Nancy ButlerRezensionen

I love the story of Pride and Prejudice, it is one of my favorite stories. It was interesting to read it in graphic novel form.

I thought the illustrations were a little odd, they were like the 2000s met the Victorian era. I thought the character's faces were very sharp and aggressive looking. And at times the charters were drawn a bit messy looking, and when I picture the Victorian period I think of everything being proper and everything being in its place.

It was fun but different.

This cover is awesome.

I liked that Butler managed to use a lot of the original Austen in the dialogue, but some continuity issues---both in the storytelling and the art, where several characters' hair colors change in the course of the novel---detracted from the book.

Delightful! I'm reminded of all the reasons why Northanger Abbey is my favorite Austen novel.

I forgot I had this one. So upon rereading I discovered why. I'm not a big fan of the art. I liked the cover and bought it because Pride and Prejudice (thank God for autocorrect). But it's not very special and certainly didn't make me tingle like the original did.

I cannot judge the quality of the adaptation, since I have never read the source material, but as a way to get the gist of what goes on in the story, this book was an enjoyable experience, and certainly a quicker read.

1 Smart, Somewhat Headstrong Heroine (Led Astray by First Impressions)
1 Overly Sweet Elder Sister
1 Handsome but Aloof Moneyed Gentleman (with Rather Too Much Pride)
1 Overly Amiable/Pliable Best Friend

1 Dastardly Young Man
3 Very Silly Ill-behaved Sisters
OFFICERS!
1 Very Snotty Sister
1 Mother with Nerves Much Maligned
1 Pompous Clergyman
1 Condescending Patroness
1 Really Swanky House in Derbyshire

Pretty, Pretty Artwork
5 Girls' Magazine Style Covers
1 Pair of REALLY TIGHT BREECHES

Not a bad adaptation in many respects, but it adheres too closely to the 2005 film version it seems. They seem to have forgotten the fact that Mr. Bingley has two sisters. Also, things have been... condensed somewhat. I understand that for the format it needed to be a bit shorter than the actual novel. I guess I feel it's missing out by doing so.

I don't have too much to complain about with the art aside from the fact supposedly plain Mary looks anything but. And some of the facial expressions seem odd at times.

Not a bad adaptation in many respects, but it adheres too closely to the 2005 film version it seems. They seem to have forgotten the fact that Mr. Bingley has two sisters. Also, things have been... condensed somewhat. I understand that for the format it needed to be a bit shorter than the actual novel. I guess I feel it's missing out by doing so.

I don't have too much to complain about with the art aside from the fact supposedly plain Mary looks anything but. And some of the facial expressions seem odd at times.

Not a bad adaptation in many respects, but it adheres too closely to the 2005 film version it seems. They seem to have forgotten the fact that Mr. Bingley has two sisters. Also, things have been... condensed somewhat. I understand that for the format it needed to be a bit shorter than the actual novel. I guess I feel it's missing out by doing so.

I don't have too much to complain about with the art aside from the fact supposedly plain Mary looks anything but. And some of the facial expressions seem odd at times.

It's no secret that I love all things Pride and Prejudice so when I finally got my hands on a copy of this I was beyond excited.
Most of the artwork was gorgeous with the exception of the characters themselves which I have to say was a bit disappointing.
As for the story itself, Nancy Butler did a good job condensing it to suit a graphic novel. A lot of the dialogue that is vital to the story was included so it was a great way to jump back into the world of P&P without reading the actual novel again.

I am an unabashed graphic novel fan and a Jane Austen fan, but I found this adaptation to be very disappointing. The text and the story were fairly faithful, but the art accompanying it was rather off-putting. I was drawn in by the sweet and rather tongue-in-cheek cover art, but the actual graphics for the book were heavy, overdrawn, and confusing. I had trouble telling characters apart because there was very little to distinguish one thin narrow-faced lady from another, and even if I could tell them apart, each character looked different from herself from frame to frame. And while I'm not an expert by any means in period hairstyles or dress, I felt that the women all appeared a little too causal and modern to be convincing.

4.5/5 stars

3.5 stars


Read this for 12 Tasks of the Festive Season:
Task the Sixth: The Hanukkah:
- Let the dreidel choose a book for you: create a list of four books, and assign a dreidel symbol to each one (Nun=miracle; Gimel=great; He=happened; Shin=there, i.e. Israel). Google "spin the dreidel," and a dreidel comes up for you to spin. Give it a spin and read the book that the dreidel chooses!


Not to sound all "get off my lawn!" but reading older published stories (they have their problems too) is sometimes very refreshing; it's amazing how much story can be created in favor of just hurriedly working to get the leads into bed. I like my sexy times but purpose and dialogue, y'all. These were all short, sweet, and nothing beyond kissing regency holiday stories.

“The Merry Wanderer” by Nancy Butler

3 stars

But as often as he'd willingly played the fool for his master or his mistress, he had never yet played the fool for love.

This one had a magical feel to it with Robin Goodfellow, Merlin, faeries, and an Arthur sighting. The heroine's family guards a very important faerie book and Robin visits to make sure the heroine is up to the task of guarding it. It was a bit slow moving but fairy tale fun.


“The Wexford Carol” by Emma Jensen

3.5 stars

"Is that what you will wish for, then? My speedy demise?"
"Goodness. A jest. Very good, Captain."
As he watched, surprised, charmed, and increasingly warm, she removed another sprig of holly from her pocket, tucked it into a buttonhole on his coat, and briskly patted his chest.
"As you could easily guess, I will make a wish for Hollymore."
With that, she stepped back, draped an arm around the cherub, and surveyed her handiwork on Rhys's coat. She gave a satisfied nod. In that brief moment, Rhys was enchanted to his toes.

This was a super sweet and funny story but was little bit lacking in the showing the relationship build between leads (these were all pretty short stories). The hero and heroine spend a week together with the hero's cheeky nephew, mistaken identities, semi-villain relatives and a house with more character than stable walls. It was lovely and being set in Ireland, gave it a beautiful Irish Christmas spirit.

“High Spirits” by Edith Layton

4 stars

He'd never be thought of as handsome, except in a certain light and at certain moments, when anyone could see he was much more than that.

My favorite from the series because the author was able to build and create a relationship between the leads in the short amount of time allotted. The heroine is having her season but super nervous so her brother advises her to imbibe a bit for Dutch courage. Hero is sent by his sister and aunt to call on heroine to warn her away from his cousin who they want to marry someone else. Hero is charmed by her and calls on her during the day, falling love. At night he is shocked by her flirty different attitude at balls, figures out she is drinking, takes her to a pub to show her alcoholics, and gives her a come to Jesus talk. It sounds preachy but the heroine's shyness and the hero's melting stoicism makes this a very sweet story.

“The Christmas Curse” by Barbara Metzger


2 stars

" 'Til Death do you part, lad?" he said with a smile and a wink for his own beloved. "That's not the half of it."

This one has ghosts for "spirits" with a medieval couple haunting a castle, able to actually affect things during the week of Christmas, because the husband in a jealous act jousted someone but died and the wife had made curse that if he didn't return her ring to the castle they would never rest. Their heir and hero is a battle scarred war hero and our heroine is a widow with a horrible aunt. There's guilt, shame, anger, fear, and love but the characters and story all felt a bit disjointed. We get great flushed out backstories for the heroine and hero but current scenes with them together were missing, I wanted to see them fall in love.

“A Gathering of Gifts” by Andrea Pickens

3.5 stars

Indeed, the more they spoke, the more intriguing she became.

This involved a Duke's daughter who started off a total spoiled brat and an ex-soldier who wouldn't give into her whims. Heroine injured her ankle so has to stay at the hero's manor, where they bicker and snark themselves into falling in love. The hero's sister, nephew, heroine's cousin, and others gave this a great fun cast of characters. I really liked how it was shown how the hero and heroine caused each other to grow and become better, very charming story.

This is a classic I had not previously read. Jane Austen never disappoints. At least, not in my experience.

As usual, Nancy Butler does a wonderful job condensing Austen's material down to graphic novel form. The artwork is nice but at times I had trouble following the flow of the panels. Overall, an excellent addition to Marvel's Classic series.

Pride & Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time so to read it as a graphic novel was really fun for me. I thought the illustrator was fantastic and the author that transformed the text did a pretty good job. Of course nothing will ever live up to the original though.

Like any good romance, there has to be a love triangle. Here's Discarded Duke's triangle of love: point A. = Beautiful widow Ursula Roarke, looking for a new husband, point B. = pretty Damien Danover (the Duke of Ardsley), looking to finally settle down with a suitable mate and point C. = the ruggedly handsome shepherd, William Ridd, who just wants to take care of wool producing sheep in peace and quiet. As you can guess, beautiful widow wants to seduce rich duke but can't help the animal attraction she feels towards poor rough-around-the-edges shepherd. Can you see where this is going? Like any good romance the characters are stereotypical in attractiveness and sex appeal. The Widow Ursula, despite being a widow, is still a young and voluptuous, willful and fiery redhead determined to get her way. The dainty Duke is powerful, attractive, wealthy, slightly persnickety and described as a man who can look like he's smelled a week old fish or behave like a dry old stick. William the innocent, minding-his-own-business sheepherder is bronzed by the sun, doesn't own the beloved sheep he tends (one guess who does!), has a wry sense of sunny humor but has a dark and stormy past. Of course he does. What decent hero does not? Except Ridd has the scars to prove the violence. Of course Will and Ursula exchange barbs like two elementary school kids on the playground. But, like any good romance, there are secrets galore and assumptions to be made on all sides of the isosceles.
But wait! There's a fourth point to the triangle. Huh? Now, technically, it's a rectangle of love. Judith Coltrane, former friend and potentially past love interest of Ardsley's from back in the day. She has waited in vain for the Duke to return after he ran after from a tragedy on the home front twelves years ago. See, everyone has a secret. So when the Duke rolls back into town with Lady Ursula all this time later...

Probably the best element of Butler's story is the character development. Yes, they are all slightly stereotypical in their socioeconomic positions, too (everyone looks down on poor, come-from-nothing William Ridd, obviously.). But every single character has a dark and vulnerable side.

The story is of course itself and has much to recommend it. The illustrations were a far cry from that promised by the cover. Lack of continuity was a constant enough problem to become a distraction. A good way to introduce the classics to younger generations though.

What a guilty pleasure! -- I bought this book in hopes of persuading my daughter to love the classic, and of course had to sit down and read it myself. I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it -- as I read, I could quote along on numerous lines word for word. I think the interpretation is dead on, and -- really people -- its just pure artistic romantic girl fun! Thank you publishers and artists for this fresh breath into a dearly loved story.

This was an amazing experience!! I love anything with Jane Austen's name on it, and the art here is amazing, it was like watching a movie!! Great adaption!

Delightful adaptation!

Delightful adaptation!

Delightful adaptation!

Delightful adaptation!