Beowulf. Gareth Hinds. 2007. Candlewick Press. 128 pagesIn the days of old, the House of the Scyldings ruled in Denmark.
The good news? It was a quick read. The bad news? I was disappointed with this graphic novel adaptation. There are many pages that are all action and no text. The fight scenes between Beowulf and Grendel, Beowulf and Grendel's mother, and Beowulf and the dragon. For those that enjoy graphic novels, that enjoy illustrated fight scenes, then Beowulf may not disappoint. The lack of text might even be considered a good thing by many readers. It may make Beowulf more reader-friendly.
After loving Gareth Hinds adaptation of The Odyssey, I was hoping to find something similar. I loved how he adapted the text for the format. The Odyssey is a thicker graphic novel. It's a long story; yet I was never bored. Beowulf, though shorter, though action-packed, never made me care. I didn't connect with the characters, the story.
While I love, love, loved the art for The Odyssey, I just didn't care about the art in Beowulf.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
2 comments:
Well I'm still glad you reviewed it because I wouldn't have looked at a review of The Odyssey, but am super interested in reading the graphic novel....hope that makes sense.
Sorry that this one was a bit of a let down.
This is one story I will always love and will always be entertained by no matter what form it comes in. I think when the art itself is able to tell a story better than any sort of text can do, the artist has created something beautiful. This graphic novel however is not the best example of that but it was a decent attempt.
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