Have you ever read Jane Austen in the form of a comic? Well, this was a first one for me, too! My husband attended a Comic Con recently and brought me this this Pride and Prejudice graphic novel.
The graphic novel is written by Laurence Sach, illustrated by Rajesh Nagulakonda and published by Campfire whose mission is to “entertain and educate young minds by creating unique illustrated books that recount stories of human values, arouse curiosity in the world around us and inspire with tales of great deeds of unforgettable people.” And having read the novel, I too feel that a graphic novel is a great way to introduce a classic to a young audience that might find the original a tad too challenging to grasp.
While I didn’t expect to like the graphic novel one bit, not being used to the genre, I was positively surprised to discover that this version has captured the essence of the novel so well. The graphic novel has stayed faithful to the original, changing nothing and removing nothing essential. The original language of the novel has been largely pertained, although the dialogue does remind me a great deal of the 1995 BBC P & P Miniseries; in fact, I’m quite sure that the authors have seen it and have based a large amount of the storyline on the TV adaptation.
Captions have been added to the illustrations to explain the story clearly, and the thought bubbles add to the effect, showing us what each character thinks, which is obviously missing from Jane Austen’s original novel. This is a helpful effect in Pride and Prejudice in particular, as we can see how Elizabeth and Darcy’s feelings change throughout the story, making the story accessible to anyone.
While the costumes and backgrounds in the illustrations look appropriate, the characters’ faces look chiselled to perfection, making them look super modern. Perhaps this can be forgiven, though,thanks to the style in this genre! The language, however, is not quite perfect in places, with some grammatical errors here and there and some slips, such as the title in Mr Lucas (for Sir Lucas).
Nonetheless, Pride and Prejudice Graphic Novel is certainly a fun addition to my Jane Austen collection and I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to be introduced to the author. Funnily enough, my one-year-old daughter loves browsing through the book and looking at the pictures…I’m hopeful that she’ll grow up to love Pride and Prejudice one day as much as I do!
