The Inimitable Tiff

My first impression of this cover was one of immense satisfaction. A well done call back to russian constructivism without the usual cheese that comes with it. I especially like the fold in the ribbon of the white NOBEL PRIZE bar.

After having stewed on this for a couple days, though, I have to say that I’m not quite as thrilled.

Graphically, there’s no question of its merits. But The Gulag Archipelago is an exhausting work, both in the story it tells and the effect it has on its reader. I get no sense of its hardship or insight. I don’t wonder if something more akin to Chip Kidd’s cover for The English Patient would have been more appropriate. Something that speaks to the reasons why this is such an amazing book, as opposed to the era it speaks from.