Wednesday, May 04, 2016

I Have Donna Leon Covered!



This week I chose the author and book covers as a reminder to myself. You see, I read Donna Leon's very first Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery a long time ago. Even though it didn't exactly light my imagination on fire, it was still a series that I wanted to try once more... just in case. I haven't done that second sample yet, hence the reminder.

Now that I do have this pictorial reminder, I think I'll just cut to the chase and show this week's book covers... 









This is Leon's twenty-fifth Brunetti mystery, and look at the covers her US and UK publishers designed! Just by looking at them, you know that The Waters of Eternal Youth is set in Venice, Italy. What's more, I'm thrilled that neither cover has one single solitary blurb on it. Wow!

Both covers state the author's name, the title of the book, and the fact that it's a Brunetti mystery. Why the US publishers thought they had to tell everyone that Leon is a New York Times bestselling author, I do not know, but the font size of that line is small enough that it doesn't detract from the rest of the cover.

Nope. The only real things to differentiate these two covers focus on the art-- the basic color scheme, the fonts used, and the graphics. Which do I prefer?

I really like both covers, but when I do my side-by-side comparison, I have to say that the UK cover wins. The Triumphal Quadriga of St. Mark's (the horses) are more striking against that dark green background, and Leon's name and the title of the book stand out well, too. Simple. Striking. Memorable. In many ways, I think this UK cover of The Waters of Eternal Youth is my favorite so far since I began this "cover-off" series of posts. 

But no two people see something in exactly the same way, which is what makes this so interesting. What say all of you? Which cover do you prefer? US? UK? Neither one? Like both equally? 

Inquiring minds would love to know!


   

12 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more, Cathy, about how great it is not to see a blurb, etc.. on the front cover! I like the UK cover better, too; I think it's that I like the architecture.

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    1. Yes, that architecture looks quite stunning against the dark background.

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  2. Here I am NOT talking to myself but bearing a comment from Reta because Blogger won't let her leave her own comments for some reason. Bad Blogger! Over to Reta!

    "Regarding the book cover for the Donna Leon novel - I agree with you - the one with the horses on it is the better cover.

    Did you know that her books have been made into a series? By a German company with German actors playing the Italian parts?!!

    The series is close captioned in English. It is quite well done. The background shots of Venice are part of the story and very well done.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0896667/ "

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    1. Oooh! I imagine that series could be quite interesting, but I don't know when I would get a chance to watch it. I knit while I watch television, and since my German consists of being able to count to five and the words I learned watching World War II films, those subtitles would do me in. I'd never know what was going on! I think I'll have to save those for when I'm one of those Whiz Kid Knitters who never has to watch what they're doing!

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  3. Hmm...the UK cover has horses on it. Done!

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  4. Well, I'm going to have to dissent here. I like the U.S. cover more. I have read all 25 of Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti books and they are among my favorites.

    I read The Waters of Eternal Youth and loved it. It's one of the best and has a strong women's consciousness.

    And the point is that the U.S. cover is much more relevant to the book's plot. The Venetian canals are
    the scene of a terrible crime which has lifetime impact on a character. Since I do not want to give spoilers, I"m not going to elaborate.

    But since I've read all the books and since the canals are everpresent -- and are crucial in this book -- I have to choose the U.S. cover.

    After everyone reads the book and sees what I mean, then think through which is the most appropriate cover.

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    1. I understand exactly what you're saying, Kathy. In fact I've done precisely the same thing when I've compared covers on books I've actually read. Your perspective changes once you've read the material in question, no doubt.

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  5. Also, the title makes sense when one reads the story and see who has "eternal youth" and why. The canal is involved. I hope I'm making reading the book tempting.

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    1. Lead me not into temptation... I can find it all by myself! ;-)

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  6. I'm just amazed at how Donna Leon can keep the writing and story fresh at book 25.

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