Isbister15
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Mar 21, 2003 18:38:17 GMT -5
Post by Isbister15 on Mar 21, 2003 18:38:17 GMT -5
That's what I was thinking, too, En. *blushes because she just might be crazy enough to want both covers* But apparently this is more of a non-US issue. Here's a brief blurb that was in Newsday today. On top of the write-up is the bluish pic that SP posted. 'Phoenix' Rises With 2 Covers
The fifth installment of the Harry Potter book will have two separate covers, one for adults and one for children.
Bloomsbury Publishers unveiled the designs yesterday in London. The adult edition of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" features a somber black-and-white picture of a phoenix, while the children's version is illustrated with a more vibrant, red-and-orange bird rising from flames. The U.S. edition will not feature a phoenix.
The designs will be used for editions released in Great Britain and other English-speaking countries, except the United States, where the book is to be published by Scholastic Children's Books.
<snipped non-related stuff> I kinda like the sound of the one with the red-and-orange phoenix.
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Mar 21, 2003 23:29:40 GMT -5
Post by Sphi on Mar 21, 2003 23:29:40 GMT -5
Yeah, I think there's quite a few of us here who would be crazy enough to do that. I already know that they publish an "adult" version of the books, but I thought they were only in paperback. Like the adult version of Philosopher's Stone is dark blue with the black-and-white picture of Snape (?) running towards the Forest, which is one of the chapter pics in our version. So for Order of the Phoenix, they're making an adult hardcover edition, too? That's sorta strange. But I'm still excited to see what our cover will look like. I actually think it'll be more interesting to have a cover that doesn't include a phoenix, or at least not making it the main feature of the illustration. I find all the covers very good...the only problem with the US version is that Mary GrandPre seems to be trying to cram more and more into each cover, which is just getting messy. BTW, why did that pic I put up in the first post change...? Oh. My. God...I think that might be the actual cover...!! How sweet!!
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Isbister15
Gryffindor Alumni
Mmmm...chocolate
Posts: 5,082
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Mar 22, 2003 0:01:41 GMT -5
Post by Isbister15 on Mar 22, 2003 0:01:41 GMT -5
I have that version of SS with the figure running toward the forest (along with my reg. pic paperback and hardcover versions ) but I never considered it the "adult" cover. I just thought it was the Scholastic cover. And the type in that version is smaller so the pages don't correspond to the regular US versions of the book. Three Cheers to SP for having the pic up first.
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Mar 22, 2003 0:06:08 GMT -5
Post by Sphi on Mar 22, 2003 0:06:08 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D I don't know. I always thought that dark blue one was the adult version because the words were all smaller, and in general, it seems more serious, what with the lack of color. I wish I could buy all the versions possible of the books, especially all the books from other countries. So far, I only have the US hardcovers and the paperback for CoS (I'm not sure why I have that...). Better take deep breaths before I pass out...
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Mar 22, 2003 8:43:30 GMT -5
Post by En on Mar 22, 2003 8:43:30 GMT -5
As an adult, I would like to throw in here that I strongly object to publishers who think I will like things better in black and white. I am not so old that my cones and rods don't work, you publisher jerks
I wonder what the deal is, really, then? I mean the two covers for profit thing has been done before, and it worked, but why one for adults and one for kids? Haven't they noticed that it's a children's book and if adults are reading it, it's probably because they like that it's a children's book?!
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Mar 22, 2003 23:36:29 GMT -5
Post by Sphi on Mar 22, 2003 23:36:29 GMT -5
hehehe...En, it's nice to hear that some adults actually are comfortable with reading children's books...and not hiding it. I guess that a lot of adults don't think they'll be taken seriously if they're seen reading a children's book with colorful cartoonish covers. Heck, some kids my age already deem HP a stupid, childish book, which I find extremely immature and altogether lame. But I guess that's a whole different controversy. (I know they are always said to be children's books, but if you really read into them, the HP books are quite deep...and many people just don't understand that.)
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Mar 23, 2003 23:47:12 GMT -5
Post by En on Mar 23, 2003 23:47:12 GMT -5
I would like to take this opportunity to quote one of my very favourite adults, Mr. C.S. Lewis: "The stupidest children are the most childish, and the stupidest grown-ups are the most grown-up."
It is my considered opinion that everyone who is ashamed to be seen reading Harry Potter should do some real maturing. Only people who are mature enough to like what they like without being afraid of other people's opinions are going to enjoy such excellent books anyway.
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Isbister15
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Mar 23, 2003 23:47:34 GMT -5
Post by Isbister15 on Mar 23, 2003 23:47:34 GMT -5
As a pseudo-adult ( ) I'd like to second the notion of non-children not always prefering B&W. I don't really care what people think about me liking the HP series, although to be honest I initially wasn't interested in reading the books because I thought they were just kid stuff. But a friend of mine (who's an excellent teacher) started telling me about them, so I borrowed SS from the library and was hooked. That's really the beauty of HP, it can be enjoyed by all ages on so many different levels. KG and I went to a party at Borders back in July for Harry's birthday and it was really cute. Sure, most of the party-goers were quite a bit younger than us, but it didn't deter from our fun. And we'll be there again when they have their party for the OotP release. I can't even wait; it's gonna be a blast. A children's book....bah.
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Mar 24, 2003 3:48:27 GMT -5
Post by Sphi on Mar 24, 2003 3:48:27 GMT -5
Hehe, I love you guys. You're true fans of Harry Potter...and adults. How nice. Here are the UK covers, if anyone's interested. I think they're nice, too, but I still prefer the US version. It seems to leave a lot more for the imagination...more symbolism, I guess you could say. But then again, I'm always the person in class finding hidden messages in everything we read. Without further ado, I give you... (these are the covers that Izzy mentioned with that article above)
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Mar 24, 2003 11:47:49 GMT -5
Post by En on Mar 24, 2003 11:47:49 GMT -5
Uh oh. I find myself weirdly attracted to the "adult" cover... but that is not because I am over 18. It's because I'm a Gothic architecture nut. Not Gothic like "goths" (the little morbid tykes in black clothes who often annoy me) but Gothic like French cathedrals from around the years 1200-1350 That pointed arch is the signature Gothic arch. All Gothic architecture has arches like that, and usually windows shaped that way too. The phoenix is definitely not as cool as the red one, and I might have to get the colourful one just because it's the same cover style as my copy of HP1, but I dig the Gothic arch
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Calantha
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My name is Luck, this is my song, I happened by when you were gone
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Mar 24, 2003 19:30:03 GMT -5
Post by Calantha on Mar 24, 2003 19:30:03 GMT -5
I've got to go with the second one...and I'm under 18 . Why? I don't know, the bright colors just don't attract me as much as the darker colors. Which is odd, because aren't brighter colors suppose to attract people? The red and yellow just don't do it for me, although I'd take either if I could read them right now... Also, the second one, I guess appeals to me more so than the first because of the way it is laid out. Okay, the first one has a fairly basic lay out, bird, fire, and background color, I'm guess the to represent the sky? And the second one has more depth added to it. You've got the main bird, which, I don't know, I enjoy, with the blending at the bottom (to represent fire? Smoldering something or other) and then the building, which, like En, I like. I don't know, I just find the second much more...mysterious than the first, and I'd probably go with that one.
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Isbister15
Gryffindor Alumni
Mmmm...chocolate
Posts: 5,082
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Mar 25, 2003 0:16:48 GMT -5
Post by Isbister15 on Mar 25, 2003 0:16:48 GMT -5
Hmmm, I actually think I like both US versions better than either of the British ones. You know what bothers me the most about the UK versions? The type. Yeah, I know, sounds weird, especially since the type on the "youth" US version is pretty much the same. But it's just too...um...Encyclopedia Britianica or something. I can get over it on the US color one because it doesn't jump right out at you, but on the color Brit one it's like, "Hello, I'm bold red type on a bright yellow backround...aren't I interesting?" I'm with Cal, the colors don't do it for me. And though I like the pic on the UK adult cover, it seems like it would better suit a period piece or a modern murder mystery (heh heh, go figure ). Having seen all these covers, I guess I like the B&W (it's actually bluish, isn't it?) US one the best. I'd really like the "child" US one if it had different colors. But beggars can't be choosers, I just want a copy.
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Mar 25, 2003 12:04:40 GMT -5
Post by En on Mar 25, 2003 12:04:40 GMT -5
*gives Calantha the respectful geek look* Yes, I think you're on to something there... the depth / perspective in the "adult" UK cover adds a good deal of visual interest that just isn't there in the "children's" UK edition.
I do like the blue cover because it also has perspective / depth, and frankly... Harry looks like he's up to something. The blue cover makes me curious. What's through those doors? Where is Harry? Why are the letters of the title wispy like smoke?
And ditto what Isbister said about the typeface on the red/yellow cover. I know why they kept it, because they used it on the first four books, and I know why they're using yellow and red (what do you bet those happen to be the colours of the Order of the Phoenix as well as Gryffindor house? :. But it just doesn't... say anything. It's like, "Hi, I'm the blandest font, now in funny colours. I look like your newspaper would if you did an Andy Warhol on it."
I still dig the Gothic arch one best, but I will no doubt end up with both it and the blue one; because I pride myself on having Harrys of many nations. I have the first three books in French, a UK edition, one in Czech... The deal is, I'm a language geek. I went through the UK and US editions to find where the language had been altered. It's for an essay on the divergence of English. I got French to practice reading it (I can only read Camus so many times) and Czech to learn it. When I have Harry in Latin and Hebrew, I'll learn those too
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Calantha
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My name is Luck, this is my song, I happened by when you were gone
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Mar 25, 2003 20:49:06 GMT -5
Post by Calantha on Mar 25, 2003 20:49:06 GMT -5
I like the Uk adult version better than the blue one though.
I don't know, I just really don't like seeing Harry on the cover...I'm not sure why...maybe I just like to see Harry in my mind without the picture of him to screw it up? Maybe? I don't know.
The lettering, all smolder-like is very curious, but I think the smoke type stuff and the cathedral type background does the same thing, in a more aestically pleasing way.
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Mar 26, 2003 11:59:00 GMT -5
Post by En on Mar 26, 2003 11:59:00 GMT -5
*nods enthusiastically* I sometimes deliberately look for editions of books that don't have pictures of the characters on, because I don't want to restrict my imagination, you know? Like, I'm not actually going to get rid of them, but I have the edition of the Chronicles of Narnia that has the weird lollipop-shaped trees and a slanty-eyed nervous face on the dragon head of the Dawn Treader, and that's always really bugged me, because to me, that's like the opposite of Narnia. Narnia is quintessentially natural, visceral, full of vividly living creatures. Putting stylised pictures on the cover is like trying to make Narnia into... into... a shopping mall.
All the same, it's a personal call, and I respect whatever people like, especially if they have interesting reasons for liking it.
I am also suffering from a bit of indecision caused by my deep and nearly uncontrollable desire for blue things. Ask Robin -- my clothes are blue, my house is blue, everything is blue
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