I started reading I Capture the Castle yesterday and so far find it thoroughly charming. I have seen the film, but I think the book is probably infinitely better as the film wasn’t very good, even not knowing the story beforehand. The copy I own and am reading is quite ugly and not very representative of the tone of the novel so I didn’t include it here. It does have very large print, however, which means I can read it in the bath with my glasses off. If I had a chance to buy a new copy I think I’d purchase the bottom right edition.
Which one do you like best? Have you read I Capture the Castle?
A Certain Fondness 
Bottom right, the silhouettes – hands down the best cover.
I’ve read this book numerous times – absolutely love it. Saw the film a few years ago, thought it all right in its own way, but it certainly didn’t exceed my fairly low expectations.
The book is absolutely charming, and it gets better as it goes along, into some fairly thoughtful moral ground, though of course, being a Dodie Smith book, there are some rather goofy bits, too. I envy you your first time reading – hope you enjoy it to the end.
Just a tiny warning – this *is* (in my opinion) the very best of Dodie Smith’s novels, and if you close it with regret for having come to the end and immediately start searching out her other works expecting another “Castle” quality story (as I have done over the last ten years or so) you may find yourself gently disappointed. But this one is the real deal. Enjoy! 🙂
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Thanks for the warning – I do own a couple of her other books. I will not get my hopes up, though!
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I read I Capture the Castle many, many years ago. I vaguely remember it being very charming! I think I would have to go for the top, left hand cover. I think image and mood wise it is just right for the book. I hope you enjoy the rest of the book.
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Thanks, Jessica – I haven’t had much time to read it this week, but hope to get back to it over the weekend.
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I love I Capture the Castle! It’s one of my favorite books. My favorite cover is the bottom middle. I somehow ended up with 2 copies (I think one is my sister’s) and i have the top left and top middle on my bookshelf.
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Two copies – you do really love it! 🙂
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It’s a long time since I read this book, but I remember being very taken with it. I have a Virago edition but I think the Vintage edition, top right, is the pick of yours.
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I didn’t know that Virago re-printed it – I’d love to have that version.
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I read this a few years ago and loved it, though I’ve never seen the film. My edition is an older Vintage Classics one which you haven’t pictured here and which isn’t as attractive as any of these! I like the one on the top right.
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These covers are the cream of the crop, I think.
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I’m nostalgically fond of the top-left one, which is the cover my copy of the book had when I first read it, but yeah, I think I like the bottom-right cover the best really.
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The silhouettes are just so striking and match the tone of the book.
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Bottom right is my favourite cover but all of these are nicer than my overwhelmingly orange edition. Still, it`s what`s inside that counts and I Capture the Castle has been a favourite for years. I quite like the film – I think Romola Garai is an excellent Cassandra and can`t image a better casting for Topaz than Tara Fitzgerald.
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I do like the casting in the film, but the plot was draggy for me.
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I love this book! I have the top right cover 😀
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Glad to hear you love it – I can’t see how one couldn’t!
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Castle is one of my comfort reads, an old favourite. My daughter stole my old copy, it is also one of her favourites. The bottom right cover is the one I bought as a replacement and is the cover that most accurately evokes the novel I think.
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I think it is a great book and I can see how it is a comfort read for you. It’s just lovely.
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The two on the left are too generically decorative, they evoke a byegone age and a feminine vibe but don’t really say anything about the book as such. I’m not a fan of the photographic film-tie-in approach of the two in the middle, for book covers in general, although they’re respectable designs. The one on the top right is beautiful, but it still doesn’t capture the wit and charm of the book. So the bottom right is the winner for me too — I like how it shows the different characters in their own little worlds yet united by the frame of the castle, which is exactly how the story operates.
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I love this book, and have two copies – neither of which are represented above, though one was a film tie-in edition which obviously took a different shot 🙂 I think I like the Vintage cover best.
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I like the bottom right cover the most. I love this book! I recently listened to a BBC dramatization of the novel in 2 parts. Very good also.
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