Four Ways Of Looking At Dhalgren

While I may have damned Dhalgren and, by extension, Samuel Delany with faint praise recently, I have to say I'm absolutely blown away by the simple and clear designs found on his work by e-book publishers Open Road Media.

Here's the cover art I was familiar with:

Not bad at all.  Definitely 70s-ish and pulpy, with a pretty literal visual translation of The Kid and his "gang" going about their survival business in the smoky ruins of Bellona.

Here's a more recent one:

Even better in my opinion, maintaining a sense of a mysterious, doomed city, but also playing with the orchid motif.

Here's another recent one:

Very noir-ish, but somehow giving something of a portrait to The Kid doesn't sit right with me.  But the incorporation of the dual moons is nice.

Anyhow, here's the (electronic) copy cover of what I read:

I absolutely love the simplicity, and the emphasis on a bridge (entrances and exits) to Bellona, rather than the ruined city in itself.

I'd say the fourth is my favorite, with the second one being very close.  The first is pretty much iconic at this point, while the third one just doesn't sit right with me.  It's not a bad cover in itself, but it doesn't fit the tone.

Have I mentioned that as frustrating a read as Dhalgren is, it will absolutely stay with you if you manage to get through it all?  Make you do blog posts about the history of its cover art, even?