Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel (American English, Original Text)

Charlotte Bronte's 1847 Gothic romance "Jane Eyre" has proved irresistable to generations of readers and to those who would adapt it to other formats, such as television and film. This 2010 adaptation presents the long and melodramatic story in a shortened graphic novel format, based on a script by Amy Corzine. The good news is that the art and the script are up to the task. "Jane Eyre: The Graphic Novel" is a very worthwhile introduction to a classic novel.As the story opens, the reader is introduced to Jane Eyre, a plain but spunky orphan who is the unwanted ward of a cruel and abusive aunt. Jane is eventually banished to a charity school, where the students are grossly neglected, but where Jane is able to find friends and a mentor. An older Jane obtains a position as a governess in the household of the mysterious Edward Rochester, master of Thornfield Hall. The house is full of secrets and danger, but also of romance. Jane falls in love with her employer, but finds the cost of being with him to be too high. She flees, eventually finding refugee with another family, and where she will make a discovery that changes her life...Fans of the original novel may be unhappy with the abridgement and changed point of view of this graphic novel. However, this version does strive to present Jane's challenges and her central moral dilemma in a format designed to appeal to younger modern readers. It is highly recommended to that audience.

I am not the biggest fan of graphic novels- I have a few, but it’s not something I go out of my way to pens money on. But than darn Jane Eyre… I can’t resist adding every movie or BBC production to my collection. So I figured why not give this a chance, and I am glad I did. The art is suitably broody to fit the mood of Thornfield. Naturally, it is edited for length but the heart of the story is still there and beautifully presented. If you’re a fan of all things Jane then I highly recommend you take a chance on this yourself- you won’t be disappointed.

The point of creating the Graphic Novel is to encourage today's students to go back to the original and enjoy it more. Ooops, I gave the game away! :) The Comic's text has been wonderfully abridged, and Americanized (hence the "Huh?" Jane says). I suggest renting the 1973 BBC version, if your Blockbuster has it. The 1983 version is adequate: I believe Mr. Dalton did not have a "Jane" who challenged him. Teased him. Stuck a sly penknife, so to speak, under his ear. Mr. Jayston and Miss Cusack, however, take the witty script and run with it.

I do not have any experience with graphic novels or comics beyond the random flipping through of my cousin's Batman comics. I found the Graphic Novel version of Jane Eyre to be completely interesting and engaging. The illustrations were magnificent. They really brought the story of Jane Eyre to life. The language was almost exactly the same as the novel. There was once jarring moment where Jane says "Huh?". It just didn't fit with the language of the rest of the comic.This graphic novel and other graphic novels like it would be excellent in the school atmosphere where some students would be more likely to read and enjoy a graphic novel rather than the novel itself. These graphic novels are beautifully illustrated and remain true to the novels they are based on. I will definitely be buying more of them and hope and pray they make one for Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

Back around 1960 John Burns, the illustrator of Classic Comics "Jane Eyre" and I were both in the RAF and stationed at RAF Brampton in England. John was good enough to help me in my own drawing efforts before being posted, I believe to Singapore. I still have some of his original pencil and water color sketches from that time and have always admired his style. After National Service I moved to California and heard no more about John but have never forgotten the enormous talent he had. I am pleased that thousands of others, through John's published work, have also enjoyed his talents.

I love this story and appreciated the way this format made the story appealing and dramatic. The story is there but the visuals make it much easier to absorb. Linda

If you are looking for a quick way 'read' Jane Eyre, then this is the one for you. It was quick and VERY easy (so easy, it had a glossary in the back for words like 'attic'). However, having read the original some time ago, and having seen screen adaptations of this work, there really wasn't anything missing, besides the in-depth descriptions by Charlotte Bronte.The illustrations were very 'comic book' like and helped to add to the limited dialogue by 'painting' the picture of the various scenes. It seemed to stay true to the book's storyline. However, you only get a glimpse of many scenes, like the Lowood School, or how mean Jane's cousins were.I don't think that I would recommend this book, but to a quite younger generation, who wants to know what Jane Eyre is all about. It might give the reader a simple taste, who will hopefully want more and thus turn to the original work by Charlotte Bronte.I don't know what it is about our society that we feel we have to 'mash up' our classics, or to put them in graphic novel format. If it is the hope that it will get our younger generations to read more of the classics, I think this new craze is missing the point. But it seems almost geared toward a society of reading less in order to read a greater quantity. The main reason that I picked up this graphic novel was to see what all of the fuss was about. Now, I can say that I saw, I read, and I am sending it back to the library quickly, without further recommendations.

Excellent work compressing story while keeping the flavor of language. Graphics a bit old-fashioned but probably deliberately so.

Ich habe den Comic auf der Buchmesse letztes Jahr gesehen und mir war sofort klar: den muss ich haben!Der Comic gibt den kompletten Roman in sehr schönen colorierten Bildern wieder. Natürlich kann das Buch nicht komplett zu hundert Prozent übertragen werden, doch fehlt keines der wichtigen Ereignisse.Da dies hier die Original Text Version ist, werden die Dialoge 1:1 aus dem Buch übertragen. Es sind aber noch ausgaben mit gekürztem Text und Shorttext verfügbar.Ich persönlich finde es eine hervorragende Idee klassische Werke der Literatur in Comicform zu veröffentlichen und kann es jedem uneingeschränkt empfehlen.