The new range of Pocket Penguins has just launched. And they’re really rather pleasant. And I’ve got one to look at and to read.
Sitting on the shelf, the range is smaller than even A-format works, which gives them a distinct profile in bookshops and at home – counter-intuitively, by making their books smaller, Penguin has made them much more noticeable. However, the size is only part of why they draw the eye.
The entire range of thirty comes in the same design – a bold, pantone coloured jacket with a stark band of white containing the Penguin branding across the centre, firmly planting themselves at the core of the book. The name of the author appears above this middle bar, with the title of the work beneath the same. These are classics in every sense of the word, as their design has been pared back to be even more minimalist than the original Pocket Penguins.
Standing on the shelf, the books stand apart from one another thanks to the colours used – nine different cover colours that reflect the origin of the authors – so for example, Russian authors have a red cover, while Italian authors receive a baby blue*. It’s a very simple, effective way of both adding variety to the range.
Opening the book reveals the title page, which is immediately followed by a quote from the main body – these run the entire gamut from the faintly ridiculous:
“I slept very comfortably with half a dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended over my head”
To the slightly scandalous:
“Her fragrant body and burning red lips”
But all set the tone for what follows in the rest of the book.
The main body is very easy to read as the digital printing gives an excellent finish to the text and the reproduced illustrations. The folio appears in the middle of the page, floating in the outer margin, which is initially disconcerting, but does not take too long to adjust to. This alteration, when combined with the classic text shows the fusion of the classic and the modern that these books represent.
The paper quality is high, and the thicker volumes fall open rather nicely without the reader being forced to make the painful decision to crack the spine, keeping the book looking pretty.
The thinner volumes do suffer a little for their light weight – the printing on the covers can appear a little off-centre, which while minor can be a touch annoying, but as little time is spent admiring the cover while reading, it’s really only a minor complaint.
Ultimately, this series is a very welcome entry into the canon of Penguin’s Pocket Classics, and to my library of books, but whoever is putting these books into their pockets must be found and stopped – they’re far too attractive to be stuffed into a coat.
* At this stage, I feel I should give my commiserations to the German authors in the range, as they have received an unattractive mossy grey-green cover. That said, the books still stand out, so I suppose that the designers have won this round. But I digress.
Bookaccio 