While we may know the names of a great many novels now considered to be “classics,” most of us don’t realize that more than a few of these books began with titles that often leave us scratching our heads and wondering, What in the world was the author thinking? Here are a dozen examples that will likely surprise you just as much as they did me.
1. 1984 by George Orwell
Orwell’s masterpiece of totalitarian paranoia, featuring the unforgettable image of Big Brother watching every move made by each citizen resonates with timeliness to this day. But the original title Orwell chose was The Last Man in Europe. Orwell’s publisher suggested the change.
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K Rowling
The original title of the first in the Harry Potter series was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, but the author wanted to stress the magical elements of the lead character and changed “philosopher’s” to “sorcerer’s.”
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Hoping to cash in on the success of the movie “Ocean’s 11,” Heller pitched his book with the title of Catch-11 and saw his publisher immediately reject his idea. He doubled 11 to 22 and wound up creating a phrase which is still in use in English when describing an unsolvable puzzle or riddle which involves logic.
4. Dracula by Bram Stoker
This 1897 Gothic horror classic was dubbed The Dead Un-Dead by its author until he later changed it to reflect the main character in the novel. Bela Lugosi was, no doubt, forever grateful for the edit.
5. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
“Tomorrow is another day,” the last line of the book, was the working title as Mitchell was writing. Other titles she toyed with include Bugles Sang True and Not in Our Stars. Gone With the Wind is a line from a poem by Ernest Dowson.
6. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
This homage to pedophilic lust for an 12-year-old girl had a working title of A Kingdom by the Sea, which is a line from the Edgar Allen Poe poem “Annabelle Leigh.” Nabokov changed the title to Lolita shortly before he sent the manuscript to his publisher. It is now widely considered to be one of the most influential novels of the 20th century.
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Perhaps the best example of “manners” fiction, Austen’s book began its life with the title of First Impressions and was changed, nearly 15 years after written, to Pride and Prejudice. Austen had been shopping the book around for years before finally finding a publisher who would agree to read it.
8. The Ice Storm by Rick Moody
This book has what may be the strangest original title in the history of American fiction. Moody had a working title of F.F, which stands for the Fantastic Four, a comic book referenced in the book and also an obsession of young boys in 1973, the year in which the novel is set. It later gained its more well-known title when it became obvious to the author that nothing else was appropriate.
9. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Despite what Jerry tells Elaine on “Seinfeld,” the original title was not War What is it Good For. But the real title is, in some ways, just as lame. Tolstoy, perhaps exhausted after writing such an opus, had called the book All’s Well That Ends Well. Fortunately for all of us, he came to his senses and tossed that title into the trashbin of history.
10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald comes in a close second to Tolstoy as far as badly naming a great book is concerned. This standard of American fiction went through several name iterations, including The High-Bouncing Lover. Yeah, I know: What the….? Fitzgerald was known to drink heavily, so perhaps we can excuse him on this one.
11. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Most fiction lovers can agree that this is, without a doubt, one of the best titles in the history of novels. Direct, to the point, with just a tinge of sadness and loss. But prior to publication Harper Lee had been using the name of the main character, Atticus as her title. Is there any question that she made the right choice when she changed it.
12. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Waugh said this novel, above all,?”deals with what is theologically termed ‘the operation of Grace’, that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by which God continually calls souls to Himself,” so it’s no big surprise to learn that the original title of this classic was The House of Faith.
All facts in this article came from Wikipedia.org
