Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Can I take upon myself the rights and privileges attendant upon having read Pride and Prejudice? In all honesty and I believe without presenting myself as more than I am or bringing a taint of dishonor upon myself, the institutions that assisted in my education or my family, I believe that I can indeed allow that having over the course of several years viewed not one but three filmed (although indeed one may have been videotaped) adaptations, completely read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and skimmed the online, public domain text of the original tale, that I can lay claim to having the familiarity with not only the plot but also its language and details to therefore acknowledge the reading of the novel itself. Thus, I believe my reading of such derivative works that are about cannot be entirely dismissed as a vulgar fascination with zombies.
Ahem.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Grahame-Smith has taken the plot and text of P&P and added zombie mayhem. Zombies (or unmentionables as polite society refers to them) and the fighting of them are integrated into the book. While the basic plot is the same, motivations and dialogue have been reimagined. For example, and what follows are spoilers if one can spoil the plot of a novel than 100 years old, Mr. Darcy finds Jane to be an unsuitable match for Mr. Bingley not least because he believes her to have been bitten by and slowly turning into a zombie and Lady Catherine de Bourgh finds Elizabeth's martial arts training to be inferior.
I have never been a huge fan of P&P, but admit the story is compelling and well told; however, the addition of zombies presents a nice break from the seemingly interminable discussion of balls, incomes, connections, and manners. It was a delight to see how well Grahame-Smith integrated the zombies and granted the Bennet girls fighting skills while keeping the proper decorum.
I quite enjoyed the book, although I admit my interest lagged about the middle, at about the same place that my interest has always lagged with regard to the adaptations. I therefore think this work is quite faithful to the book in all meaningful particulars of plot, voice, theme, etc. Except perhaps I think it more fun.
Ahem.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Grahame-Smith has taken the plot and text of P&P and added zombie mayhem. Zombies (or unmentionables as polite society refers to them) and the fighting of them are integrated into the book. While the basic plot is the same, motivations and dialogue have been reimagined. For example, and what follows are spoilers if one can spoil the plot of a novel than 100 years old, Mr. Darcy finds Jane to be an unsuitable match for Mr. Bingley not least because he believes her to have been bitten by and slowly turning into a zombie and Lady Catherine de Bourgh finds Elizabeth's martial arts training to be inferior.
I have never been a huge fan of P&P, but admit the story is compelling and well told; however, the addition of zombies presents a nice break from the seemingly interminable discussion of balls, incomes, connections, and manners. It was a delight to see how well Grahame-Smith integrated the zombies and granted the Bennet girls fighting skills while keeping the proper decorum.
I quite enjoyed the book, although I admit my interest lagged about the middle, at about the same place that my interest has always lagged with regard to the adaptations. I therefore think this work is quite faithful to the book in all meaningful particulars of plot, voice, theme, etc. Except perhaps I think it more fun.