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wildgurl's review against another edition
4.0
The Great Gatsby:A Graphic Novel Adaptation
by K. Woodman- Maynard based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
due January 2021
Candlewick Press
4.0 / 5.0
A sincere thanks to LibraryThing, and Candlewick Press for sending this ARC for independent review.
The use of light, bright watercolor with the simple, direct character sketches, do an excellent job of bringing the Jazz Age of the 1920s to life. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was set in this period, and portrayed many of the characteristics if this time.
The use of color to express emotion was brilliant, a well conceived idea. It adds much feeling and voice to the story and the Era.
I look forward to seeing the finished graphic novel, in color. The ARC is in B&W, but they dobinclude the first chapter, in a seperate booklet in color, so you can see the illustrations, colors scheme and design to be used in the novel. Well done, well thought out. Recommended.
by K. Woodman- Maynard based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
due January 2021
Candlewick Press
4.0 / 5.0
A sincere thanks to LibraryThing, and Candlewick Press for sending this ARC for independent review.
The use of light, bright watercolor with the simple, direct character sketches, do an excellent job of bringing the Jazz Age of the 1920s to life. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was set in this period, and portrayed many of the characteristics if this time.
The use of color to express emotion was brilliant, a well conceived idea. It adds much feeling and voice to the story and the Era.
I look forward to seeing the finished graphic novel, in color. The ARC is in B&W, but they dobinclude the first chapter, in a seperate booklet in color, so you can see the illustrations, colors scheme and design to be used in the novel. Well done, well thought out. Recommended.
thingsreadinbed's review against another edition
4.0
The artwork is lovely. I bought a copy. And may need another so I can frame a few pages for my office.
ellianajenness's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve read the book and love it, and this was a beautiful ode to Fitzgerald’s story. The graphics are gorgeous and drew me to want to read this, but I feel like there’s a lot of the story missing. Or maybe I’m just not used to reading graphic novels. I’m so glad they included some lines verbatim, it’s a beautifully written work of literature.
thindbooks's review against another edition
4.0
*This graphic novel was given to me by the publisher to give an honest review*
I enjoyed this little graphic novel which is a reimaged of The Great Gatsby as you can see by the title. This will be a short review as I only gotten the first part of the book. I enjoyed the artist’s watercolor drawing because it brought the whole book alive. The writer did an amazing job bringing the whole story since it is a reimagined of The Great Gatsby. I enjoyed the characters so far also the setting. I haven’t read the original Great Gatsby but I know the main points and I think so far the book nailed it with those. I think this would be a great book to use for middle school children or even elementary kids. Since a lot of kids do love pictures in their book, I think this would help bring out the story more clearer for them. I enjoyed this graphic novel and recommend it to The Great Gatsby fans.
I enjoyed this little graphic novel which is a reimaged of The Great Gatsby as you can see by the title. This will be a short review as I only gotten the first part of the book. I enjoyed the artist’s watercolor drawing because it brought the whole book alive. The writer did an amazing job bringing the whole story since it is a reimagined of The Great Gatsby. I enjoyed the characters so far also the setting. I haven’t read the original Great Gatsby but I know the main points and I think so far the book nailed it with those. I think this would be a great book to use for middle school children or even elementary kids. Since a lot of kids do love pictures in their book, I think this would help bring out the story more clearer for them. I enjoyed this graphic novel and recommend it to The Great Gatsby fans.
thenextgenlib's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the novel and thought the graphic novel did a good job of holding its own. The color palette was a bit too muted for my tastes, but I liked the unique placement of the wording on several of the pages.
4 ⭐️
4 ⭐️
lizwuestefeld's review against another edition
3.0
The illustrations are beautiful, the adaptation is okay. It mostly made me want to reread the original
jennifermreads's review against another edition
4.0
The Great Gatsby is one of my all-time favorites. So, to read an adaptation? Well, I was reluctant. But I won a copy in a Shelf Awareness/Library Journal giveaway (that I don’t ever remember entering!). And, my reading slump feels so overwhelming at this point, a graphic novel was a good way to at least jump-start some kind of reading.
Despite the “pared down” bit that is necessary in a graphic novel format, I still felt like I was reading Fitzgerald’s work. Text adaptor Fred Fordham did a masterful job using just-the-right-bits of Fitzgerald’s gorgeous, lyrical prose. I knew this was an A#1 work when I had the same emotions, tingles, love that I do when reading the original work.
My only qualm was the artwork. While I loved the muted coloring, I was increasingly frustrated with the way-too-similar male characters. During the scene in the Plaza, I actually had to reread and really look to see who was who. Not good. It took me out of the story. And, I have read the source material. Can you imagine the struggle for someone who is reading the story for the first time?
Then, after looking at Fred Fordham’s website and seeing he did the complete adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, I wonder why he did not do this one as well. The foreword by Fitzgerald’s great-great-granddaughter offered an explanation: a long, exhaustive search for the artist. But did the exhaustive search include Fordham’s work? I’m just puzzled.
So, despite the artwork hiccup, I would highly recommend this graphic novel. I thank Mr. Fordham for giving me a beautiful work to, hopefully, ease myself out of a reading slump.
Despite the “pared down” bit that is necessary in a graphic novel format, I still felt like I was reading Fitzgerald’s work. Text adaptor Fred Fordham did a masterful job using just-the-right-bits of Fitzgerald’s gorgeous, lyrical prose. I knew this was an A#1 work when I had the same emotions, tingles, love that I do when reading the original work.
My only qualm was the artwork. While I loved the muted coloring, I was increasingly frustrated with the way-too-similar male characters. During the scene in the Plaza, I actually had to reread and really look to see who was who. Not good. It took me out of the story. And, I have read the source material. Can you imagine the struggle for someone who is reading the story for the first time?
Then, after looking at Fred Fordham’s website and seeing he did the complete adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, I wonder why he did not do this one as well. The foreword by Fitzgerald’s great-great-granddaughter offered an explanation: a long, exhaustive search for the artist. But did the exhaustive search include Fordham’s work? I’m just puzzled.
So, despite the artwork hiccup, I would highly recommend this graphic novel. I thank Mr. Fordham for giving me a beautiful work to, hopefully, ease myself out of a reading slump.
margeryb's review against another edition
5.0
I read this graphic novel back to back with the Fordham version for comparison's sake. This is the one I prefer.
The author-illustrator takes more creative liberties than the other version, including rearranging events in the text, splitting up the chapter breaks in different places, and condescending more of text. However, I think it paid off. If I hadn't been rereading it back to back with another version, I wouldn't have realized certain scenes and flashbacks were rearranged because they flowed very well where they were placed.
The art is where Woodman-Maynard's adaption really sings. There is a beautiful color palette used expressively, characters that express a lot in face and body language despite being rendered in deceptively few lines, and clever uses of the illustrations, such as depicting some of Fitzgerald's metaphors in visuals -- like his mansion falling apart like a house of cards, or the curling of Daisy's speech bubbles to depict how she speaks -- and playing with Nick as an unreliable narrator.
This is an overall beautiful and compelling adaption that could serve as a good introduction or additional version of The Great Gatsby story.
The author-illustrator takes more creative liberties than the other version, including rearranging events in the text, splitting up the chapter breaks in different places, and condescending more of text. However, I think it paid off. If I hadn't been rereading it back to back with another version, I wouldn't have realized certain scenes and flashbacks were rearranged because they flowed very well where they were placed.
The art is where Woodman-Maynard's adaption really sings. There is a beautiful color palette used expressively, characters that express a lot in face and body language despite being rendered in deceptively few lines, and clever uses of the illustrations, such as depicting some of Fitzgerald's metaphors in visuals -- like his mansion falling apart like a house of cards, or the curling of Daisy's speech bubbles to depict how she speaks -- and playing with Nick as an unreliable narrator.
This is an overall beautiful and compelling adaption that could serve as a good introduction or additional version of The Great Gatsby story.
margeryb's review against another edition
4.0
It's The Great Gatsby, and I love The Great Gatsby, so I won't give it a bad score because the core story I love is there. I read this and Woodman-Maynard's graphic novel adaptation back-to-back for comparison's sake.
If you want a scene-for-scene retelling but with pictures, this would be the one for you. More of the text is included. As much as I love Fitzgerald's prose, sometimes I would say too much text, such as moments that had excerpts of the prose describing something and have it drawn out in a panel, when the very purpose of a graphic novel is to have words and pictures share the burden of telling the story together. Artwise, while I enjoyed the detailed background of the settings, houses, and city in the backgrounds of the panels, I found the characters and their expressions to be a bit flat and stilted.
If you want a scene-for-scene retelling but with pictures, this would be the one for you. More of the text is included. As much as I love Fitzgerald's prose, sometimes I would say too much text, such as moments that had excerpts of the prose describing something and have it drawn out in a panel, when the very purpose of a graphic novel is to have words and pictures share the burden of telling the story together. Artwise, while I enjoyed the detailed background of the settings, houses, and city in the backgrounds of the panels, I found the characters and their expressions to be a bit flat and stilted.
combepherre's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0