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    Can be what's written in the blurb, on the cover, the title itself, whatever.

    I was thinking of this recently after finishing "Every Man Dies Alone" by Hans Fallada. Great book, but upon looking it up I realised it also in English goes by the title "Alone in Berlin". It then dawned on me that this was a book I'd actually seen all the time in bookshops, airports, etc., just had never picked it up because of the title not being that interesting. And having read it, I can certainly say that the title "Alone in Berlin" does not fit with the depth and weight of this novel at all.

    What's more, next time I was in a bookshop I saw it there, in its "Alone in Berlin" form, and the blurb was totally different to my, "Every Man Dies Alone" version, to the point that they essentially read like two different books. Without spoiling too much, the novel focuses on a husband and wife, and the blurb of the "Alone in Berlin" version completely erases the wife from the premise of the story, which is just crazy. Similar with the covers, mine having a couple dancing in each other's arms, while the other is usually just some misty picture of a Berlin street. Again, I feel like the couple is a much better fit to the theme of the novel.

    So now I have a major gripe with whoever decided to market the English translation of the book as "Alone in Berlin", along with all the creative decisions of its cover and blurb. Just clearly done by someone with no real appreciation or understanding for the content of the book itself. Curious to hear other people's instances of this also.

    by thatwhichwontbenamed

    2 Comments

    1. Critical-Willow-6270 on

      I hate it when a TV series or movie is based on a book and they make the cover of the book “now a series or now a movie” that takes up the entire cover.

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