An out-of-focus photograph
The Girl on the Train - Paula HawkinsI have seen two covers for this book and both include an out of focus shot. The first depicts the blurred image of a train itself as though you are on the platform watching the train race past, from the outside. The second image (shown on the right) shows the blurred image of a landscape as though you are watching the scenery race past as you are on the train looking out. Either way, both covers show movement blur which ties in with the novel being about a womans daily commute on a train. Both images capture attention however I think the first is more effective and links directly with a key point of both the story and the title.
I found another book cover that I was interested in and wanted to include it here.
Whilst this cover is not completely out of focus, it doesn't show a clear photograph and so I guess it would fit into this category.
This novel is about a successful photographers wife who hasn't given her children much insight into her past and her youngest daughter daughter uncovers lots of old photos while preparing an exhibition of her fathers work, which gives her an insight into their past. The image is much the same, It doesn't give much away. It shows a rainy glass which gives the impression of rain, misery and stormy weather. It could also link to tears. Plus the image is of a fraction of a womans face. I think that this represents the wife and that she was never the main focus of wholly in the picture. As though the picture always came first. I haven't read the book so I'm not sure it's a true reflection of the story but the cover gives great symbolism if it does. I though it was a very effective cover with a link to the title and possibly the storys' content.
A minimalist landscape or outdoor scene with a large area of sky.
This is my inclusion for this category. The cover is mostly sky with two almost identical trees either side of a woman in the centre. The girl, ground and trees and all silhouetted against a colourful sunset sky. The story is about a woman who has a perfect life but finds it torn apart through post natal depression. The images itself appears subjective to the story. It depicts loneliness with the lone figure but also tranquility in the evening sky. But I think the fact that everything is silhouetted is symbolism for the darkness of the depression against her otherwise perfect world, symbolised with the beautiful sky.
Not a particularly eye catching book cover but it's perfectly in sync with the theme of the story once you know what the book is about.
A Still like close up.
The summary of this book says its a story about love and adultery and betrayal. The cover is a close up of a hand, holding a heart shaped pendant on a chain, being held by a hand. Immediately looking at this cover you know that love was in there somewhere due to the heart shaped pendant. The pendant can also be a symbol for someones heart as opposed to 'love' and the image in my eyes looked like someone holding their or someone's heart in their hands. The title is 'fragile lies'. Fragile implies delicate and something that needs to be protected or can be broken easily. So I think the title is emphasising that even the most 'protected' lies can have a huge impact and ruin lives or in this case, hearts can be broken. Again, not a striking book cover but it gives an air of mystery to the story behind the cover.
An historical archival photograph.
I didn't find a huge amount of historical archival covers in my searches but I did find this one. It is a factual account of a woman's life in Nazi Germany and so a true story. The photograph shows two women in an urban street which links to the author and the story. The inclusion of the image in sepia/monotone gives the impression of age which links to the historical factor of the account being set in 1941. It is unclear whether the photograph is actually from the author or from the time or location of the account or if it's just a stock photo. But either way it ties in with the story and someone seeing this on the shelf would know straight away that this was a historical story so I can understand the choosing of this photograph for this books cover.
An Inverted Photograph.
This was another difficult find. This book is apparently a group study book looking at the parables told by Jesus. The cover basically shows a cityscape, upside at the top of the page, with a plane pulling a banner with the subtitle on at the bottom of the page, the right way up. There isn't really much to comment on this cover. The photograph is completely subjective to the book title.
I found another book cover which caught my attention under this category but it has an illustration as opposed to a photograph.
The image shows a car upside down at the top of the cover. It doesn't tie in with the title, August, so it really captures your interest to the nature of the story, which is about people contemplating their lives while trapped upside down in a car wreck after a crash. So the illustration really does capture the subject of the story precisely. But it makes for a very interesting cover with such an abstract image.
The illustrator, Guy Shield, wrote in his blog on Nov 30th 2010 about how he had been commissioned to create this artwork and how it was "designed to sit upside down on bookshelves, creating an up-close sense of intrigue about the fact that their hair is 'floating' and colour is rushing to their heads. The reality is the car is upside down in mid air."
References:
Amazon Uk (2015) Gone To Ground [online] avilable at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gone-Ground-extraordinary-account-survival/dp/1781254141/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427235257&sr=1-1&keywords=gone+to+ground [accessed March 18th 2015]
Amazon Uk (2015) August [online] avilable at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/August-Bernard-Beckett/dp/192175804X [accessed March 18th 2015]
Amazon Uk (2015) The Girl on the Train [online] available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Train-Paula-Hawkins/dp/0857522310/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427236663&sr=1-1&keywords=the+girl+on+the+train [accessed March 18th 2015]
Amazon Uk (2015) Inverted [online[ available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inverted-Living-Perspective-Changing-Parables-Jesus/dp/0784729255/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427236692&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=inverted+nick+ellsworth [accessed March 18th 2015)
Amazon Uk (2015) Fragile Lies [online] available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fragile-Lies-Laura-Elliot/dp/1909490806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427236725&sr=1-1&keywords=fragile+lies [accessed March 18th 2015)
Amazon Uk(2015) A Mother's Story [online] available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mothers-Story-Amanda-Prowse-ebook/dp/B00NLGBKTK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427236746&sr=1-1&keywords=amanda+prowse+a+mothers+story [accessed March 18th 2015]
Amazon Uk (2015) The photographers Wife [online] available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photographers-Wife-Nick-Alexander-ebook/dp/B00MTJQVPS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427236770&sr=1-1&keywords=a+photographers+wife [accessed March 18th 2015]
Amazon.Com (2015) Girl on the train [online] available at :http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Train-Novel-Paula-Hawkins/dp/1594633665/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427236798&sr=1-1&keywords=girl+on+the+train [accessed March 18th 2015]
Guy Shield(2010) The long lazy afternoons [online] available at:http://guyshield.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/long-lazy-afternoons.html [accessed March 18th 2015]
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