Dostoevsky translated by Yoda

Stuart Jeffries has written an amusing article about the inversion of normal English word order that most translations of Братья Карамазовы use, following the Russian pattern slavishly in a way that we would think most odd if it were applied to the Brothers Warner or the Brothers Marx. (The OWC edition calls them The Karamazov Brothers.)

What the readers think …

This blog has some interesting – if light – responses to the redesign of the Oxford World’s Classics series. The overall feeling is very positive, but with some strange asides (‘don’t they look a lot like the Penguin ones?’ – Sophie; how?). The continuity of the colour red from the old design to the new is clearly a good thing (‘I will miss the red banner though. I relied on it to find them on the bookstore shelves!’ – Stefanie; ‘These still have the red on the spine, but it's a bit smaller.’ – Tara).

And I’m glad that someone else has noticed the optical illusion that occurs when you compare the old and the new: the previous design (come on, let's be honest, my old design) made the books look taller and thinner, whereas the new design makes them look wider (‘if they are, that would be a big plus!’ says Sophie; sorry Sophie, they’re exactly the same size).

Are they related? – part two

Donna Payne, art editor at Faber, has replied to Peter Collingridge, pointing out that the Faber Children’s Classics covers, designed by Pentagram, predate the Penguin Classics design by five years or so. Let’s just recall the basic Penguin Classics look, combining Futura Medium caps with Mrs Eaves Italic. Although the Penguin design transposes author and title, the configuration (line of caps; centred logo; line of caps, line of U&lc italic; all type centred) is remarkably similar.

So, just how many variants are possible in the presentation of series name, author and title? As an antidote, here is website praising Penguin UK’s designs (but panning Mother's Kafka covers).

Jane Austen gets a makeover

Angus Phillips of Oxford Brookes University questions publishers' approaches to 'relevant' images for classic books here.

Could they be related?

If you spot a Puffin Classic it may be a Faber Children’s Classic … Peter Collingridge explains why here.