When discussing the importance of beginnings in class, particularly in regard to film, this got me thinking of other beginnings and how they have impacted me. The first thing that popped into my head was my shallow habit of judging a book by its cover.
From a young age I’ve been told that familiar line, “don’t judge a book by its cover” and soon discovered not only its literal meaning but also its broader life lesson. While I did take the moral message to heart, the later I did not. Having been an avid reader since kindergarten, I have always possessed a piece of literature. As I became old enough to make my own decisions of what to read I found myself perusing Barnes and Nobel's teen book section for the books with the most appealing cover art. An odd ball of criteria began to amass in my selection of a “good book”. Unfortunately this shallow way of picking out a good read still controls me to this day.
First and most importantly, the book must have a hard cover. Something durable that I know will stand strong on my bookshelf. The book must also use an intriguing type face that is unique to that work alone. The art must not be cheesy, i.e. like a romance novel. I want to be able to use this book as yet another art piece to decorate my room with. The books I choose to display on my shelf are my opinion of “pretty” and “cool” and are no different than the posters I choose to display on my walls.
Now, looking at this as a bystander, I would call myself a shallow, uneducated connoisseur of literature. Ironically enough, my superficial method has proved highly successful. There is not one book on my shelf that I have failed to finish or labeled as a “bad read”.
Thus, in my opinion the importance of an eye-catching cover, the BEGINNING of a book, is absolutely essential! Without the intricate design and attention to detail, a novel can be easily overlooked on a shelf. For example, I recently purchased this magnificent pink edition of Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. Although I have read the book in the past, this edition’s hard cover, eye-catching color, gold trimmed pages and attached ribbon book mark, convinced me to purchase it. In comparison to the beige edition’s cover (on right), how could one not purchase the pink edition? Both contain the same work but the time spent designing the pink edition makes it that more alluring…
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