About face
Somebody apparently got wind of the fact that some Janeites were a little miffed at having Jane Austen compared to Barbara Cartland and Danielle Steele. As we reported previously, Headline Books is releasing new editions of Jane Austen’s novels, jazzed up to look like modern chick lit novels. The first article said that the novels were being repackaged to make Jane Austen seem more like Cartland or Steele, but in a Reuters article (via Yahoo!), a Headline representative insists they are doing nothing of the sort.
That accusation was strongly disputed by Headline’s Evans who said: “It is not making them like Barbara Cartland or Danielle Steel. This is not making them look like Mills and Boon.”
The reception is still mixed amongst U.K. Janeites.
Patrick Stokes, chairman of the Jane Austen Society which boasts 2,000 members in Britain, was delighted: “I am all for it. Any publicity is good publicity — as long as it is within the bounds of decency.”
But the bid to update the author of “Pride and Prejudice” for a new generation was greeted with derision by Patricia Clarke of the London branch of the Jane Austen Group.
“It is a pity that everything has to be dumbed down. I know it gets people into books but I think she is classic and pure. If you dumb down, you turn her into (mass produced romance specialist) Mills and Boon.”
We concur to a point.
He said that in Britain last year, a total of 160,000 copies were sold of all Jane Austen’s books compared to 190,000 for just one Danielle Steel novel.
Possibly because many people already own them? Just saying.
The article also contained a better image of all six covers (above) but they’ll never top our favorite cover of a Jane Austen novel.
We linked this in another forum, commenting that Captain Wentworth appeared to have fallen off an Old Spice bottle, and a friend responded, “Don’t worry, Regency Barbie is there to rescue him!”
January 18th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Concerning the “new” covers… Give me a break!!!! Are they kidding?!?!
(Sorry, just needed to get that out.)
~Meghan
P.S.- I was unaware that The Captain and Tennile had posed for a Persuasion cover. I wonder if that particular version of the novel ends with a rousing duet by Captain Wentworth, at the pianoforte, and Anne Elliot, singing, Love Will Keep Us Together. It does work.
January 18th, 2006 at 12:59 am
I don’t know. I think the new covers are quite pretty, and the whole idea is basically harmless. It depends a lot on the quotes and any introductory material that might be included. “It’s just like a romance novel, with Olde English!” will earn the perpetrators an inning with the Cluebat of Janeite Righteousness.
January 18th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Thank you for giving me such a laugh on this otherwise gloomy January day. I just loved your favourite Austen cover, it took me right back to the seventies!
I suppose fashions in illustration will always change and that is what I love personally, they are always a reflection of the times we live in.
Keep up the good work- Long live Austenblog!
January 18th, 2006 at 7:16 am
Anyone who thinks the new covers look like Mills and Boon should check out a real Mills and Boon cover.
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0263843874.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Now if this was the cover of Pride and Prejudice, we’d really have a reason to complain
January 18th, 2006 at 8:00 am
Interesting Mills & Boon cover, Ellie - I assume the theme of this book is “Because of the marriage debt, I need a bunch of money; I think I see some down the back of this woman’s ill-fitting dress??”
in Britain last year, a total of 160,000 copies were sold of all Jane Austen’s books compared to 190,000 for just one Danielle Steel novel.
One possible explanation; the Steel figure is probably accurate, since the book is issued by just one publisher. But for Jane Austen, I find it hard to believe that they were able to get accurate statistics from all the multifarious editions; many of which may have been remaindered years ago so almost certainly not counted.
January 18th, 2006 at 8:13 am
I don’t see what people are fretting about! They’re changing the book cover, not changing the plot line or throwing in a few sex scenes to “spice” it up. Personally, I like the new covers. Also, People who might never give Jane a try might buy them as well and end up addicted in spite of themselves.
p.s.- love the Persuasion cover! Particularly the Regency Barbie line!
January 18th, 2006 at 9:55 am
I think the new covers are quite nice. Maybe they’ll act as P&P2005 has to draw in new readers who wouldn’t otherwise touch something written (gasp) more than a hundred years ago.
And thanks for the Persuasion cover, Mags. You’ve given me my first laugh-out-loud of the day!
January 18th, 2006 at 9:59 am
Last Monday on Front Row, the BBC Radio 4 daily arts programme, Bidisha (a writer of whom I have never heard, I’m afraid) compared Jane Austen’s writing to that of Jane Gold (described as a or the “chick lit queen”).
You will hardly be surprised who comes out on top. “It’s like comparing a beautiful Mont Blanc tortoiseshell fountain pen with an Asda smart-price biro.” Bidisha, a 27 year old Londoner, and thus theoretically in the heart of the chick lit demographic, was horrified about the total failure of Jane Gold to engage in the politics of her subject; something she considers that our Jane does brilliantly.
The audio of the programme is availble from the Radio 4 website until some time on Monday 23rd. The relevant passage starts just over 24 minutes in.
January 18th, 2006 at 10:19 am
I don’t think we can compare a new book to a group of books that have been around for years. If one is a fan of Austen books one will already own a set, and will not likely buy each new edition that comes out. In the case of Danielle Steele books the figures they need to compare is how many of Danielle Steele’s old books are still selling; not compared with a new novel that just came out.
January 18th, 2006 at 11:10 am
The covers are quite pretty, as many have pointed out; I think the objection is less to the covers themselves than to the positioning of Jane Austen as “just another romance novelist.” I think that depends on how it is done.
Agree w/ the comments about the Danielle Steel comparison–I don’t think it’s quite apt to compare Jane Austen’s sales figures directly with Danielle Steel’s. In her case, sales figures do not equal readership. But I see the larger point about how there is the possibility of a good deal of crossover readership.
Also, while many people enjoy Danielle Steel’s novels (and I should not wish to suspend any pleasure of theirs) I do not think her books will be read 200 years from now, as we are still reading Jane Austen’s books 200 years after their publication.
January 18th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
Speaking of fabulous covers Mags, have you ever seen this one from an edition of Northanger Abbey? http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/nhabgoth.jpg
It’s almost as good as the Persuasion one you posted LOL. Don’t you just love how Henry Tilney looks like James Bond? I think the new covers are pretty and are hardly as bad as some that have come before them.
January 18th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Holy moley, Jessica! That cover scares the cr@p outta me, and I know what the book’s about. Those liner notes must have lured in some readers who otherwise would never touch a JA book. I once had a coworker ask me in all seriousness, “But aren’t there a lot of murders in Jane Austen books?” I never understood where she came up with that notion, but now I think perhaps she had seen this book cover.
January 18th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
I love that cover! Henry has a string tie!!!!
The copy is just hilarious.
January 18th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Very “girly” as opposed to “classic”… so this isn’t going to help the stereotype that no men read JA. But they are prettier and more elegant than I at first imagined. As you said, depends on how they are presented.
January 18th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Jane Austen is surely laughing at all the interest in the covers of her books, especially considering that in her day, you had had to go down to the shops to pick out your own.
January 18th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Heh. Good point, T.
Mmmm, hand-tooled leather with gilt edgings…
January 18th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
For better or worse, I can’t deny I’m one to - at first - judge a book by its cover. And I really like these. They’re very different to what we are used to when it comes to Classics but I was dreading something much worse when you first reported it!
The other cover, on the other hand, seriously scared me!!
January 18th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
I find it hilarious that they are packaging classics now for consumption. It shows that people buy in reaction to a cover, and when we don’t know about a book, that might be true. I imagine they could even make sexier covers for the Bronte sisters’ novels. Everyone knows sex sells.
January 18th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
The copy is just hilarious.
Did you compare their copy on the back cover to JA’s text? Very close but not quite the same. For instance JA has
more than once her blood was chilled by the sound of distant moans.
But the book cover has
more than once her blood was chilled by the sound of a shrill distant scream
January 18th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
We linked this in another forum, commenting that Captain Wentworth appeared to have fallen off an Old Spice bottle, and a friend responded, “Don’t worry, Regency Barbie is there to rescue him!”
Oh, that is snark of the very best kind! *sighs*
January 18th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
Maggie, can you get a copy of the video Persuasion and show the cover? It’s almost as funny as the book cover you show. No one would ever know what the book is about. He’s kissing the back of her neck if I remember correctly, and they are modern in dress. As if!
January 19th, 2006 at 2:38 am
Robin–I love “The terror of Northanger Abbey had no name, no shape–yet it menaced Catherine Morland in the dead of night!” But the stuff from the novel, presented out of context, also is thoroughly delightful.
Susan, you asked for the infamous Nibblers cover:
Also known as “The Barmaid and the Bellhop”–who ARE these people, anyway? It’s not like they’re actually, you know, IN the movie.
The cover copy is equally hilarious:
January 19th, 2006 at 9:46 am
But, but… that’s not Amanda Root or Ciaran Hinds.
January 19th, 2006 at 10:25 am
And Lady Russell wasn’t “a scheming socialite.” Her advice 8 years prior was probably the advice Anne’s own mother would have given - the young Navy officer was nice enough, but had no property or family income to support a wife. Anne could have ended up in a dingy flat in Lyme waiting for her ship to come in once a year or so — and that was not an acceptable prospect for someone of her family’s social standing.
January 19th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
But, but… that’s not Amanda Root or Ciaran Hinds.
Precisely!
January 20th, 2006 at 7:54 am
Bwaaa! I’ve never seen that cover of ‘Persuasion’ before. I love it! With mysterious Not-Even-Extras people, oh, the clothes, the kiss, it is so bad it’s good!
January 20th, 2006 at 9:11 am
I looked at my Persuasion video last night - the one with the “right” cover photo - and was shocked to see that it has the same copy on back cover as above. How dreadful!
February 10th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
[...] 8217;s novels printed inside the cover of their new editions of the novels, about which we previously posted. If your comment is chosen, you will win a copy of the book. It is un [...]
March 13th, 2006 at 2:45 am
[...] We like our Oxford Illustrated Editions of Jane Austen’s novels because they are quite solid. It’s always interesting to attend meetings of our Jane Austen book group (the Chawton Regulars) and seeing long-time Austen readers with Oxford editions much older than our own, still very much readable and in great shape. We also have an assortment of paperbacks for lending purposes and one that we bought because the cover made us laugh, as well as NA in italiano. Alas, we cannot bring ourselves to write in our books. [...]