Before I get to the post of the day, I just want to express my sadness over the death of a literary legend, J.D. Salinger. As most of you know, he died yesterday at the age of 91, and in his wake he left behind "Catcher in the Rye" and "Franny and Zoe," two amazing works that I would even go so far as to call masterpieces. If you haven't read Catcher in the Rye, go do it.
Now!
He also wrote several other short stories and books, but I haven't actually read any of them. Needless to say, with his death yesterday, we lost an artist who was ahead of his time, and I'm just happy that he got to live a very full 91 years of life!
French Friday is a weekly feature hosted by Charlotte at the Book on the Hill. We both live in France, so French Friday is a meme to write about Frenchy bookish things.
Bonjour, tout le monde!! The past couple weeks I have focused on French authors and specific French books. This week, I'm going back to covers.
I was in the bookstore the other day when I saw the most HORRIFIC thing! Seriously. I was absolutely mortified.
It was this:
Now, tell me if I'm wrong but is the American version not a bagazillion times better?!?
The French title, "Treize Petites Envellopes Bleues," is an exact translation of "13 Little Blue Envelopes," so at least they didn't butcher that. But really, I don't know that I have ever been so horrendously turned off by a cover of a book that I loved. See here for my raving review. Am I wrong? Which cover do you prefer?
Now, it seems to me that the only other Maureen Johson book to have been translated into French is "Suite Scarlett," so I of course had to look up that cover, too.
From left to right: the French version, the US paperback, the US hardback
I'm partial to the US hardback, although the US paperback is in a close second. The French version - not so much. What do you guys think?
Now, on to the fact that only 13 Little Blue Envelopes and Suite Scarlett have been translated. Ummm, what about Devilish?!? I mean, that book was awesome! I think Maureen Johnson deserves just a little better than that! Charlotte from The Book on The Hill - perhaps you could talk to your boss about this travesty?
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this week's covers. And speaking of Charlotte, be sure to head on over to The Book on The Hill and check out her French Friday this week!
A vendredi prochain!!