ILLUSTRATION: 3.5/5
APPEAL: 3.5/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5
Manga Classics: Great Expectations is my second one in the Manga Classics series initiative which attempts to popularise the age-old timeless classics among a new set of readers by adapting them in the Manga format.
This initiative started by Udon Entertainment and Morpheus Publishing is indeed a noble effort which will definitely open up the selected classics to a newer and modern audience.
Great Expectations is the story of a young boy Pip who lives in the rural town of Kent with his sister and her husband Joey. He is looked after by the two of them as his parents had died long back when he was just a kid.
Pip (or Philip as his official name goes) is doted upon by Joey and he too loves him back. One fine day, an uncle approaches his sister and urges her that Pip be sent with him to one Miss Havisham’s house.
Miss Havisham is a lady of fortune and has a grand estate to her name.
Pip goes to see Miss Havisham and finds himself mesmerised by the beauty of her adopted daughter Estella.
Miss Havisham comes across as a weird lady and her estate is rather in the state of ruins. She keeps away from daylight and is always in a state of mourning.
In order to win the heart of the beautiful Estella, Pip starts dreaming of being a gentleman himself. This dream appears nearer to fulfilment when Pip discovers that he has a secret benefactor who has agreed to sponsor his education in London.
Pip happily leaves his humble past behind and blends in the high-class London society all the while believing Miss Havisham to be his secret benefactor.
He continues living under the impression that Miss Havisham plans to marry him to Estella and also plans to bestow him with a generous fortune. But unfortunately, that is not the case to be.
Pip will soon learn that all that he once held dear to him will no longer continue to be his and that he will have no choice but to give in to his circumstances.
So what will the future bring for Pip? What will happen to him and Estella? Will they ever be together?
I had read Great Expectations a long time back and I was greatly moved by the novel.
Reading such a serious and emotional novel at such a tender age does leave an everlasting impact and ever since then, I have greatly admired Dickens and his world.
Manga Classics: Great Expectations, I must say, is an amazing work by the Morpheus-Udon team and does a fairly great job of capturing the essence of the novel in a graphic way.
The illustrations are much better than the last work I read – Emma. This I can say because unlike the last time, I didn’t have much problem distinguishing the characters from one another.
All in all, I simply loved this book and would recommend it to all my readers.