Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Doubleday (2003), Edition: 1, 128 pages
Description
Comics luminary Will Eisner takes on literary giant Charles Dickens, in this fascinating retelling of the life of Oliver Twist's Fagin! Imagining Fagin's impoverished childhood in the slums of London and his initiation into the criminal underworld, Eisner's story counters the anti-Semitism of Victorian literature as his gorgeous brushwork creates an evocative portrait of the era. Now with Eisner's previously unused full-color cover art! Foreword by Brian Michael Bendis! Introduction by Dickens scholar Jeet Heer!.
User reviews
LibraryThing member JasmineW
This graphic novel goes through the life of Fagin the Jew. It is suppose to be re-told "better" by Will Eisner than Charles Dickens. Eisner is suppose to" set the record straight." It begins talking about when they first came to London. His father taught him about how to be skilled in the streets.
The first idea that came to my mind is for my students to have a grand conversation. Since Will Eisner re-tells the story "correctly" from how Charles Dickens did. I would want my students to name some things that they believe define Jews. Most of the things they will name may be some common misconceptions. So, once we look at everything that we list, we will then do research online, use books, etc., to see what is really true about Jews. We can then discuss our findings. Secondly, we will also do a comparison and contrast between Eisner's writing about Fagin and Dickens writing Oliver Twist. We can do some text-to-text connections among the two novels. Lastly, I would want my students to work at their table as a group and discuss the elements of the story, such as plot, characters, setting, point of view, and theme. The students will fill these out in their graphic organizer. We will discuss these afterwards.
I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I'm very hesitant to reading graphic novels at first, but there is something about this one that I enjoyed. I think it's because it's moreso a biography, which is a bit easier to read and follow through. I liked the illustrations, too, because it was all drawn in like a dark brown, no other colors, and not the typical black and white sketch. I would really recommend thisbook as a graphic novel first when introducing graphic novels to my class. I think my students would like it, too. The pictures help follow along with the words as well. I'm so happy I got a chance to read it! I give it 4 stars.
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With that being said, he educated him on how to cheat. Cheat by selling something and when the person buys something with a coin, he switches the coin, and then tells the person they cheated him with a fake coin. Later on, he was bought by a plantation owner. Young Oliver arrived in London, he was recruited, and then working in the street, too. They both are taught to steal. It was pretty funny when Oliver gets caught, he pretends like he had fainted. An old trick to get out what had really took place. Read on, the story line is good.The first idea that came to my mind is for my students to have a grand conversation. Since Will Eisner re-tells the story "correctly" from how Charles Dickens did. I would want my students to name some things that they believe define Jews. Most of the things they will name may be some common misconceptions. So, once we look at everything that we list, we will then do research online, use books, etc., to see what is really true about Jews. We can then discuss our findings. Secondly, we will also do a comparison and contrast between Eisner's writing about Fagin and Dickens writing Oliver Twist. We can do some text-to-text connections among the two novels. Lastly, I would want my students to work at their table as a group and discuss the elements of the story, such as plot, characters, setting, point of view, and theme. The students will fill these out in their graphic organizer. We will discuss these afterwards.
I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I'm very hesitant to reading graphic novels at first, but there is something about this one that I enjoyed. I think it's because it's moreso a biography, which is a bit easier to read and follow through. I liked the illustrations, too, because it was all drawn in like a dark brown, no other colors, and not the typical black and white sketch. I would really recommend thisbook as a graphic novel first when introducing graphic novels to my class. I think my students would like it, too. The pictures help follow along with the words as well. I'm so happy I got a chance to read it! I give it 4 stars.
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LibraryThing member Nicole_16
Will Eisner decides to retell the Oliver Twist story, and portray Fagin the Jew in a better light. Fagin is a jewish boy with a hard life. His father is killed when he is younger and his mother dies after that. After his parents die, Fagin goes house to house business to business searching for jobs
A good idea in this book to discuss will be the depiction of Jews. A teacher can ask the students to search the book for the characteristics given to the various Jews in the book. After the search, the class can join in a grand conversation about how Jews were treated in this time even though they only wanted a better life like everyone else. Also the class could discuss the author, Will Eisner. The author wanted to rewrite the story because he felt that all Jews were not depicted correctly in literature. The class can discuss why Will Eisner may have felt this way and why he decided to write "Fagin the Jew".
The book was interesting. Some parts of it was hilarious and I believe the pictures help add to the humorous part. This book also discusses a lot of issues dealing with Jews in a subtle way. Also it was kind of sad at the end of the book when the reader finds out that Fagin was actually rich, but he did not know he inherited money. It was too late when everyone found out where Fagin was because Fagin was long dead.
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or just working for food. Fagin always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and is punished for others mistakes. One day Fagin meets a boy named Oliver Twist and his life takes a twist after this meeting. A good idea in this book to discuss will be the depiction of Jews. A teacher can ask the students to search the book for the characteristics given to the various Jews in the book. After the search, the class can join in a grand conversation about how Jews were treated in this time even though they only wanted a better life like everyone else. Also the class could discuss the author, Will Eisner. The author wanted to rewrite the story because he felt that all Jews were not depicted correctly in literature. The class can discuss why Will Eisner may have felt this way and why he decided to write "Fagin the Jew".
The book was interesting. Some parts of it was hilarious and I believe the pictures help add to the humorous part. This book also discusses a lot of issues dealing with Jews in a subtle way. Also it was kind of sad at the end of the book when the reader finds out that Fagin was actually rich, but he did not know he inherited money. It was too late when everyone found out where Fagin was because Fagin was long dead.
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LibraryThing member mschaefer
Eisner's rewriting of the Dickens' Oliver Twist as seen through the eyes of Fagin. In an afterword Eisner discusses the antisemitism present in Oliver Twist and its contemporary illustrations. Not Eisner at his best, but still quite good.
LibraryThing member knielsen83
This is the story of Fagin's life - the character in Oliver TWist who teaches him to pickpocket. Will Eisner does a beautiful job with the illustrations and story line of how Fagin came to be what he was when Oliver met him, up until he was hanged for his thieving.
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
Fagin the Jew is comic artist legend Will Eisner’s graphic re-telling of Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist. Eisner claims in the foreword that this graphic novel “is not an adaptation” but rather “the story of Fagin the Jew.” However, I would argue it is an adaptation as it
This book seemed to me one of those ones that are better in theory than actuality. It is very didactic when giving Fagin’s story and relies to heavily on narration rather than the pictorial nature of graphic novels. In addition, it brushes over Oliver Twist so breezily that a newbie to the story would probably find it silly and not seek out the original. For let’s face it, as much as I love him, Dickens wrote Victorian melodramas. It’s not necessarily for the story alone that we read his works, but for his satirical style and wonderfully ridiculous characters.
As for the history of Fagin, it’s not really anything other than what would you think, if you had stopped to think about how Fagin ended up the way he did. Of course, as Eisner probably supposed when setting out to write this book, many people might not have bothered to think about how Fagin became a thief and head of a gang of ruffians. However, it’s almost implicit in the story of Oliver Twist himself – and how easily he could not have been rescued out of a life of squalor – that poverty and ill luck often lead to crime and violence.
The illustrations, in sepia tone, are rather cartoonish, as I have often mentioned in the past, I generally prefer more sophisticated artwork in my graphic novels.
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covers, albeit it quickly and cursorily, all the events of Oliver Twist. But the graphic novel does include more to the beginning and the end, and it is these parts that focus on Fagin’s history. This book seemed to me one of those ones that are better in theory than actuality. It is very didactic when giving Fagin’s story and relies to heavily on narration rather than the pictorial nature of graphic novels. In addition, it brushes over Oliver Twist so breezily that a newbie to the story would probably find it silly and not seek out the original. For let’s face it, as much as I love him, Dickens wrote Victorian melodramas. It’s not necessarily for the story alone that we read his works, but for his satirical style and wonderfully ridiculous characters.
As for the history of Fagin, it’s not really anything other than what would you think, if you had stopped to think about how Fagin ended up the way he did. Of course, as Eisner probably supposed when setting out to write this book, many people might not have bothered to think about how Fagin became a thief and head of a gang of ruffians. However, it’s almost implicit in the story of Oliver Twist himself – and how easily he could not have been rescued out of a life of squalor – that poverty and ill luck often lead to crime and violence.
The illustrations, in sepia tone, are rather cartoonish, as I have often mentioned in the past, I generally prefer more sophisticated artwork in my graphic novels.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TBE
In FAGIN THE JEW, Eisner proves himself to be not only a master of comic storytelling, but also an incisive literary and social critic. This project was first conceived as an introduction to a pictorial adaptation of Oliver Twist, but as he learned more about the history of Dickens-era Jewish life
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in London, Eisner uncovered intriguing material that led him to create this new work. In the course of his research, Eisner came to believe that Dickens had not intended to defame Jews in his famous depiction. By referring to Fagin as “the Jew” throughout the book, however, he had perpetuated the common prejudice; his fictional creation imbedded itself in the public’s imagination as the classic profile of a Jew. In his award-winning style, Eisner recasts the notorious villain as a complex and troubled antihero and gives him the opportunity to tell his tale in his own words. Depicting Fagin’s choices and actions within a historical context, Eisner captures the details of life in London’s Ashkenazi community and brilliantly re-creates the social milieu of Dickensian England. Show Less
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
128 p.; 9.25 inches
ISBN
0385510098 / 9780385510097