It is not often that I write about the cover of a book, complete with a handful of photographs, but this is exactly what I intend to do now. Stepping back to look at the larger picture, it is just as rarely that we pause to appreciate the typesetting, designing, formatting and binding of paper books.
I think most of us readers should do this more often than jumping straight into the I recently ordered Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus on Amazon and unwrapped my package to behold one of the most beautifully laid books I have had the fortune of coming across in recent times. But I digress; I now intend to — most literally — judge the cover of a book.
A raw paper-texture was what struck me first. Not the glossy finish of modern times, but a rough, paper–like feel. Or perhaps it was paper after all? The cover is extremely minimal and boasts swiss design. I cannot say what the type is, but it appears to be an Helvetica-esque typeface, letter-pressed onto the cover page.
The minimalism itself is tasteful: a black square — possibly hinting at something in the book, I will find out soon — is all the design there is. The only colour on the entire page is sky blue, used for the title. The same is true of the back cover, except there the synopsis is in blue as well. The stem itself is the only colourful aspect, being entirely washed in the same blue.
Interestingly, the insides are not Swiss style but hark back to traditional print media. A Baskerville–style type is used, somewhat similar to the modern, Libre Caslon, which carries ample stylistic influences from yore. It has an x-height too large to be Garamond, and serifs not alike Baskerville or Minion.
I have not yet read the book. In fact, busy with the late Christopher Hitchens’ Arguably, I have not yet begun this book. (In my defence, this book only arrived earlier today.)
I plan to read other books by Camus, almost on an epiphany of sorts, but they are not all available on this Penguin collection. It is unfortunate, but I will most likely order them on my Kindle anyway. The Myth of Sisyphus is remarkably slim, almost as much as Who moved my cheese?, another wonderful book.
I rarely judge a book by its cover — indeed this is the first time. But if all books were so well made, I would be tempted to put aside my Kindle for a year.
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