Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight
Club has been printed multiple times with different cover art. Although the
iconic soap image is the most widely recognized, the variety of other covers
are by no means inferior. There’s little consistency amongst the message that they relay, however; while
some represent cryptic illustrations of some of the book’s recurring themes,
others serve different, more confrontational and straight-forward purposes.
From
the focal point to the choice of color, these covers, coupled with such a
promising title, establish that this book is violent. It’s meant to create an alluring semblance that will
motivate any fans of action or thriller novels to read the back, where it aims
to hook them with promises of intense conflict between this “Tyler” and the
world itself. This is, based upon how I perceive the point of cover art, effective
use of the front page. Someone doesn’t need to be familiar with the contents of
the book to enjoy cover art like this, because it utilizes images that the human
brain will naturally associate with a particular genre, and invites anyone
interested to simply read the back. It presents a simple, yet well-done and
unintimidating piece of artwork that people can easily relate their interests
to, and appreciate without reading into the novel. In layman’s terms, it grabs
their attention and then hooks them.
Another
type of cover art is utilized in other editions, following an over-arching theme that disagrees
with my personal definition of what
cover art should be. I don’t hold any negative feelings towards these kinds of
covers, though I don’t feel like they make efficient use of the space provided;
I view the front cover of a book as advertising space, which should be used to
draw people’s attention by appealing to them. Fight Club’s iconic soap image
defies such a purpose, opting to instead appeal to those who are already
familiar with the subject matter of Fight
Club.
There’s
no denying that the soap cover that’s become most associated with Fight Club is well-done and deserving of
much praise, but it serves little practical purpose from a more objective point
of view. It’s a clever nod to those who have already read or read into the
book, not those who are debating whether or not to look into it. If someone has
to have already read a hundred or so pages of a novel, and have a decent
understanding of the plot in order to decipher the advertising, then they’re more likely to read the back of the book
right next to the bar of soap that contains an image that will immediately relate
to their literary interests.
While
you may provide the reader with the satisfying feeling that comes with
developing an understanding of something that was previously an eerie mystery
to them, you’ll likely fail to do the book any favors with such a cover. It’s
not to say that a cover must be limited to a simple fist, or a tooth; there’s
a comfortable medium between stark and bold images, and cryptic cover art that
will be beyond the understanding of a reader torn between which novel out of
two to buy.
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