Thursday, April 16, 2009

Peter Mendelsund: The Missing

Apart from being graceful and pretty, I love how this cover combines the old riverboat scene with a geometric form. It's also nice to see such small type. This novel takes place in post WWI New Orleans, where young girl is kidnapped and a man who feels responsible goes looking for her . The man's own son has died, and I'm guessing the ambiguous silhouette may refer to this child as well. I'm pretty sure this was printed on reverse side.

8 comments:

Ian Koviak said...

"I love how this cover combines the old riverboat scene with a geometric form"

I can't see no geometry man. But i do like this cover and it's great in person.

It would be nice to see it with the girl done only in varnish. I mean, it's too late, but it would have been interesting. Sort of how they did The Invisible Hook: http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Hook-Hidden-Economics-Pirates/dp/0691137471

Tal said...

OMG, I knew I'd get flack for that. I persist in my phrasing, however. The silhouette is a geometric form. The circle, for instance, is a geometric form, is it not? Hence, any shape that you could make with french curves would constitute a geometric shape. What I was saying was that Mendelsund managed to make the kitchy antique painting current by placing the clean (geometric) shape of the silhouette on top of it. Also, placing the small type inside the dark shape served to magnify the type. See what you've done? All this talk is making me hungry.

GH said...

A bit Kara Walker (that's not meant as a criticism).

Ian Koviak said...

the whole world can be made from french curves—that doesn't make it geometric. Or maybe it does. It was a finny wording, but I see what you're saying. Now go and eat something. Something geometric.

Tal said...

dude, the way you spelled "finny" was funny.

Blair said...

Ian, you're so finny!

Ian Koviak said...

Ha! That's fucking finny.

Gould said...

http://jacketmechanical.blogspot.com/2009/04/absence-makes-heart-grow-fonder.html