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.

Amazingly illustrated and masterfully designed. It rerains the allure of the classic novel and the life of the Manga novels . I loved it and would recommend it to every MANGA reader

I have no idea why I never read Charles Dickens after reading this Manga format which was a quick read I would love to read more of Charles Dickens in the Manga format to enjoy his books without disturbing my busy reading schedule.... Even my students will love to read this quick format of Charles Dickens.

*** 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.

I love these Manga classics! They make reading and enjoying books that were written so long ago much easier to understand. I read Great Expectations such a long time ago and I didn't like the writing style at all but this made the story much more enjoyable

I am a huge fan of this series and have read all available titles. This is, however, my least favorite in the series. It is not due to any fault with the adaptation or the art. In fact they are very well done, especially since it is a very hard story to adapt. I just don't like this Dickens story, and although I thought it more palatable in Manga form, I still dislike the story. If you have to read it this is a faster and less painful way to do so, but I think it is the worst Dickens novel. The characters are all just so self absorbed that you can't feel much sympathy for any of them.

Manga Classics
Great Expectations

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by
Author: Charles Dickens
Adapter: Crystal S. Chan
Artist: Nokman Poon

A Review

In high school, Great Expectations was barely readable by this reviewer. This Manga edition stood out and made the story both readable and enjoyable.

Manga is unique - it is intended to be read starting from what we westerners would call the “back” of the book. Reading then proceeds toward the “front”. At first this may seem a bit discomforting, but it quickly becomes second nature and the story moves along. At 312 pages, this book is almost three times as long as most graphic novels - echoing the nature of Dickens work. But the artwork (except for the covers, all artwork is black and white in my e-book copy) makes the story understandable and enjoyable to one who has long ago forgotten the plot and themes developed in Dickens classic work.

The Dickens story was published with two distinct endings. The latter being adapted after early readers expressed a specific dissatisfaction with the earlier version. Neither ending is depicted in this book. A quick search of the Internet provided summaries of both endings - the omission of either or both does not seem to hinder the story, but it might have been fun to see them both included for the readers’ benefit, allowing him or her to choose the preferred ending.

For those looking for a new and enjoyable way to enjoy classic stories, Manga may provide one means to do so. You do lose the author’s original insight and nuances - but … this reader enjoyed the new journey through the old material, perhaps others will as well.
______________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

It is safe to say that I am not Charles Dickens fan. The story was full of drama and some quite unsettling moments so I struggle to understand some of the things, there are so many interpretations out there but for me it didn't work.

The art was great and so was the pacing. Great work!

All I really need to say about this is that it's a manga version of Great Expectations. It's awesome!

Gorgeous illustrations bring the story to life and keep you reading until the very end. Loved it!

A gorgeous manga adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations."

Interesting premise for an old classic. Good pictures and followed story. If you like comic book style this could be for you to read classics.

I'm going to start with saying once again, how much I love these Manga Classics. Seriously. If you want to read a classic but you are scared of them, try these Manga Classics. They are such a fun and easy way to dive into these stories (and they probably, most of the time, make you wanna pick up the original story).

This one wasn't for me. Towards the end I really got into the story and the journey the main character Pip went through and how much he grew. But overall, the whole story didn't work for me. I have to admit that I even forgot about the book for a bit until I saw it on my currently reading shelve on goodreads and on booklikes and remembered, oh right, I'm still reading that.

Like always, the art work was amazing.

I’m going to be honest: I really really don’t like Charles Dickens. There, I’ve said it. I had to read Hard Times and Great Expectations for a university course and, until today, there were probably the two novels that took me the longest to finish. However, I absolutely loved the adaptation to Manga. Congratulations to Stacy King, Crystal S. Chan and Nokman Poon for another brilliant Manga Classic!

Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, a boy from the low class that is given the opportunity to have a better life. With his chance, he discovers that power and money can change a person and is reminded that the past can always come back to haunt you. It’s a timeless tale of opportunities, mystery, love, redemption and second chances.

Here is my deal with Charles Dickens: I like the stories but his style of writing is too tedious for me. In this brilliant manga adaption, the story is made simple and very enjoyable. For someone that hasn’t read the novel before the story us very understandable and easy to follow. I’m very glad that there is a limit of pages per adaptation even though the story loses a bit of its depth, but I think the idea is to make the story more accessible to all ages.

The art is simply breathtaking. The dress designs are very beautiful and pleasant to look at and the face expressions of the characters are very well developed. I could feel the emotions of each scene from the drawings and the different atmospheres from the different places in the novel. I especially liked the manor of Miss Havisham and the dusty darkish room she is in, and I think it represents perfectly the state of her life and her unhappiness.

My favourite character was and still is Estella. For me she is the representation of how one is fruit of their education, of the culture they receive since very young. She was taught how to hide her feelings, to be someone other than who she could become without the toxic influence of Miss Havisham. Pip is also a great character; I like his development as a character. With him I think the lesson is you should never forget where you come from because those are the first pillars of your character. In the end he becomes a better person because he remembers that and manages to break free of the culture of appearances of high society.

The first adaptation that actually made me appreciate the genius of Charles Dickens!