Two reviews for the price of one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.

The published version

The hard-edged dystopia of Orwell’s 1984 tends to be invoked more often nowadays than Huxley’s vision of a contentedly numbed populace, but in some respects, Brave New World seems closer to our lived reality. Social media as the modern Soma, anyone?

This is a good, highly engaging adaptation of the famous novel for English students, but could also prompt some interesting discussions around safety and privacy in other contexts.

Fordham utilises the graphic novel format to the full, with exciting, near-cinematic renderings of the action (complete with imagined aerial shots, dramatic close-ups and the like) that bring the narrative to life, giving Huxley’s seminal work a sense of urgency and visual appeal that makes it more readily accessible for a whole new audience, while for the most part staying faithful to the original text.

This review first appeared in Teach Secondary magazine.

My original version

In my experience most editors like to tweak submissions, either to conform better to the publication’s house style or, as I think is the case here, to adjust the word count slightly because of space considerations. As a writer, you might like to see my original review, and compare and contrast. Here it is:

The dystopian future posited by Orwell in 1984 is more usually discussed than Huxley’s vision. Yet in some respects perhaps Brave New World is closer to the truth. For example, is social media the modern ‘soma’?

This would be a good book for students to read in the English curriculum, as it would contribute to one of the aims, and also the safety and privacy aspects of the Computing Programme of Study.

Fordham takes full advantage of the graphic novel format, with aerial ‘shots’, close-ups, dramatic ‘lighting’ and sound effects. It brings the book alive for today’s students, immersed as they are in a highly visual environment. This new approach thereby makes this work accessible to a new audience. Moreover, it follows the original text quite closely. As well as being an enjoyable read, this could provide the basis for rich class discussions.