Tuesday 6 March 2012

Same Book/Different Cover: American Gods

 This is an occasional feature where I compare different covers of the same book...what I'm particularly interested in are re-issued covers for the same book and recently foreign editions.
This month I'm looking at a modern classic - a book I read last year and absolutely loved - Amercian Gods by Neil Gaimen.

Portugal

Spain


UK Paperback Edition 2005

US Edition

10th Anniversary Edition

Czech Republic

Portugal Edition: The close up of the road leading into the distance with the startling orange and red sky is very bright and colourful!
Spain Edition: Urgh. The red and white US flag background with a minotaur man just doesn't appeal to me.
US Edition: The road disappearing into the dark is a very vivid image but this seems a little dull both colour wise and in terms of standout on shelf.
UK Edition: The gold moth/butterfly on the plain black background is a great contrast. I like the idea of a butterfly as it reminds me of a cocoon and transformation.
10th Anniversary Edition: This is very green! I like the mix of the motel sign and the power line mixed with the lightning. An intriguing cover.
Czech Republic Edition: I love the distance of the landscape in this cover with the storm threatening and the mix of colours. The Lightning is brilliant and realistic. I want to own a copy of this cover!

My favourite? Czech Republic wins this week for me! Which do you prefer? :)

7 comments:

  1. 10th Anniversary Edition for me!
    Coincidentally that's the version that I own ;-)

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  2. I like how the Czech cover is similar to the US cover, which is the one that I got so used to seeing. Only with a cleaner image that incorporates more while still staying fairly simple.

    But I have to admit, the 10th Anniversary edition is pretty interesting. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there's some pretty heavy symbolism in such a simple image. The washed-out green being similar in tone to American money, the motel sign being decidedly phallic... I think that if I didn't know what the book was about, that perceived symbolism plus the title would convince me to at least give the book a chance! (But then again, I have a fairly cynical mind.)

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  3. I love Neil Gaiman, and American Gods is one of my favorites from him. :)
    I like the Czech cover, too, but my favorite is the US one :)

    You have been awarded the One Lovely Blog Award! http://nijiclovers.blogspot.com/2012/03/youre-lovely.html

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  4. My vote for the UK one only because I love this font :)

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  5. They all kind of suck but if I gotta choose one then I will go with Czech too

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  6. I actually like the minotaur but not the background behind it. Hm... still go with the UK version.

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  7. I'm always curious about the different covers. They are neat to see, but sometimes I wish it was universal around the world. :) THanks for sharing these!

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