BOOK BY ITS COVER: Shining, Ubik, Orphan & Heart-Shaped Box

On Thursday’s, The Werewolf participates in that time-honored tradition of judging a book by its cover – literally.  I mean, let’s admit it, we all do it.  And, as much as I’m in to audiobooks and eBooks, there’s nothing like having the real book in your hand, especially when it features particularly appealing artwork or design elements.  And, while the recent Chip Kidd school is all fine and good, I’m a much bigger fan of the older, outmoded styles.  I have to say that I fetishize book covers and so I present this feature where I cull Google images for the best cover art of whichever 3 or 4 books I happen to be reading that week.  (Yes, 3 or 4 a week!  Generally, a paperback at work for reading on the can, something from Audible on my iPod for when I’m doing mindless data entry or running, one CD book in the car from the library and usually even one more book for home.)   

 

 

THE SHINING by Stephen King

 

As mentioned in Tuesday’s post, I’ve finally started in on this one and I am loving the hell out of it.  When I started looking through cover images from years gone by, I eventually came to this one which happened to be the paperback my brother had lying around when I was a kid…

 

 

At the time I thought it was pretty lame and never picked it up – even though I loved the King back then perhaps more than I do now.  But, as I look at this again this many years later I am gobstruck by the simple creepiness of the image.  I even kind of remember that the silver of it did seem to really shine. 

 

Now, as a rule, I pretty much hate any book cover that uses images from its movie adaptation.  This other Shining cover doesn’t really break that rule, but instead uses one of the brilliant posters from the movie’s original release.  I suppose it’s sort of cheating to call this a book cover since it was a poster first, but I can’t help it.  If I saw this on the used book shelf I’d snatch it right up…

 

 

 

UBIK by Philip K. Dick

 

My Audible subscription has me finally getting into the utterly singular sci-fi madness of Mr. Dick.  I meant to read his stuff chronologically after I first listened to “Man in the High Castle,” but I had to ditch that plan in favor of what was readily available.  So, I’ve ended up at the far end of his career instead, deep in the middle of his Gnostic-inspired, bat-shit crazy, toothache fiction. 

 

The stuff in this book lends itself to a million covers, but I imagine it’s hard to boil down to a single image.  The two I’ve picked aren’t necessarily the best, but they illustrate two wildly different approaches to making a cover for this book.

 

This first one captures the fact that it’s a very, very funny book and also supremely weird…

 

 

And, this Japanese edition cover takes the more serious, lonely approach which is still just as appropriate despite how wacky the novel really is…   

 

 

 

Both covers get major kudos for breaking the mostly ironclad law of publishing which apparently says “NO PHILIP K. DICK BOOK SHALL BE RELEASED WITHOUT MENTIONING BLADE RUNNER ON THE COVER!”  (I suppose a Japanese reader can tell me if I’m actually right about that.)

 

THE ORPHAN by Robert Stallman

 

The cover I’ve chosen for this brilliant werewolf novel happens to be the only image I could find online as well as the exact cover that’s on my paperback.  I don’t believe this book has seen much print, which is a shame.  And, when I first saw this cover I thought it was a little lame.  The wolf seemed to be too overdone and the boy too Tolkeinish.  But, every time I end a chapter and look back at the cover I can’t help but be drawn to the image.  Now I think it’s pretty much damn well perfect…

 

 

HEART SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill

 

Just about finished with this book and have to say that it hasn’t really lived up to the hype I’d read prior to it.  It’s a good yarn with interesting characters and Joe Hill’s definitely worth keeping on the radar going forward, but mostly I’ve just found it to be slightly better than okay.  And, appropriately, the covers are mostly just “okay” too.  I’ve chosen this one because it stands out a little better than the other few that I’ve seen, but I don’t necessarily like it any more than any of those. 

 

 

 

I do find it interesting that the image in the top right corner of the woman with the eyes scratched out was not visualized as it is in the book, with dark black nests of lines squiggling over the eyes of the dead.   In fact, the cover artist might have used that singular image idea as a central theme instead.  That or just the hanging, half-moon razor blade on a chain the dead man uses.

 

I do like the dogs, though.

THE VIDEODROME: Kubrick, the King and You

On Tuesday’s we enter the Videodrome where I present a couple of choice clips from the wastelands of YouTube and elsewhere.  These will typically be related to the craft of writing specifically (from actual, real, full-time writer’s you can trust) or be tangentially about what I’m reading or writing myself on that given day.  Now, that’s the intent, but I just know I won’t be able to resist the utterly random video from time to time.   

 

 

In the lead up to my podcast debut in mid-October, I wanted to kick-start the blog side of things here at “The Werewolf” with my first daily post (Daily not counting the weekend, of course.  Who do you people think I am?).  Each weekday I’ll bring you something on the quick but with a theme.  Of course, I may write an entry with some substance every once and a while if I get a wild hair, but in order to keep on task with my daily writing and keep the procrastination at a bare minimum these entries will be mostly on the pithy side; odds and ends really.  But, odds and ends that I’ll run under blanket categories such as this first entry in Tuesday’s Videodrome. 

 

KUBRICK, THE KING AND YOU 

So, after a couple decades of reading Stephen King novels, I’m finally getting around to reading “The Shining” for the first time.  Please, hold your gasps.  You’ll have much more to shake your head in disgust at as you get to know me.

 

Anyway, I never got around to reading the darn thing and that probably has everything to do with the impression that the Kubrick movie made on me at an early age.  Since then, I’ve resisted going to the book because I couldn’t imagine anything that would equal my reaction to that movie. 

 

But, I’ve just had way too many people extol it’s virtues to me over the years and been told too many times how the film betrays King’s novel that I’m finally ready to read it and decide for myself.  (Of course, I’ve mostly erased from my memory the Steven Weber starring TV adaptation that King wrote as an attempt to make a more faithful rendering of the novel and which unfortunately just contributed more to my reluctance to read it.)   

 

I’m barely into the book now, so I’ll have to save my impressions for another day.  But, naturally, it’s got me thinking of Kubrick and King and that’s led me to this handful of video nuggets…   

 

KING ON KUBRICK: 

 

In which Stephen King relates his first encounter with the late Kubrick.  A great story if not the best audio quality… 

 

 

KING ON YOU: 

 

That is, assuming you’re a struggling writer like me.  Of course, if you’re like me, you’ve already read Stephen King’s “On Writing” and have heard this advice in its expanded form… 

 

 

This advice is not earth-shattering, nor is it exclusive to King.  But, the utter simplicity of it is what makes it worth hearing.  And, it’s the main reason I’m starting “The Werewolf” to begin with.  Perhaps you recall the mantra of Billy Crystal’s character in “Throw Momma From the Train” (a flawed, but thoroughly watchable film) – “A writer writes…always.”  Well, he could have also easily said – “A writer reads…always.”   

Near as I can tell, you can’t have one without the other.   

 

THE SHINING ON YOU: 

 

Again, assuming you’re a writer, you spend a lot of lonely hours in quiet rooms going slowly insane.  This clip from the Kubrick film, split in two, gives us a dramatic interpretation of this struggle and also illustrates why the dedication page at the front of novels where writers sing the praises of their spouses should always include the sentence “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole.”  Of course, the Torrance’s here don’t ever get to that stage in the process as you’ll no doubt remember… 

 

 

And, that’s it for Videodrome today.  If you have 30 extra minutes on your hands and you haven’t seen the brilliant documentary by Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Vivian filmed during the making of “The Shining” you should do yourself a favor and click on these convenient links.  You will not be sorry.  All I’ll say is, poor, poor Shelley Duvall… 

 

Making the Shining, Part 1 

Making the Shining, Part 2 

Making the Shining, Part 3 

Making the Shining, Part 4