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A review by neilrcoulter
The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3.0
If any book can truly lay claim to the title “The Great American Novel,” it’s The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald created characters and a model for telling the story of American life that continue to be fresh and generative for more stories and a deeper understanding of this country. But it’s not just the overarching structure that makes the book a classic—it’s also the micro level of every choice of word and phrasing. If you took out any page at random and gave no other context, Gatsby would be instantly recognizable.
But this is a review of a graphic novel adaptation, and because the original novel is so verbal, it never translates perfectly to any other medium. In this adaptation, Woodman-Maynard’s illustrations are beautiful—vibrant, whimsical, well-suited to the story. I especially love her literal picturing of Fitzgerald’s metaphorical imagery, such as Daisy and Jordan floating about the sofa, or Gatsby’s house literally falling like a house of cards. Woodman-Maynard crafts a wonderfully impressionistic overview of the basic story of the novel.
Unfortunately, because this adaptation omits so much of Fitzgerald’s language, and so many scenes are either absent or rearranged, the graphic novel is only an impression of the original. It doesn’t give me the feeling of having lived through the story with these characters, which is so important in “getting” Gatsby. It all goes by too quickly, but to the characters themselves, these few months felt like eternity itself. The graphic novel adaptation, then, ends up being only a too-quick tour of some of the important moments in the story, rendered in stunning, colorful watercolors.
But this is a review of a graphic novel adaptation, and because the original novel is so verbal, it never translates perfectly to any other medium. In this adaptation, Woodman-Maynard’s illustrations are beautiful—vibrant, whimsical, well-suited to the story. I especially love her literal picturing of Fitzgerald’s metaphorical imagery, such as Daisy and Jordan floating about the sofa, or Gatsby’s house literally falling like a house of cards. Woodman-Maynard crafts a wonderfully impressionistic overview of the basic story of the novel.
Unfortunately, because this adaptation omits so much of Fitzgerald’s language, and so many scenes are either absent or rearranged, the graphic novel is only an impression of the original. It doesn’t give me the feeling of having lived through the story with these characters, which is so important in “getting” Gatsby. It all goes by too quickly, but to the characters themselves, these few months felt like eternity itself. The graphic novel adaptation, then, ends up being only a too-quick tour of some of the important moments in the story, rendered in stunning, colorful watercolors.