A girl needs a husband like a zombie needs brains
Just for the hell of it, I decided to post an article I wrote for my college newspaper. I mean, since I'm on this Austen kick now.
No matter how gross it may be, I think it's a brilliant cover.
If you are a Jane Austen nut and a fan of the films of Quentin Taratino, this is definitely the book for you. Purists need not read any further-turn back now.
This retelling of Pride and Prejudice-which, in its original form, is considered one of Austen’s best novels-tells the story of Elizabeth Bennett, a spirited, intelligent young woman who is the second of five poor daughters who all need to find wealthy husbands. When a pair of eligible bachelors move to their country town, one of them falls for the eldest Bennett daughter, while Elizabeth is at odds with the rich, enigmatic Mr. Darcy. Their verbal sparring and opposites-attract kind of relationship is at the heart of this book.
And have I mentioned the zombies yet?
The Bennett sisters are all warriors trained by Chinese masters of kung-fu to help rid England of the “unmentionables.” There is no real reason as to why the zombies are here, which was fine with me. The descriptions of how Elizabeth and company defeat zombies over and over again are properly gross and highly entertaining. We even see a minor character turning into a zombie over the course of the book.
Honestly, though, I wanted to enjoy the book more than I did. After a satisfying scene where zombies attack a ballroom and Elizabeth and her sisters drive them off, we don’t get a lot of action. The book doesn’t really kick in until about halfway in. It seems like Grahame-Smith took pages of the original text and inserted them into this book. There were long passages where I almost thought I was reading the original Pride and Prejudice.
When Grahame-Smith does inject his own creativity into it, it is very rewarding. Both Elizabeth and Darcy are more frank here. We see, for instance, Mr. Darcy being rude in a 21st century way to an annoying character. There are also a few bawdy jokes that Austen wouldn’t have dared to write. Also, Elizabeth has at least two duels where she literally kicks butt.
I cannot say how much enjoyment a reader might get out of Zombies if they haven’t already read Pride and Prejudice. I’d say that this book would be best enjoyed by fans of the original, but maybe the zombie aspect will invite others to try it.
(copyright - me)
Rating: 3.5 samuri swords out of 5.