A Marvel Idea: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Graphic Novel

When Paula Dacker, a librarian friend (whom I wrote about here in a previous post), gave the Marvel PRIDE AND PREJUDICE graphic novel the thumbs-up, I knew I had to get a copy. And it did not disappoint. From the girlie-magazine-like cover with headlines like "Bingleys Bring Bling to Britain" and "How to Cure Your Boy-Crazy Sisters" to the scrumptious illustrations by Hugo Petrus, it was a blast. Adapter Nancy Butler did a fine job of retaining the sense and integrity of Austen's inimitable prose while at the same time condensing and compressing the action to fit within the graphic novel form.

         
The bottom line? PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Marvel version, is a fine and fun way to introduce new readers to Austen, a gateway to the full book that will crack the code of Austen's language for contemporary readers who can't quite penetrate the style--or fear that they can't.

And for those of us who feel at home with Austen's texts in their pure form, this Marvel version is nevertheless pure fun. Some may ask--if they haven't already objected to the inherently abbreviated form of a graphic novel--why another PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? Do  we really need another movie, another play, a Broadway musical (fingers crossed), and now a graphic novel?

To which I reply, Can there ever be enough ways and forms to say "I love Jane Austen"?

 

 

Comments

[Meredith]

Agreed! There is no such thing as too much Austen!! I would like to read this book, I bet it's a lot of laughs!

[Kerri]

FYI, Marvel Illustrated will begin serializing _Sense and Sensibility_ in April 2010. See: http://www.publishersweekly.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6712404

Also, while I can't yet advise that _P&P_ is confirmed for B'way, I can report the "Clueless: The Musical" is! See: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006537.html?categoryid=1237&cs=1

[Laurie Viera Rigler]

Thank you, Kerri, for all that good news! I look forward to the Sense and Sensibility graphic novel, and as for CLUELESS the musical, what a fabulous idea!

[mkay]

My best friend gave me this for Christmas after I was lamenting the fact that I couldn't find one locally. Such fun! And...if it gets one person, who would never have touched an Austen book for the language, to even try to read the actual novel, it's a great addition to the Austen genre.

[Laurie Viera Rigler]

I completely agree!