The vast majority of readers indeed judge books by their covers, and perhaps there has to be some kind of psychological aspect to eye-catching design. I certainly like to think of myself as utilitarian (or maybe I'm just stingy) in that I tend to always read summaries and the first few pages of a book before I buy it, but I do admit that I have sometimes passed over a book or investigated it further because of its cover design. So I cannot entirely absolve myself of the sin of, literally, judging books by their covers. On the topic of buying and owning books physically, I tend to buy physical books mostly when I have read and enjoyed them and want to have the privilege of thumbing through them, or when there is no digital version available. And even then, unless I have no other option, I always buy paperbacks (usually used--I'm definitely just stingy). I do think that the push to make physical books as attractive as possible is contributing to their increase in price--why am I paying $20 for a paperback?--so I don't feel entirely convinced. I love beautiful things, and I love physical books, but I don't think the physical appearance of a book needs to knock the wind out of me for me to be interested in it.
It does make me consider aspects of the publishing industry that stand contrary to my views, as I have been doing lately in my translation work. I don't mind footnotes; publishers mind them plenty. I don't need an over-the-top cover that risks misrepresenting the contents inside; publishers do. It calls to mind (aptly) the discussion of Grotesque last week. To catch the eye of the American reader, the publisher went with a cover that potentially misrepresents the contents of the book; it is not contemplative, and it plays into the very forces that the main character struggles against by emphasizing the face of a beautiful woman. Ultimately, this was done for profit--a cover that appeals to a large reader base brings in the dough.
No comments:
Post a Comment