The Friday Face-Off was created by Books by Proxy, where each week bloggers can showcase books with covers centered around a weekly theme. You can visit Lynn’s Books for a list of upcoming themes. Join in the fun each Friday by finding a book whose cover is based on the theme!
This week’s theme: A freebie. Choose one of your favorite titles and compare the covers.
At first I was trying to come up with a favorite book from THIS year. But just about everything I read is so new, there hasn’t been much time for the books to sell internationally and acquire a bunch of cool covers. So I’m choosing a book from my past, pre-blogging, that I absolutely love, A Secret History by Donna Tartt. No doubt if I had actually written a review of this book, it would have received five stars and would be at the top of my “best of the year” list! Luckily, there are plenty of covers to choose from, take a look:
U.S. Knopf edition 1992 | Dutch edition 1999
Portuguese edition 2005 | Dutch edition 2004
Chinese edition 2016 | Spanish edition 1994
Polish edition 2015 | Finnish edition 1996
Slovenian edition 2016 | French edition 1993
This is tough for me to pick my favorite. There are several I love, especially the Slovenian, Finnish and Dutch 2014 editions. But for some reason my eye keeps going back to the Spanish edition:
Oh, these are all so different and so beautiful! I like the Spanish version, too, but something about the Chinese version is drawing me to it. Our U.S. edition it the most boring, though I still like it. I still need to read this book!
I love the Chinese edition too, it’s very bold! Yeah, the US cover is pretty bland compared to the others:-)
Good choice! It does possess a… classical flavor (it somehow reminds me of the Pompeii frescoes) and for this reason I like it just as I like the Knopf and Portuguese editions, because their covers have that same flavor. 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: THE ROOK (The Checquy Files #1), by Daniel O’Malley
Yes, I think the classic designs work the best. The story is steeped in that classic feel, which I love!
I really like the Slovenian 2016 edition! But it doesn’t seem to fit with the other covers? Does it make sense with the book?
Brittany recently posted…Friday Face Off: Freebie
I really like that one too. And yes, it does make sense! Although it doesn’t work quite as well as some of the others, I immediately liked the idea.
I can’t believe I’ve never really taken the time to look at other covers of this books, it’s also one of my all-time favorites! They are all pretty good! I’m rather fond of the U.S. hardcover, but I also like the Spanish, Polish, and Chinese editions (even though the Chinese one seems slightly dramatic). Great choice for this week. 🙂
This is the first time I’ve looked at the other covers too! I was surprised how many good ones there are:-)
I haven’t heard of this one, but I love how all the covers are different and yet still have the same feel to them. My faves are the Chinese and Polish ones though!
I feel like the cover artists really got this book right, most of them work with the story:-)
So many of these are beautiful. I’m going with the Finish cover.
Laura Thomas recently posted…The Friday 56 #195 ~ That Which Grows Wild
I chose a favorite book from a few years back as well, so that there were more cover choices. I like the winner you chose, I love the classical look!
Wow, so many of these are truly beautiful. I have a hard time picking the best one for me. 😮 I also really need to pick this book up someday! 😮
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…Hellboy Omnibus Volume 4: Hellboy in Hell by Mike Mignola
I’m partial to the U.S. cover, probably just because it’s the one I’m most familiar with, but I do love the Spanish and Slovenian ones as well. Love that red on the Spanish.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Getting Rid of Books – How to Decide When It’s Time to Part Ways
Oh yes – I completely agree with you – that Spanish cover is gorgeous… I haven’t read Donna Tartt, but I know I should – several of my students are huge fans so I should get hold of this one:).
I haven’t read The Secret History but it’s interesting to see such a variation in covers across countries!
I love your choice of book and your cover. I also like both Dutch editions.
Lynn 😀
Oh, I love the covers for these! Mostly because I love old art and so when I see covers featuring paintings…ah, it’s a weakness of mine, lol. Great pick!