The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter (Manga Classics)

by Hawthorne

In addition to the text of the first edition of the novel, the New Riverside Edition of The Scarlet Letter contains a wide variety of contextual materials and scholarly essays. Contexts includes additional writings and letters by Hawthorne, as well as essays on the New England sources of the novel and the novel's publication history. Criticism contains early reviews of the novel and critical readings from the 19th century (such as an excerpt from Henry James' book Hawthorne) to the present.

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4 of 5 stars

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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.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 3 October, 2017: Finished reading
  • 3 October, 2017: Reviewed