snow | Brainfluff

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring covers depicting SNOW. I’ve selected Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson.

This offering, produced by Bloomsbury in 2009, is a strong image and was the reason why I chose this book. However the sense of chilly isolation is spoilt by all the chatter cluttering up the cover – and for once, I’m not a fan of the large author and title fonts as I think they overwhelm the image.

**Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 1994**

Published in September 1994 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, this is the default cover for the book, which is a real shame. The cedar forest on the side of the cliff is certainly atmospheric and it would be ideal with the title was MIST OVER CEDARS – but it’s not. The title mentions snow – and there isn’t any. Oops. But that didn’t stop a raft of other publishers adopting this cover, anyway. Worse, the title and author fonts are so small and underwhelming, so they disappear in thumbnail and aren’t all that visible when full size.

This Portuguese edition, published in February 1998 by Relógio D’ Água, has taken a different path with a painting. It looks lovely, but I’m not a fan of the border that grows into a textbox across the top of the cover, though at least the title and author name are clearly visible.

This German edition, published in February 2013 by Hoffmann und Campe and is clearly influenced by the default cover above, in that it is a close-up of cedar branches in the mist. At least the title and author fonts are more effective in this cover design and work well within the image, in addition to being clearly visible in thumbnail, as well as when full sized.

This French edition, published in 1996 by France loisirs, at least features snow falling – a sleeting blizzard that makes me shiver just looking at it. I’ll forgive the lack of cedars to have some snow – and a suggestion of a river in full spate with snow-shrouded branches growing over it. Though whatever they are, they’re not evergreen cedars. I think this cover is the most successful in capturing the mood of the book, as well as evoking the title. Which is your favourite?

As parts of the country are hit by arctic conditions for the fifth day in a row, we are still being treated to rants by politicians about our inability to cope.

Liberal Democrat’s Norman Baker had plenty to say on the subject, “The lack of preparedness is astounding and damaging the economy. I have travelled from Stockholm to the Arctic Circle on a train that arrived 5 minutes early, yet Britain lapses into chaos at the first sign of snow.”

Well, Mr Baker, Stockholm and the Arctic Circle are used to regular, heavy amounts of snow. We aren’t. Weathermen are muttering about this being the whitest winter for 18 years. I’m sure Norman Baker and his colleagues would have plenty to say if we invested in shedloads of grit, salt and a fleet of snowploughs and gritting lorries – to be used once every 2 decades.

For those clamouring for ‘something to be done’ after reports that many county councils are running short of salt, maybe they would like to reflect on some of facts and figures from the northern US, where quantities of the stuff is used to keep roads passable. It is estimated that it costs $2.5 billion a year across the USA in corrosion damage to bridges, roads and vehicles. Salt is also reported as being responsible for killing roadside trees and plants, in addition to polluting streams and rivers.

It would be better if our transport system and schools could keep going in these conditions – of course it would. But demanding improvements by comparing our winter weather preparations with countries that routinely experience significantly colder conditions is the sort of knee-jerk politics we could do without. buxton-the-snowman