Rizal in Red
The Penguin Classics Deluxe editions of The Scarlet Letter, Pride and Prejudice, and Wuthering Heights feature cover art by Ruben Toledo.
You still can’t judge books by their covers, but these declare that the novels are as fresh and vital as when they first appeared over a century ago. Some readers will complain that a classic should look “like a classic”. Do they mean dusty, fusty, and unread?
Hawthorne, Austen, and Bronte aren’t the only 19th century authors to get their looks updated.
Noli Me Tangere by our national hero Jose Rizal, in the best-known English translation by Leon Ma. Guerrero, has just arrived in a new cover by Team Manila. Do you like it?
It looks better than other editions, but it kind of reminds me of Soviet propaganda art. Is that a statement?
Win a copy of Noli Me Tangere in our essay-writing contest. The topic will be announced tomorrow, August 21. (You could get a headstart by reviewing Noli and Fili.)
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
August 20th, 2009 at 07:59
Love the Ruben Toledo covers. Can’t say the same for the Noli cover. How does one get excited to read something like that? Always my disappointment with local covers. Not much imagination.
August 20th, 2009 at 14:06
Was about to tell you about the Toledo covers too. Never wanted to read Austen until now.
Disappointing thing from Team Manila. I guess the clients insist too much, or they took it too seriously. I like the illustrations in the Virgilio Almario edition, but the layout could’ve been better.
August 20th, 2009 at 15:53
Can the Noli cover get any more boring? Disappointing effort from Team Manila. Then again (I can already hear the boos from supporters), their graphics were never catchy, most of their work I’ve seen is a play on typeface and slick quotes.
August 20th, 2009 at 19:58
wow, the noli cover is disappointing :(
August 21st, 2009 at 08:47
The Ruben Toledo covers are cute, makes me want to buy and read Pride and Prejudice again.
August 21st, 2009 at 10:11
The Rizal novels will look really dashing in R. Toledo artwork covers. I already bought the deluxe editions of Wuthering Heights, and of Pride and Prejudice. Hope that they will also do a cover makeover to Nietzsche books, so it would be enticing especially to the younger crowd.
August 21st, 2009 at 15:29
I’ll be hunting for those Penguin Classics Deluxe editions. Hope bookstores have a lot of ’em in stock.
IMHO, nothing really special about the Team Manila Noli cover art. They look textbook-like. But I have yet to read the English translation so maybe I’ll grab a copy anyway.