While I love the Manga Classics line as a whole, Great Expectations may be one of my favorite thus far. I have to admit I have never read the original novel, but I followed the story perfectly with this adaptation and I really appreciate that. The art in Great Expectations is particularly nice and fits the story well.

Some scenes felt a bit jumpy, but overall the graphics were great! I love seeing these classic novels being turned into manga!

I didn't know about this story beforehand, which was kind of great. I got to experience this as anyone else, and with a fresh perspective!

I really enjoyed this story, much to my surprise. I've always been hesitant to read any Charles Dickens. The art was pretty great, also! I would recommend this to anyone wanting to try either classics or manga!

The rich are different, and not better, than the poor. More timely than ever!

Charles Dickens classic novel, Great Expectations, is reformatted into a manga. The result is an excellent way to convince teens to read a classic tale.

Great Expectations is the story of Pip, a pleasant helpful child, who is thrown into high society in the early 1800s. Young Pip is randomly called to entertain and assist rich, old and crazy Miss Havisham. There he falls in love with her stepdaughter, Estella, and even more with the idea of being a gentleman. Once old enough Pip becomes an apprentice blacksmith under his brother-in-law. But greater adventures await Pip as he receives news that an anonymous benefactor is paying for him to become a London gentleman. He has Great Expectations now.

Personally I have tried slogging through the original 500 page novel and never made it even 10% in. This graphic novel makes reading the plot entertaining and faster though it is also over 300 pages long. The artwork makes keeping the multitude of characters easily recognized.

I chose this version of Great Expectations because I have great memories of reading Classics Illustrated comics when I was a child. This manga gives the exact same feeling of making a great story accessible to modern readers. Great Expectations, the manga, is highly recommended for students who want more entertainment and enjoyment than simply reading the wiki. It is also recommended for adult readers who have always been curious about Dickens' story but don't want to invest 10+ hours to read the book.

Thanks to the publisher, Udon, and netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Udon Entertainment and Net Galley for giving me a chance to review this book. This is my honest opinion.

This is the second book I've read in the Manga Classics series. The first being The Scarlet letter, which I reviewed previously. I'm a fan! I have read The original Great Expectations and I think they did a lovely job adapting it to a manga format. The art was how I'd expected. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the original book. I think it would be great for teens and young adults who enjoy the visual format of manga. Hopefully it would be inspire them to read the original.

If you have read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens then you know what this book is about. And if you haven’t read it, then you still probably know what this is about. I enjoyed reading this and it was an interesting format to give me a good change of pace. If you haven’t read this well loved classic because you either tried and couldn’t get into it or this doesn’t seem like your type of read, then I recommend giving the Manga version a try. The pictures give it a whole other level to the story

If any of you love Dickens please stand up and buy this comic on the spot. It is both accurate and thoughtful as a visual rendition of one of Charles Dickens's best known novels. So my warnings are not against the manga, but against Dickens and this novel in particular.

This novel has all gothic elements of Christmas Carol without delivering and end with a real hope of a better future for the main character. Little Pip is redeemed from penury thanks to a good deed he did to a convict, but fails to see past appearances and as a poor judge of character fails at understanding what is really best for him beyond nice clothes, gentlemanly manners and a life of general comfort. He thus loses what was probably his only real chance at genuine mutual love to an illusion, the infatuation for a girl who has been brought up not to believe in love and to deceive men to her personal benefit by the very grotesque character of Miss Havisham, an old lady clad in white who had her heart broken by a rake as a young lady. The connections between the characters are revealed during the novel, but Pip fails to see the truth until it is presented to him on a gilded plate, thus putting his life in danger more than once. His last meeting with Estella has the bitter-sweet taste of the realisation of precious things lost forever and I am grateful that this manga does not make any attempt to let the reader believe there can be anything other than forgiveness, but not a second chance, in Pip's and Estella's future.

In conclusion, if you are already familiar with this novel, you will enjoy the artwork and script, if you are not, make sure you are ready for a tale with no real happily ever after, at least for the main character.

I've never really liked this story, but reading it as a manga was definitely better! Seeing Pip as a manga character, and being able to read his expressions, brought the story to life for me. I also appreciated that the story is condensed and clear, making it easy to follow what is going on.

The best part is seeing all the characters, both good guys and villains, strongly reflected in the beautiful artwork. Joe has an angelic face, peaceful and kindly in every circumstance. Miss Havisham is old and gaunt and ghastly. And Pip's face is innocent and wishful. The brilliant thing about the artwork is that their whole character is written in their faces!

I enjoyed this manga adaptation, even reading a story that I originally didn't like when I read it as a novel! That is the power of manga, I guess! It softened the story to a place where I could enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Like Pride and Prejudice, this is a fantastic introduction to the classic for learners at the K-12 level. The manga adaptation makes it both accessible and appealing for a younger audience. I would absolutely adopt this text for the classroom.

Remember using CliffNotes or SparkNotes in high school? Sometimes for books you hadn't read? (I know I wasn't the only one. Sorry, The Iliad.)

Imagining what my book report would have looked like if I had used this adaptation as my source for Great Expectations (I did read that one, though) is kinda hilarious. This manga is entertaining and a good way to review the novel in a quickly digestible format, but only if you have some idea of the plot beforehand.

It's been about twelve years since I read GE so I only have brief impressions left of it now. I know that the plot is cray... Miss Havisham wears an old wedding dress... an
d Pip is in love with Estella for God knows why. According to the manga, I remembered it correctly. But it also helped me to remember other important plot points - so, hey, success! The story is all over the place, but so is the source, so I commend Stacy King for keeping all of the storylines together.

Like with Pride and Prejudice, I enjoyed the art for the most part. It's not particularly memorable... In fact, the only parts I remember are the not-so-great panels combined with awkward writing. (See right.) Miss Havisham looked a little too similar to a Sailor Moon villain at times.

Manga Classics: Great Expectations is a good review and teaching tool, especially when trying to make the classics accessible to different audiences.

I enjoyed reading Pip's story in manga form and tried to remember as much of the book as well. All the characters were portrayed very nicely.

I've read a few of these Manga Classics and this was another great adaptation. It is the first one that I've read without reading the original first, but I'm familiar with the basic plot. It told the story with clear artistic differentiation between all of the characters, and I enjoyed all of the artwork. I highly recommend this and the other books in this collection for people who are interested in a succinct and beautiful graphic novelization of a classic story.

The story opens on Pip in a cemetery looking at his parents' graves. A prisoner in shackles approaches him and asks him to bring a file for him to remove his chains. Pip returns to his home, with his sister and her husband who is a blacksmith. Pip smuggles the file to the prisoner who is then able to escape. One day, Pip is invited to go visit the widow, Miss Havisham. She is a very wealthy women who lives in her wedding dress because she was left at the altar years ago. She adopted a girl named Estella, and Pip falls in love with her. Then, after Pip has begun an apprenticeship with his brother-in-law, Joe, someone comes from the city and tells Pip that he has a benefactor who is going to pay for him to become a gentleman. He now has great expectations. Pip moves to the city, assuming that his mysterious benefactor is Miss Havisham. Pip hopes that if he can become a gentleman, he will be able to marry Estella.

This graphic novel followed Dickens' story faithfully. It gives the basic story, without all the added details in the novel. Though I love his writing style, I know some people think that Dickens is tedious to read. This graphic novel is a great alternative to get the same story.

It's been a few years since I read the novel, so I liked reading the story again in graphic novel format. This is a great addition to any library of classics.

This review will be posted on my blog on May 3, 2017.

I could never read Great Expectations without being dreadfully bored.
However, King has managed to grab my interest in it, the manga format being well-illustrated and compelling.
Also [Joe and Biddy! The sweetest characters ended up together! I feel bad for Pip but hopefully, he feels actual love for Estella now that the old crone is gone. (hide spoiler)]
I do wish the story was more than one volume, as mangas are, because it gives more depth to the characters and more time to be attached to them.
But everything was fantastically compacted into 300 pages which is appreciated as well!
The art was awesome, the story was awesome, just wish there was more detail. Events happened too quickly, it had no real emotional impact on me. I was really glad to see Pip's growth at the end however.
Thank you to Netgalley for giving me a copy to review.

I love the traditional storyline and I absolutely love that it was made into a manga. It keeps with the traditional story while adding illustrations to keep even the most fearful reader engaged. It reads like the traditional manga style while keeping with the storyline of the book. It is absolutely amazing and the illustrations are perfect. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone that loves the classic but wants to read them with a twist.

I discovered these Manga Classics via NetGalley, and am so glad I did! I'm definitely intent on reading a lot of the collection.

I've only seen the film of this story, and not even read the original novel. But I am planning to do so, and I really feel like this has given me a better understanding of the plot and the characters.

The story itself, written by Charles Dickens, is pretty good - not my favourite, but not bad. It tells the story of Pip, a little boy who wants nothing more than to be a gentleman. But his humble lifestyle is not particularly accommodating of that wish, until an anonymous benefactor sends him to London...

I think the characters and emotions are portrayed really well through the artwork in this, helping to understand the developments in the plot and relationships that are taking place. The language makes it easier to follow and understand, too, which a lot of people have problems with when reading older novels. For example with Miss Havisham, who's emotions are somewhat exaggerated to show her grief and frustrations.

If you like classic novels but are maybe uncomfortable with the language or length, then I'd definitely recommend this line of graphic novels. Even as an accompaniment to the original books, just to give that extra insight and understanding.

Simply because this isn't a favourite story, I'm going to give 4 stars. But the adaptation itself is fantastic.

*** Disclaimer: Received this from the author/publisher via Netgalley for an honest review***

Rating: 3/5

I had read Great Expectations early on in my life. It was a mass market paperback that had a page count of well over 500 pages, if I remember clearly, which made it a beast of a book. I really hated that book then and never thought I would pick up the story once more. I was glad to find the manga for review on Netgalley because it allowed me to explore the story of Pip and Estella again as an older reader but in a timely fashion.

Let me start with the fact that the art is lovely. It is very dynamic and each frame was artfully placed. The progression of the plot is where I found it to be a bit choppy. I think that a lot of the beginning was spent with Pip as a child and because of that the ending had to get crunched in the last third to try and get in his adult years. I also felt that the relationship Havisham had with both Pip and Estella could have been flushed out more. I couldn't feel their reasoning for entertaining her throughout all the years. It is a very subtle thing explored in the actual book over a lot of pages so I kind of understand why it couldn't be done in the smaller page count here however I feel because it wasn't done I wasn't sold on their inherent connection to her. Without this connection you couldn't feel empathy for Havisham even in a small capacity.

The ending was very open ended and I really appreciated that. The author's notes at the end of the manga explained why they decided to go that route and I agree with them about it because the ending of the book I read (as the original Great Expectations had two endings written by Dickens) just irritated me greatly.

In the end I think this was still a terrific way to present this story and introduce people to Dickens' usually very large and long winded classics. I am excited to read more from the Manga Classic series as it allows me to read a lot of classics in a more engaging format.

Happy Reading

Jo

This book was a very fast and g0od read. It stuck to the storyline well and I read it in one sitting. Only took me 2 hours. I think the illustrations were beautiful. It was weird but fun reading a story from back to front. Only criticism I have is I wish the illustrations were in colord. I love that classics became a graphic novel

In this intriguing story about the many facets of human cruelty, I met Pip, a good boy who was raised by an evil sister and his kindly brother-in-law. Pip does not understand why his brother-in-law preferred to live without ambition and indulge in the work he was trained to do , even though he was young and could change his life,. Surrounded by self-interested people, Pip realizes the nobility of his brother-in-law's soul and has a lot of affection for him.

But at a certain point he is taken to Miss Havisham's house at her request and it is when his odyssey begins. He is fascinated by the woman's adopted daughter, Estella, and tries in all ways to be a gentleman to get the girl's attention even if the girl whenever she can, she is cold and bad with him.

Thanks to an unfamiliar benefactor, he conquers all that he dreamed and changes his life, escaping the poverty and pain of his past and abandoning everyone who liked him.

The young gentleman Phillip is quite different from the naive boy Pip and little by little he himself realizes and has to face the consequences of his choices.

Charles Dickens' book is one of the great classics of all time that both the writer who adapted the book for manga and the mangaká have managed to portray very well. I was able to live all the emotions that flowed from the graphics and see clearly the personality of each character.

A pity for me, the writer has chosen the first final written by Charles Dickens because the book I have opted for this same closure and I wanted to know the alternate end he wrote to please the public.

The cover is also fantastic, rich in elements that draw for reading.
4/5 stars
Kisses, Myl

A witty and honest reimagining of a Dickens classic with beautiful artwork. What I love most about these manga classics aside from their ability to be true to the themes, is the way they make literary giants accessible to people who have trouble reading the original classics. As someone who has read the books they are an extra treat for me.