Great American Novels

Looking at some of the great American novels of the 20th century, I noticed a pattern. Maybe you will too:

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I don't know about you, but I see a lot of yellow and brown here... And I think it's telling. Honestly, when I think of American novels around the 20s, the Depression, or the World Wars, I think of the colour brown. Why? There's probably a cultural reason, and (although I have very little background, and I'm just speculating), I think it has to do with American values of that not-so-long-ago era.

Americans value hard work, the kind of work that a person does for an entire lifetime, struggling nobly against obstacles. The settlers who came to the States from Europe (like the settlers in Canada) primarily farmed the fields, drove cattle, and made their living off the wild western land. It follows that, for a long time, farm-related imagery was (and maybe still is) a symbol of hard, persevering work. 

When the "great American novels" aren't about professional work (as in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn), they're usually still about a struggle. Sometimes, it's literally a struggle for survival, but it can also  be a struggle for meaning, ambition, friendship... The key point, in my opinion, is hard and enduring struggle, and brown covers highlight that theme.

But not all brown covers are American, of course...

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An Easy Target

What goes into the making of book covers? As a long-time wanna-be author, I've spent many night lying awake pondering the question. (I wrote a novel in junior high, and I wanted it to make me famous, so I went through a phase of obsession with this topic...) Covers tell us a lot about the stories between them, and a team of professionals designs each one very carefully.

Stephanie Meyer's publishers, for example, probably sat down and discussed which disembodied part to feature on Twilight's front cover. Seeing it, readers immediately know to expect a breathless teen romance (and some edgy bits, from the obvious apple symbolism). The title font, which looks like really irregular, spooky candles (right?), tells us that there are supernatural elements to the story... And the back background echoes the apple of temptation symbolism, making young readers feel grown-up and pleasantly rebellious.

"What about a blue/green/gold eye with long lashes?"
"No, too obvious. How 'bout... Arms?"
Original image here.

It probably wasn't fair to start with such an easy target, but the point is that covers give tons of information about their stories. Next time I'll look at something less obvious... The idea applies to more than cliched vampire romances.