If you get a book cover tattooed on your body, you must really love the book. Or, at least, have some sort of connection to the book. Perhaps the art is just that awesome.
After reading Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, my husband loved the book and the book cover so much that he got it tattooed on his arm. It looks like this:
While I have absolutely zero plans to get a tattoo, if I were, I wouldn’t doubt that it would be bookish. Here are some book covers that I would consider tattooing on my body. Each has some sort of reasoning behind it.
1. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
This would be such a “tuff” tattoo. I would feel super punk rock with a Clockwork Orange tatt.
2. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Marukami
I haven’t read this book, but I love the cover. It would make a lovely “girly” tattoo.
Maybe on my lower back instead of a fairy or dolphin.
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I love this cover, but hate the book. Have read it twice. This tattoo could be a reminder to not
ever try it again!
4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
I have a good friend with an Alice tattoo. I love it. I have always loved this book,
and if I weren’t such a chicken, this would probably be my first choice for a tattoo.
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
I have always been attracted to the art of this classic. I think it would make a wonderful tattoo!
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This would be such an awesome tattoo. It represents so much to me,
as a fan of the book, a fan of the genre, and a fan of the themes. I could see this on my arm!
7. Matilda by Roald Dahl
Perfecto! I love the illustrations by Quentin Blake in this book, and Matilda is so wonderfully
bookish that I feel that this would be a very good, meaningful tattoo.
8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I loved the book, and as a tattoo, Huckleberry Finn could also represent
my young life spent traveling across the states. He was a traveler, I was a traveler. Another great tattoo idea!
9. The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
I would be proud to represent Dorothy Parker on my arm. She is (was) a
most awesome woman, and my tattoo could remind me of everything I wish to be as a woman.
10. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Such a wonderfully creepy book cover for one of my favorite horror classics.
This is a sister story, so this tattoo could also remind me of my close connection to my own sister.
megan
Holy cow! We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a super creepy cover! I like it.
borkadventures
Me too!
Jessica @ Shhh Mommy's Blogging
Great list Mandy, my tattooed self loved it! I’ve been wanting to get a literary tattoo for a long time and am still trying to figure out what I might want as I’m torn between an image or script and there are so many options. I don’t know if you saw my post about the literary tattoo blog I love, but just in case it’s called The Word Made Flesh and the web address is http://www.tattoolit.com.
borkadventures
Thanks for the link! I’m too chicken to get a tattoo (the needle noise freaks me out), but my husband’s all about em (he has a very unique tattoo that is usually quite the conversation starter, or ender, depending upon your sense of humor), so I shared the site with him.
I figure that whatever you get a tattoo of, make sure it’s significant (obviously). Think about something that would be timeless for you. Whatever you choose, I’m eager to find out about it!
Melissa Haggerty
Wow We Have Always Lived in the Castle is creepy. It reminds me of something Tim Burton would do. Love it!
Here is my Top Ten.
sj
I have three already, but my next will either be a bit of Sandman or a specific illustration from The Gunslinger.
borkadventures
Ahhh…The Gunslinger would be pretty awesome. I’m sure The Sandman would be too (love Gaiman, but Sandman is still on my TBR). Now I’m trying to guess what your Gunslinger tatt would be…text like “long days and pleasant nights” or “there are other worlds than these”. Or maybe an awesome graphic of the slow mutants…I think the Crimson King on his throne pic from The Dark Tower would be pretty awesome. Every year at Comic-Con, a vendor has that print for sale, and my husband and I want to buy it, but it comes in a set of four other Dark tower prints for $800, and that’s a bit too rich for our blood. Even though we would love to put it up in our living room!
sj
Hee! Not even close!
(I had to take a picture of my book because I couldn’t find what I wanted)
http://screencast.com/t/I4MqeexNNX8X
borkadventures
That would look great as a tattoo—is that picture in reference to Roland’s flashback to when he witnessed his first hanging? The cook who tried to poison everyone?
Farah Ng @ Broken Penguins
All good suggestions. Matilda would be pretty cute (are tattoos supposed to be cute?). What about the Catcher in the Rye carousel horse? http://thekams.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/catcher-in-the-rye1.jpg
Only because it wouldn’t be cool to get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows cover tattooed on me.
borkadventures
Yeah, I thought about Harry Potter. I’m not cool enough for anything cooler than Harry Potter or Matilda! Actually, I’m not cool enough for tattoos period. They don’t fit my personality. I’d rather shock people with a loud burp in a restaurant or a brutally honest comment…that’s more my speed. I don’t think I could pull off a tattoo. I did get my eyebrow pierced in college though. It lasted a semester.
Farah Ng @ Broken Penguins
Yeah, a tattoo is way too permanent of a statement. I like burping in a restaurant and making snarky remarks more too. It’s also way more painless. Although if I lost my eyebrows, I suppose I’d be ok with tattooing them back on. I could live with a permanent “I have eyebrows” statement.
lucysfootball
I’m actually debating, planning, scheming my next tattoo now. Words, I think. But from WHAT? I love too many things. It’s almost impossible to narrow it down. I’ll think I have it narrowed down to a couple poems, and I’ll just have to decide between the two – then I’ll be playing around online and see MORE amazing literary quote tattoos and it’s back to square one.
My vote’s for Alice in Wonderland. The art’s so beautiful in that book!
borkadventures
You’ve gotta do a poem! I’d suggest something, but I am only an apprentice to your master in the poetic arts. No matter what,I’d love for you to share it when you do!
Elin
Love the alice in wonderland cover:)