2021 Book #71 – An Inspector Calls (Graphic Novel)

Episode 6 – fantasy and murder, the end of the reading challenge – Jen's Book Blog

End of the reading challenge and the books that have taken me there…

1. Episode 6 – fantasy and murder, the end of the reading challenge 23:52
2. Episode 5 – Children's Books, Graphic Novels, Travel, History and Mysteries! 28:59
3. Episode 4 – Murder Mysteries, Tibet, Shadow Skye and Ancient Greece 27:51
4. Episode 3 – Poirot, Shadowplay, Kamala Harris and Yours Cheerfully 24:19
5. Episode 2 – Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Scythe 14:56

Medium – Book

About the book – This book is the graphic novel version of the play, with the original text (not the ‘quick text’ modern version). The rich, successful Birling Family are having a quiet night in, celebrating the engagement of the daughter, Sheila, to son of Mr Birling’s competitor, Gerald Crofts. As Mr Birling expounds on the need to take care of oneself and not worry about the rest of the world, an inspector (Inspector Goole) arrives, with the news that a young woman has been found dead, after committing suicide by drinking bleach. His questioning soon shows that each of the family members and Crofts had something to do with the girl’s death.

My Rating – 4.5/5

My Thoughts – ‘An Inspector Calls’ is one of those classic plays which is given to GCSE and A Level classes in the UK during modules which look at plays as part of literature in the English language. The play is one of my favourites, and it was (in my view) the best of all the plays we covered at A Level. The story is a sort of classic mystery, with the police inspector trying to find a culprit, but it has massive elements of social justice and comment running through it – discussing the need for community, for looking after those less fortunate and ensuring that all people have the right not to be judged. It’s a proper, left-wing play – and that’s probably why I enjoyed it so much!!

The characters are excellent, from the slightly scary inspector, to the horrible Mr Birling and the more sympathetic Birling children. Just commenting on the graphic novel element of the story, the illustrations are excellent, and the way that the novel is set out makes it easy to follow. There are two versions available, the one that I had, which is the original text version, and then one written in more modern English. Whilst I got the original text for nostalgia’s sake, the quick text one looks brilliant to have a good idea of the story. The same company who did this graphic novel do many more classic books in this form, and I would be really interested in the other ones that they do!