Even though I was an English major in college, my contemporary classic reading was minimal. Going to a small school meant I repeated professors and they repeated the authors and texts they liked, therefore I did not always get the most expansive exposure to a variety of classics. Because of this 1984 missed my radar. When I found free time for reading, the classics never appealed to me for two reasons. The first, the language was not contemporary and therefore was lofty. It was not something I felt was conclusive to my goal of reading for relaxation. And second, when I started my job as a bookseller, that meant to me that I needed to keep up with my section(s) and read for my clientele: the kids and their parents, grandparents and teachers looking for things kids actually wanted to read.
Then, several years into my career of bookselling, I learned that Graphic Novels were not just “comic books.” They were not simple, easy, fluffy stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with comics, but graphic novels were something more than just “pictures on the pages” that were easy. (Of course, comics today are not the Casper and Archie comics of my day.) One of the first graphic novels I read dealt with a transgender man. Others dealt with a child’s death. Another, homelessness. Even war. So, when I realized that graphic novels were in the classics business and not just an abridged version, I thought maybe I could fill in my classical reading holes. One of those was George Orwell’s 1984. I found two versions and requested one by Fido Nesti, but said that the one by Matyáš Namai was fine, too. I was able to get both. I started with the Namai one.
The illustrations and amount of text averages are the reason for my overall rating. It is not about the book itself. I cannot say if the book is good or bad. It is 1984, and that means it was a book that was written as a statement and an emotional reading response. Each reader must take away their own opinion. However, this version had a lot of text that was weighty and did not “highlight” or summarize things.The illustrations also were dense and crowded. The use of red is interesting, but this tactic has been used before. If you are looking for a summary of the novel, this might not help, however, it is a good companion to reading the novel (which as mentioned, I have not read) to help compare and view what the author is saying. Of course, extreme violence and sexual events are talked about and shown in medium to graphic details. If nothing else, it was an experience and I am looking forward to comparing it to Nesti’s work