Does the Cover Really Matter?

So as I was looking around Barnes & Noble the other day (you know, shopping for the book that would become my awesome GIVEAWAY prize), I noticed how a lot of classic books have like a zillion different covers and editions to choose from. I mean seriously! And you'd think because they are classics that they're all be pretty classicly-themed covers, right? Wrong. They're all over the place!

I'll give you an example of what I mean. Take a gander at just 8 of the possible covers for the undeniable classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte:

Let's go row by row, shall we?

The first is the actual version of the book that I own (so obviously that means it's the best). Pretty simple. I'm assuming this is the lovely (barf barf) Heathcliff's house all dimmed in the moonlight. Kind of haunting right? Eerie? I think that's a good enough cover.

Next is just a beautiful woman's face...I'm guessing Catherine? Well she is the female lead. But kind of a dull cover in my opinion but definitely a normal one for a classic book.

Moving on! UGH!!!! Does that seriously say Bella and Edward's favorite book in the upper corner? And it is all Twilighty. Yuck. Worst. Cover. Ever.

Last one on the top row: I'm assuming this is supposed to be the countryside that the novel takes place in but it is all too bright and cheery for this dark and depressing read. Bad call art department!

Next row...this reminds me of Persepolis for some reason. Anyone else? I like it because it's different and still has that eerie feeling to it. Not reading romance at all so that's a plus.

This next one is the only one I see that has both a man and woman on it, so it's nice that it includes Heathcliff, but it's not reading very dark and disturbing to me. Nice that the moors are involved though.

Almost done. This is very Tim Burton, yes? Which is a nice change of pace and I've seen this treatment on other classics as well but other then having fun with the cover I don't really see the point. It's still just a drawing of a woman. Oh wait, is there a little house in the background?

And last but...well yes least. What the heck is this? I mean seriously! Ferns? What is the point of this cover? Someone didn't feel like doing anything special with this one.

So what do you all think? Which one is your favorite cover? Lease favorite (let's leave out that fern one because otherwise I think this would be a pretty easy question to answer, haha). And can you believe I actually found TWO books that had covers that mentioned Edward and Bella? TWO!

Girls With Grit

Okay, so I know I kind of lambasted Entertainment Weekly the other day with their list of “New Classics” (but come on! Classics most of those books were not) but I was strolling around their website yesterday and happened upon this interesting article: Girls with Grit. It’s about the lack of women (young women) in literature nowadays that one can really look up to and see as a tough girl, the main character of the story and someone that maybe possibly could be seen as a role model for the younger girls reading these books. Although it does say that the few movies/books that now have a strong lead female character shows that we're heading in the right direction. I agree.

Now, I don’t really read a lot of YA (or any YA really, though I am getting a bit interested in The Hunger Games) but I have to agree with this article. And this isn’t a new phenomenon. Young women are not normally the central character of blockbuster books, especially ones that send out a good message to other young girls (Twilight anyone?). And yes, Lisbeth Salander of the Stieg Larsson books is a kick-ass female and a good feminist role model (not perfect by any stretch, but the best characters are flawed). But there is no way that those books could be described as for a younger audience. They’re very graphic in parts and disturbing. If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t want her reading that book until…well I don’t know the age requirement I’d put on it, but it’s not a YA book for sure!

But I think this just shows the normal attitudes present in pop culture in general. Women are good supporting players but they rarely take the reins by themselves. It’s upsetting.

So that article pointed out four books (that were/are being turned into films) where women were kicking butt and flawed yet good role models for other young women. They were The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, True Grit by Charles Portis, the Stieg Larsson books and Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell. But I think the only YA in there is The Hunger Games. And the author of the article was seemingly talking about recent books but True Grit is not at all recent, just recently turned into a movie (again). But I’m struggling, with all the books I’ve read recently to make a longer list. And, like I said, I don’t know YA books at all so I’m hoping there’s a few I’m just missing because I don’t even know they exist. But so let's just think of any and all books. Books in general with strong female lead characters that you would be happy to have your daughter (fictitious or not) look up to a little bit.

So come on people, help me out! There have to be other books out there, let’s go with old and new, that have a strong female protagonist. She doesn’t have to be perfect (as I said, flawed characters make for better stories) but just four books is not good enough.