Judging Book by Its Cover: The Red Pony (John Steinbeck)

Judging Book by Its Cover is a blog feature where I analyze book cover art, compare it with its content, as well as with covers from few other editions.

Book summary:
Young Jody Tiflin lives on his father's California ranch. He is thrilled when his father gives him a red pony, and later promises him the colt of a bay mare. Both these gifts bring joy to Jody's life--but tragedy soon follows. As Jody begins to learn the harsh lessons of life and death, he starts to understand what growing up and becoming an adult really means. - Goodreads

My own review

My copy is a 1992 Penguin Books edition

I love the barefooted little boy and the pony in this cover art, it truly represents Jody and his love of his red pony. I also love the pale minty-green and brownish-yellow streaks on the horizon, as if indicating how Jody wakes up very early every morning to be with and take care of his pony. A very nice cover art, and very true to the story!


Now, let's pick three more cover arts from different editions.

Penguin Classics, 1994

A red pony grazing in the field on a warm sunny day is a perfect cover art for a book titled The Red Pony. But it's all really about the boy who owns the pony, not the pony; the red pony only appears in a quarter of the book. So, I feel something’s missing in this cover art. And does red ponies usually that red? I've always imagined they are more of earthen clay red than blood red.

Penguin Books, 1993

Another of the horse-only cover art. But in this one, the horse is less dominant. It's just a little shadowy thing perched on a cliff on a full moon that makes everything looks red. I won't even know it's a horse if not clearly hinted on the title - I would've thought it a wolf! A nice art perhaps, but not giving the book the credit it deserves.

Penguin, 2017

The last one is another boy-pony dynamic, but on a more modern style of a cover art. I love this one too; the bottle-green background, the font, the boy's overall, and the pony's head tilting beneath the boy's caress.

My favorites are definitely the two of the boy-pony covers, but it's hard to pick one. Both are gorgeous cover arts, but maybe the modern one features a little too-matured-image of Jody? The one of my own copy (the first one) seems to be more appropriate. And I always love a few brushes of pastel colors in cover arts, so I pick that one as a winner!

What do you think? If you have read the book, which cover art do you think truly represents the story? And if you haven't, which one appeal to you most?


P.S. How come that all those gorgeous editions are of Penguin group? Haven't other publishers published this book? Or have they become rare?

 

Judging Book by Its Cover: The Professor's House (Willa Cather)

Judging Book by Its Cover is a blog feature where I analyze book cover art, compare it with its content, as well as with covers from few other editions.

Book summary:
"Professor Godfrey St. Peter is a man in his fifties who has devoted his life to his work, his wife, his garden, and his daughters, and achieved success with all of them. But when St. Peter is called on to move to a new, more comfortable house, something in him rebels. And although at first that rebellion consists of nothing more than mild resistance to his family's wishes, it imperceptibly comes to encompass the entire order of his life. The Professor's House combines a delightful grasp of the social and domestic rituals of a Midwestern university town in the 1920s with profound spiritual and psychological introspection." - Amazon

My own review

My copy is a Vintage Classics edition of 1990

While I love flowers, including flowers in cover arts, I don't think these four flower stalks in the cover do any justice to the book at all. It feels like the designers were run out of idea and just threw four flowers to fill the otherwise blank spot. Esthetically it's not really pretty, and it has no meaning whatsoever. I hate it when publishers/designers do this!


Now, let's pick three more cover arts from different editions.

The Kindle edition, published by Open Road Media in 2021

This one is really interesting. There is two images instead of one, and it looks like two layers of wallpaper on the wall. The outer layer's is that of a study (with the wooden desk and chair, and books on the shelves). A professor's study would look like this. Then someone tore it open, revealing another one with unrelated picture of a cliff city.

This cover art truly represents the book; with the story of Tom Outland and the ancient remains of a cliff city he'd found in the Blue Messa. In term of relevance, we can tick it off. But from the aesthetic point of view, I don't think it looks appealing on a book. It's rather ambiguous, instead.

The Virago edition, 2006

I like the simplicity of this cover. The bareness of the room and the very uncomfortable wooden chair reflected Professor St. Peter's old house, from which he's supposed to move out. There's also the sense of emptiness of abandoned room, and loneliness too. It's very relevant with the tone of the story. However, as cover art, it makes the book seems too depressing, that I don't think I would ever pick it if I've found it on display at a bookstore.

The alternate edition from Vintage Classics, 1990

I have saved the best for last. This is my cover art champion! I love the faded brush strokes effect that gives the sense of dreaminess which retired people often feels of their world - like their influences in the world is receding. I love also the stretch of landscape view from the window.

Then there's the mannequin bust - which looks misplaced in a Professor's room, but actually in accordance with the story. I love how the mannequin bust (or the form, as Professor St. Peter and Augusta the sewing woman call it) seems to be an integral part of the study, instead of accessory, so that if you don't pay minute attention of it, you won't notice anything wrong. And that's how one should do a cover art - beautiful, yet relevant to the story.


What do you think? If you have read the book, which cover art do you think truly represents the story? And if you haven't, which one appeal to you most?

Judging Book by Its Cover: Jane of Lantern Hill (L.M. Montgomery)

Judging Book by Its Cover is a blog feature where I analyze book cover art, compare it with its content, as well as with covers from few other editions.

Jane of Lantern Hill

For L.M. Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill, I read the e-book version from Virago, published in 2014. I loved the modern cover art, with a little girl standing in front of a full-blossoming cherry tree, with a full moon in the background. It's a perfect portrait of this passage:

"She had crept out to have a good look at the full moon . . . Jane had her own particular reasons for liking to look at the moon . . . and the white blossoming cherry-tree over in the yard of 58. The cherry-tree, with the moon hanging over it like a great pearl, was so beautiful that Jane felt a queer lump in her throat when she looked at it."

The girl looks so unhappy, and is searching for a little peace from the moon, which really looks like hanging over the cherry tree like a big pearl. It vividly portrays Jane's unhappiness when staying at her grandmother's house in 60th Gay Street.

However, if you look carefully at the girl, you can see there're still hopes for a brighter future. Her bright face and her clasping hands suggest that hopefulness. She feels alone, but she finds solace in the moon and the cherry tree; they're her temporary friends, until she finds lovely people who'd love and accept her as she is. Well, the pearly moon and the cherry blossoms help adding a touch of gayness to the cover too.

All in all, I love this cover art, modern, beautiful, melancholy, but with a touch of brightness.

Now, let's pick two more cover arts from different editions.

McClelland & Stewart (1st edition), 1937

I'm always curious by first edition of a classic. In this edition, there's the little girl, and the big moon. But what tree is that, with its hanging branches over the girl? I don't like this painting. The night is too dark, despite of the full moon. The tree looks rather ominous; and the girl's gesture seems like she's waiting for someone or something, rather than a lonely or unhappy child. It doesn't look charming at all; and if I was to look at this cover while hunting for a charming book at the bookstore, I won't pick it.

McClelland & Stewart (later edition), 1989

I rather like this one. It's obviously Jane and her father having a picnic during Jane's summer stay at Lantern Hill. They're having a good time, and the overall painting conveys a sense of warmth and coziness. But to me, it’s too straightforward; it lacks the depth and complexity of the story - Jane's struggle, her wonderful personal development after tasting love and freedom.


In the end, to me, the winner is the Virago's cover. It's artistic, beautiful, and true to the story.

What do you think? If you have read the book, which cover art do you think truly represents the story? And if you haven't, which one appeal to you most?

**This is my second entry for We ❤ L.M. Montgomery Week hosted by Hamlette (Rachel) @ Hamlette's Soliloquy **

Judging Book by Its Cover: The Woodlanders (Thomas Hardy)

It's yet another new feature in Fanda Classiclit, where I'd analyze book cover, compare it with the content, as well as with covers from few other editions.

The Woodlanders

My copy is a Penguin Classics 1998's edition, which used a portrait for its cover. It is a photo of Alice Liddell, taken by Julia Margaret Cameron in 1872. It's Mrs. Sarah Coller @ Belle's Library who first pointed out that the cover art is "grown up Alice Liddell - Lewis Carroll's inspiration for Alice in Wonderland".

As I scrutinized the portrait, I saw a rebellious, headstrong, dissatisfied face of a young woman looked back at me. And I thought: that's Marty South, the center and most relatable character of The Woodlanders! - more so with her long hair and leaves around her head, which implies someone who spends a lot of time in the forest and is intimate with the nature.

When I first bought this book, I actually disliked the cover art as it looked rather mystical to me (at first sight). But after knowing the real young woman in the portrait, and especially after reading the book, I think it's the perfect cover!

But let's pick two other covers from different editions before we conclude; who knows, we might find a better version, and a new champion!

Penguin Classics - revised 1998's edition

It's a painting of a lady sitting alone in the forest. While the forest fits woodland description, the lady does not. She seems like just a lady taking a stroll to the forest, maybe while contemplating her worldly problems, and feeling tired, sits there for a while. She might be assumed as Grace Melbury from The Woodlanders, who's born on the woodland - true - but at heart not a true woodlander. So, this cover might represent one of the characters, but it's not a perfect representation of the whole book/story.

Oxford Classics 2009's edition

It's a painting of two women taking a walk in the forest - a lady with her hatless friend? They are far from woodlanders; walking on a woodland doesn't make one a woodlander! So, the cover doesn't represent the book at all.


In the end, I'm satisfied with the cover of my copy, it is the winner!

What about you? Which cover do you like better?