{"id":5716,"date":"2025-05-15T21:04:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T19:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/?p=5716"},"modified":"2025-05-15T21:04:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T19:04:28","slug":"would-you-read-these","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/2025\/05\/would-you-read-these\/","title":{"rendered":"Would you read these?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author:<\/strong> Lyo Elle Roy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s this old adage we all know and are tired of hearing that says \u201cnot to judge a book by its cover,\u201d although it is rarely actually applied to books. However, in libraries and bookshops, who hasn\u2019t decided on whether to purchase or not a story, based on the appeal of its title? And what would happen if some of the most well-known books had completely different names that aligned to modern tactics of marketing? We gave some of the most beloved English literature classics clickbait<\/em> titles to experiment…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray<\/em>, Oscar Wilde<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man finds unexpected secret against ageing; doctors hate him! Discover it for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Frankenstein<\/em>, Mary Shelley<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people assume you\u2019re the monster but you\u2019re not: \u201ceverybody calls me by my father\u2019s name and I\u2019m pissed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Wuthering Heights<\/em>, Emily Bront\u00eb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twin flames getting together ends in haunting nightmares: the risks of meeting your other half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Jane Eyre<\/em>, Charlotte Bront\u00eb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man locks up his wife in the attic for years, is surprised when left at the altar by new girlfriend.
or<\/em>
The true story behind his \u201ccrazy ex\u201d that he doesn\u2019t want you to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Pride and Prejudice<\/em>, Jane Austen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How NOT to propose to the love of your life, including mentioning the inferiority of her birth, and a recipe for the most EXCELLENT boiled potatoes you\u2019ll ever see.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. The Great Gatsby<\/em>, Scott Fitzgerald<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man spends his whole life and fortune trying to get his ex back only to get dumped and die in a pool; don\u2019t repeat his mistakes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. The<\/em> Yellow Wallpaper<\/em>, Charlotte Perkins Gilman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling tired? Doctor discovers new side-effects of fatigue: seeing people in your wallpaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Anna Karenina<\/em>, Leo Tolstoy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian high society ruined these people\u2019s lives! Here\u2019s how to find purpose in hay fields and faith instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar<\/em>, Edgar Allan Poe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 reasons why trying to bring someone back to life is a terrible idea, from a scientific p.o.v.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Moby Dick<\/em>, Herman Melville<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origin of American men\u2019s obsession with big fish is not at all what you would expect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde<\/em>, Robert Louis Stevenson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simple trick to living life fully and becoming all the people you want to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Giovanni\u2019s Room<\/em>, James Baldwin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step-by-step tutorial on how to get rid of your homophobic boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. She<\/em>, Henry Rider Haggard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is matriarchy too dangerous for society? A group of hetero-cis men discuss the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. Metamorphoses<\/em>, Ovid<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could be drinking your ancestors\u2019 blood by eating berries: discover how that happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. Paradise Lost<\/em>, John Milton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes in temperatures might not be humans\u2019 fault; the mystic origins of seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"picture<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"whatsapp<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"she\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"jane\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"moby\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"pride\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"giovanni\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"dorian\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"gatsby\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"anna\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"wuthering\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray<\/em> by Oscar Wilde in the Oxford World\u2019s Classics, 2008. Details from Self-Portrait, Maxwell Ashby Armfield, 1901. \u00a9 Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery\/The Bridgeman Art Library.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of Frankenstein<\/em> by Mary Shelley for the Penguin Books Clothbound edition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of Wuthering Heights<\/em>, Emily Bront\u00eb, in the Classics collection of Wordsworth Editions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover for the 2006 edition of Jane Eyre<\/em> in the Penguin Classics editions. Detail from Only a lock of hair, 1858, by Sir John Everett Millais. \u00a9 Manchester Art Gallery\/Bridgeman Images<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of Pride and Prejudice<\/em> in Cranford Edition, hardback. Illustration by Hugh Thomspon, adapted by Cristina Serrat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of The Great Gatsby<\/em>, deluxe edition illustrated by Adam Simpson, 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of Anna Karenina<\/em>, in the Macmillan Collector\u2019s Library, 2017.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover for the New York edition of Moby Dick<\/em>, published independently, 2001. \u00a9 SecretGardenbooks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of Giovanni\u2019s Room<\/em> in the Penguin Modern Classics, 2007.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of She<\/em> in the Oxford University Press edition, 2008. Picture from the 1965 movie She, Hammer Film Productions Ltd.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cover of Paradise Lost<\/em> in the Arcturus Epic Classics, 2024. Illustration by Gustave Dor\u00e9.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Author: Lyo Elle Roy There\u2019s this old adage we all know and are tired of hearing that says \u201cnot to judge a book by its cover,\u201d although it is rarely actually applied to books. However, in libraries and bookshops, who hasn\u2019t decided on whether to purchase or not a story, based on the appeal of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1002895,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-5716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-2025-spring","7":"tag-special-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1002895"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5716"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5841,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5716\/revisions\/5841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}