The retelling is OK, but the mixture with manga seemed to clash with the time period.

Manga Classics does it's best to engage new readers into the story of The Scarlet Letter. Having read the book in high school, I was glad for a version that cut out all the extra wording and a better understanding of what actually happened in the novel.
Hester cheats on her husband who lives a distance from her and has a baby. Because the Puritians are in control, she is forced to wear a red letter "A" She and her child are then shunned. But no matter what happens to her, including her husband showing up and dealing with the local pastor, Hester decides to be the best person she can be.
The story is sad and actually rather boring. But I love that the artist used read to draw Hester's emblem. It really showed off Hester's shame as it was the only thing colored on the page.

This is the first time I’ve read Manga and I enjoyed it. The illustrations are done very well. Reading this Manga from right to left and starting at the back of the book was different for me because I don’t read that way normally but once I got used to the format of the Manga and the way it’s supposed to be read, it was easy to follow what was going on.

While by no means will you be able to read Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter and get away with it for your big book report, or does it truly master all of the complexity of the original work. The Manga Classics version could be read and understood without ever having read the original, and it's true, you would be able to understand the basic jist of the original.

I have a real appreciation for artists who make illustrated tellings of classic stories. I am a person who appreciates classics and has many of them of my TBR. But in reality I struggle to find the time, patience, and mind-space for ye old language to actually tick them off. And so I have a deep thankfulness to those which produce easy to digest editions of these classics.

I have not read the original story of The Scarlet Letter, but I do have a general understanding of what the story entails. Because of this I will not comment on the accuracy of the retelling.

Overall the book was easy to follow and understand (I did not need to interpret ye old language). I thought the illustrations and style, while quite traditionally manga-esque, did well at telling the the story. The emotions of such classic storytelling depicted in such a manga way (e.g. the shadowed expressions, Chillingworth depicted with a serpent during most morally evil moments) was interesting and unique, and honestly I thought it portrayed the story fine.

There wasn't anything standout-ish to me though. The illustration style was typical, the simplistic classic story retelling was typical, and while I quickly learnt of a classic story I didn't take away much else. But I guess this is what the artist's aimed to achieve. A classic retelling of a age-old story with little creative interpretation.

Note: I received this graphic book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgallery and the adaptive artists, Nathaniel Hawthorne, SunNeko Lee, Crystal S Chan, and Stacy King!

I received a copy of Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I know I’ve said this before; but I seriously love the concept of Manga Classics. I can now safely attest to the fact that they make the classics more approachable and less intimidating. Not only have I been able to read classics I love in a new medium (Pride & Prejudice) but I have finally been able to read some classics from beginning to end, where I had been unable to beforehand (Emma, The Scarlet Letter).
If you had asked me previously if I would ever sit down and read the Scarlet Letter in one sitting, I would have laughed at the thought. But thanks to Manga Classics, that’s exactly what I did. There were so many subtleties of the story that were perfectly supported by the artwork. It created this complete and cohesive understanding of what was going on. I’m not sure if the writer and artist work together throughout, but based on the coordination I’m seeing I can only assume that they do.
I tried reading the Scarlet Letter once, years ago. I’ll admit that I was unable to finish it (there was a list of reasons as to why, but mainly it just didn’t hold my attention). I am very pleased to say that I loved the Manga version of the Scarlet Letter. Crystal Chan flawlessly adapted it from the original to the point where I felt I wasn’t missing out on anything at all. That combined with the beautiful artwork of SunNeko Lee and I was utterly enthralled.

This is a manga comic version of the classical book- The scarlet letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The artwork is by Sun Me Ko Lee and adaptation by Crystal Chan.

This book has 10 chapters and is read from the right to the left as in any manga book.

The story takes place in 19th century, Massachusetts. A customs officer is seen cleaning out his papers, when he comes across a particular bundle of papers with the paper on the top displaying a prominent red "A". The officer is curious and further delves into these papers. He comes across a fascinating tale that took place in Boston, back in the 17th century.

Boston, in those days, was home to people who had come from England and setelled there. They are described to be very religious, orthodox puritans with rigid rules and disciplines.

We come across a woman sitting forlornly with an infant in her lap. She seems to be in a cell or some sort of confinement. She is paraded out on a stage in front of the people, like a common criminal. The people point accusatory fingers on the red "A" prominently emblazoned on her clothes. The "A" signifies that she has done something bad and it all points to the fact that she had the child out of wedlock. The woman's name is Hester Prynne. The elders of the town and the reverend urge her to reveal the other guilty person responsible for her plight but Hester remains silent. At this time we are struck by the behavior of the reverend. He seems to be young and keeps clutching at his clothes near his chest all the time.

Hester , meanwhile, is ordered to go out and fend for herself. She chooses to stay in an abandoned cottage on the outskirts of town. She remembers her happy childhood and also the fact that she got married while she was very young. Her husband was very peculiar, invovlved with books and study until he finally asks her leave. She goes away to Boston and never hears from him again. However, Hester, recognizes her husband among the crowd of accusers. He however asks her to tell no one about him. But seems very interested to find out who is responsible for her predicament.

Hester starts to earn her livelihood by doing embroidery, which she is skilled at. However most of the villagers still shun her. She names her daughter - Pearl , who is quite the wild child. Pearl is fascinated by the red "A" on her mother's chest.

We keep meeting the reverend and he is always depicted as sorrowful and clutching his clothes near his chest. There seems to be some kind of connection between him and Hester. He is so troubled by his guilty conscience that his health detoriates. At this times, Heather's husband, grabs the opportunity and takes up the job to look after him. He realizes the truth underneath the reverend's suffering and torments him to suffer more.

The reverend is unable to accept his sin publicly, so Hester decides to book passage for him, herself and her child to England. But finally the reverend is unable to bear his gulit and acknowleges it by embracing Hester and her child. He dies shortly thereafter. Heather's husband also passes away, as his thirst for revenge is unfulfilled.

Hester goes away to England with Pearl. Pearl settles there but Hester comes back to Boston. Hester spends the rest of her days in Boston, still wearing her red "A" and becomes a trusted to many of the people.

We return back to the officer reading the story. He is aghast at the rigid attitudes and judgmental behavior of his ancestors. He resolves to make the story known to all. Finally the symbol "A" is looked upon as a symbol of awe or respect instead of shame.

I think this comic has brought out most of the different and conflicting emotions in this story in a very clear way. It was simple and easy to understand why this book is a prominent one that is recommended worldwide.

A few weeks ago I saw this in a bookstore and absolutely loved the few pages I read so when I saw it on NetGalley I was excited to request it. I haven't read Scarlet Letter before and I like that they have turned the classics into manga for more people to enjoy.

How odd that they keep on mentioning the Man in Black and how peculiar Pearl's personality is; not to mention that Chillingworth is really creepy. I still haven't read the novel of Scarlet Letter, and thanks to this graphic novel, I became aware that there's a sect or religion of Puritan that practices purity and simplicity.

I gave this 5 stars because while reading the story - particularly the characterization - I was able to guess that there is some kind of magic or witchcraft going on; and I even suspect that Illuminati or the New World Order is involved. Moreover, the bittersweet conclusion to the love story of Arthur and Hester is a little heart-wrenching. Lastly, it also shows us some moral lessons such as no one's perfect, being honest, practice empathy, and always be forgiving.

MANGA CLASSICS: THe Scarlet Letter, but a good read, but it was not as good as other titles by this publisher. The adaptation struggled to handle the complex, dramatic themes found within the original novel. It was still worth reading, but it was not as good as either the original or other titles in the series.

OMG! I can't believe that I read the manga version of my favorite classic book!

I've never read the Scarlet Letter and this was an amazing way to get an understanding of it. I didn't understand some elements of it but I got the main themes from it. It was a fun read.

This was a great adaption of The Scarlet Letter! At first I wasn't sure about it because of the cute art style, but the adaption is really faithful to the book and the art grew on me after awhile. This is a great introduction to the classic story for younger readers. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a story I'm not as familiar with, having only read it the once - so I can't really remember enough of the subtleties to know how many liberties have been taken with the narrative.
I may be wrong but I think that the identity of Pearl's father was given away sooner than it was in the book, but this helped the rest of the book make sense. Hester's love and devotion for her daughter over all other things was really moving and the illustrations were more reserved than Pride & Prejudice to fit in with the tone of the book.

I really enjoyed this format - it didn't feel dumbed down at all, it was just another way of telling a timeless story.

Set in the 17th century in an American puritan village is a story about heart-break, revenge, cruelty, forgiveness and forbidden love. Hester's much older husband marries his work and ignores her and then leaves the village without her for two years without a single word. He returns with a new name and Hester has a baby in her arms. What will happen now?

This manga is much more visual as there is much symbolism in the art itself. You can feel the emotions in the drawings and understand the story really well. I highly recommend for younger readers.

The Scarlet Letter was one of the first 19th Century novels I read, and I loved it. This manga was just as awesome!

One of my favourite things about this novel is how the scarlet letter stood out on Hester's chest. All the illustrations are black and white but the letter "A" was in red. It made it stand out so much. This is different from the other Manga Classics that I've read, because they were completely in black and white.

Hester's daughter, Pearl, was a very cute girl, but she was also very creepy. On the back cover of the book, there is a colour drawing of Pearl in a red dress. I wish the whole thing could be coloured, because the red of her dress and Hester's "A" was so vibrant, that it would have contrasted very well with the dull colours of the puritan town.

This is one of my favourite books in the Manga Classics series. I highly recommend it for fans of the original book and new readers.

I had tried reading the original novel once, but I wasn't able to reach the end because I immediately got bored.
When I saw that there was a manga version, I decided to give it another try, and this time I really enjoyed it!
It was much more involving thanks to the appealing drawings too, and it didn't feel like an old, boring story anymore.

I received a free digital copy of the book via NetGalley.

This is a very good interpretation of the classic book by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I loved the artwork. The faces especially are very expressive.
It is obviously shortened version, but it did get the essence of the story right.
The story is about a young lady who had a child out of wedlock. She was ostracized by her community and made to always wear red letter A as a sign for her "sin" but it did not break her. She wore it proudly. Very sad that this kind of injustice was happening in the past, and we need a reminder to make sure it does not repeat. There is still too many people who try to judge other people on what is going on inside their pants.

I didn't fully understand the story, given that I haven't read the original novel so I turned to Google for some insight. It was then that I realized that what I understood with the manga is all there really is. More importantly, it is the type of story where the reader has to give his own meaning to the text.

Reading the 'Metaphors' page in the manga, it helped me understand even more. I thought this was a story without magic but I was wrong. It's about witchcraft and weird powers, especially Pearl who was said to be elf-like, a strange child of some sort.

This book was quick to read, it's more on pictures rather than conversations and narrations. So I can tell that the actual novel had more about descriptions of the surroundings and locations.

Once again, very helpful to students and to me who is too lazy to read the full novel.

While by no means will you be able to read Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter and get away with it for your big book report, or does it truly master all of the complexity of the original work. The Manga Classics version could be read and understood without ever having read the original, and it's true, you would be able to understand the basic jist of the original.
But, Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter adds something of its own to the original story. This version is more centered on the theme of hope and of Hester Prynne's true innocence and eventual climb into being one of the best people in the town.

The graphics were a nice add to the story, and I enjoyed how the whole story was in black and white, except for the "A" (which was obviously in red). Even though the original version is beautifully written, this version played more to its own strengths and used the bare minimum of words, and instead using pictures that sometimes covered an entire page with their complexity.

Overall, do I think you can skip out on reading the classic: The Scarlet Letter ? No. I personally think the classic is considered a classic for a reason and should not be skipped. But, Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter is a nice add for anyone who is considering reading the classic, or who wants to have some side material to further enjoy their reading experience.