What's in a Title?

[Oblomov]

They say that one should never judge a book by its cover; Most genuine readers probably don't anyway, although an interesting cover might catch one's eye in a bookshop.

 

But what about the title? There must be several books that have sold themselves because of the title. Good titles can sometimes attract an interest prompting a quick browse and maybe even a sale. That in turn can lead to continued appreciation of the writer's work.

 

Equally, an uninspiring title can sometimes do injustice to an excellent book. An example is one that I am currently reading : The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. It is an excellent piece of litarary work from a Pulitzer Prize winning author, but I felt that the title is very unimaginative and lets it down. Although the book was a bestseller, I am sure that a lot of people passed it by without checking. When I got this book, my wife, who is also a reader, frowned and said "looks like a lousy story"; yet, I am sure that she'll love it once I have finished it and pass it to her.

[samgrosser]

T

Equally, an uninspiring title can sometimes do injustice to an excellent book. An example is one that I am currently reading : The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. It is an excellent piece of litarary work from a Pulitzer Prize winning author, but I felt that the title is very unimaginative and lets it down.

 

I agree. I think it's a lousy title for a novel - it sounds like some right wing Republican tract.

[Janet]

They say that one should never judge a book by its cover; Most genuine readers probably don't anyway, although an interesting cover might catch one's eye in a bookshop.

 

Equally, an uninspiring title can sometimes do injustice to an excellent book.

I'm not sure whether it's a good book or not, but I'd *never* buy the book I saw in The Bookbarn today called No Shi**ing in the Toilet by Peter Moore. I looked on Amazon and now understand why it was called that (a sign in a cafe in China) but surely he could have come up with a less unpleasant title. Perhaps it's just me, but urgh!

[Kell]

I like something catchy or unusual, for example, the first Kelley Armstrong novel is called Bitten - it's short, catchy, easy to remember, and is relevant to the plot (the main character, Elena, was bitten and became the world's only female werewolf).

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog ni the Night Time by Mark Haddon is one that caught my attention - yes, it's long, but it's so unusual that it really jumps out at you. And it's relevant to the plot too.

[JudyB]

I feel that I fell foul of the title The Jane Austen Book Club as it held so much promise, particularily to Jane Austen readers, and failed.

[KW]

I like a title to reflect something about the book and/or be symbolic so I'm interested in finding out why/who/where/when....

[wrathofkublakhan]

I've bought and read many a book just on it's title alone, currently: Literacy and Longing in L.A. (catchy, eh?)

 

My first thought was that it was a riff on Fear and Loathing ....

[Kylie]

I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed when I first heard the title 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'. I thought it sounded a bit like the author was trying too hard; a bit pretentious, I guess you could say.

 

I haven't read the book yet but I intend to - only because of all the great reviews I've read about it, and the subject matter interests me too. The title is probably what has stopped me reading it up until now (that and an already huge TBR pile that cannot be ignored!)

 

You wouldn't think that 'Pride and Prejudice' sounds like a particularly interesting name for a novel, but it manages to sum up the novel completely in three words. Wonderful.

[angerball]

I wouldn't necessarily say that I'd read a book simply because of the intriguing title, but it would make me pick it up to have a closer look. Like some other people here, I picked up The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time largely because the title was so odd that it stuck out. But if it weren't for good reviews, or an interesting blurb on the back cover, then I wouldn't read it regardless of how interesting the title is.

 

However, two of my favourite books have duller-than-dull titles (The Stand, and Out), so a boring title definitely wouldn't put me off reading something.

[Laramie]

I usually judge books pretty much by the cover!!

The title is what catches my eye, then I'll look at the blurb and maybe read a few lines from the book itself.

Also, if I can see the front cover (you usually can't at my school library) then often an interesting, intriguing (sp?) or just plain weird picture or cover catches my eye.

For example, I first picked up The Gift, now one of my favourite books, because of a combination of the name (I wanted to know what the gift was) and the picture on the front (I wanted to know what it was and also it looked like a good fantasy object)

[Icecream]

This a very interesting thread. Titles are strange things. They can say a lot about a book, or only a little. They can be completely abstract (seemingly?) from the book, and can even be a puzzle provided by the author. So when you ask what there is in a title, I would say, considering all this along with people's reactions as stated, there is quite a lot. That better make sense!!

 

Some books I have looked at because of the title, but checked the blurb or looked through it to find out more, however, I recently picked up An Advancement of Learning by Reginald Hill purely because the title sounded intellectual ()! It does look like an interesting book though.

[Oblomov]

Titles are strange things. They can say a lot about a book, or only a little. They can be completely abstract (seemingly?) from the book, and can even be a puzzle provided by the author.

 

You have a point. I am further into Philip Roth's The Plot Against America and am beginning to think that Roth might have been inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank. Roth's book looks at hypothetical advent of extreme Right Wing Fascism in the US during the early 60s, especially its impact on American Jews. The whole story is written from the perspective of a 7-year old boy and that might explain the immature sounding title.

[julie]

I thought I'd go through some of the older posts and bump them back up onto the board. Maybe it'll get some responses going .

 

As for the title it's usually really important to me when I'm choosing a book . I like it to be something that makes me wonder what the book is about ,so if the title is different in some way, it tends to catch my attention .

 

A couple that I really thought were funny, but didn't read either :

 

Are You Hungry Tonight ? ( A cookbook with Elvis' favorite recipes )

 

I Still Miss My Man, But My Aim is Getting Better

[Athena]

I have to agree that some titles are just intruiging or they pull you in. For example, I've always found IT by Stephen King an intruiging title. There are plenty of others but I'd have to think long and hard and it'd be a long list .

[Anna Begins]

 

I Still Miss My Man, But My Aim is Getting Better

For me, it was Behind the Beautiful Forevers (awesome) by Katherine Boo about the slums of Mumbai, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (great), and anything by Chris Bohjalian like Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (great), Midwives (great) and Skeltons at the Feast (TBR).

Edited September 26, 2014 by Anna Begins

[emelee]

Some titles I can remember getting my attention:

Never ever dry tears without gloves

The woman who walked into doors

Sweden - the secret files (what they would rather keep to themselves)

How to lose friends and alienate people

Veronica decides to die

The hundred-year-old man who climbed out the window and disappeared

The taming of a shrew

 

 

And some strange titles that are just... ehhh:

How to poo on a date

Afterthoughts of a worm hunter

How to avoid huge ships

Across Europe by kangaroo

Porn for women

How to tell if your boyfriend is the antichrist