Faber & Faber published The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

It seems like there has been an explosive buzz around the newest publication from Faber & Faber: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade after Never Let Me Go (2005), The Buried Giant is his seventh novel. He won the Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day (1989) and Never Let Me Go was shortlisted for the Booker. Both volumes are also available by the Folio Society.

I’ve been quite fascinated and overwhelmed by the sheer editions of The Buried Giant that Faber & Faber have been marketing. Nonetheless, the design of the book covers are wonderful and though beautiful, it makes bibliomania all that difficult and expensive. So without further ado, here they are:

The Standard UK Edition:

Buy this edition from the Book Depository.

The Standard US Edition:

Buy this edition from the Book Depository.

The Faber Members’ Edition:

Information:

• Made exclusively for Faber Members, with a first impression of 400 copies, our inaugural Collectors’ Edition is Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel.
• Our Collectors’ edition of The Buried Giant has been printed on a small, sheet-fed, Heidelberg press, using premium cream woodfree paper.
• Each volume is sewn and bound by hand, using a quarter-bound case of real cloth and printed panels front and back, with gold foiling and lamination.
• The books are finished with full colour printed endpapers, head and tail bands and a ribbon marker.
• Price: £50.00

The Signed and Limited Edition

Information:

• Signed Limited (Only 200 copies) Slipcase Edition.
• Hand Signed by Kazuo Ishiguro to the Limitation Page.
• Individually wrapped and numbered
• Contains two exclusive facsimile pages of manuscript, signed by the author
• The front and spine of the cover are gold blocked
• The front cover also has a 100mm die-cut hole to expose the full colour design on the 140 gsm Munken Premium Cream endpapers
• The single colour text is printed on 80 gsm Munken Premium Cream and the book has decorative head and tail bands
• The design on the front of the case is gold blocked
• Format: Slipcase Hardback
• ISBN: 9780571324132
• Price: £200

So which one do you like?

Don’t judge a book by its cover

I really enjoy browsing for book cover illustrations; there is something special when illustrations can create a bond between it and the viewer, stirring up emotional attachment; some entirely mesmerizing; some unique, while others outright thought-provoking. Although I am aware of the idiom: “don’t judge a book by its cover”, I naturally reach for books with striking covers. Well, there is no shame in enjoying a well made and illustrated book.

My aim is in this post to include book cover illustration as I discover them. I will try to uncover the meaning of the cover llustrations as I interpret them, irrespective of the content of the book. So without further ado, I welcome you to join me to enjoy the little pleasures in life.

» The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman (Illustration by La Bocca)

Comment: I like the art deco feel of the cover which is in perfect harmony with the young women’s raised head. The layers act as a field of curiosity, inviting the reader to unfold the hidden depths of secrets of this women. Her closed eyes and raised outlook denotes her aristocratic presence, independence and exteme beauty.