
That's a cool coincidence, though, that we were both introduced to Gone with the Wind when we were sick, although in different formats. Having pneumonia at age 8 must have been pretty miserable.
Thanks for posting the picture of your copy. That's the same one I had, but it's long gone now. It brought back so many memories!
The copy I first read was my grandma's hard back copy which looked like that original copy. I do like the newer blue one and agree with your thoughts. Thanks for the post!
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