I can see this as a motive for writing the book, but I still don't think it was done well. Or at least, not as well as it could have been done. For me, it all comes down to respecting the original work. It's entirely possible to rewrite a book, even when the rewrite involves zombies, and still preserve the basic themes of the original. Or, if you change parts of those themes, you do it very deliberately, in order to make a particular point. And maybe you could argue that zombie mayhem IS the point here, but it's possible to add that in ways that keep the original characters intact and don't completely ignore what Jane Austen was trying to say about human compassion, integrity, and judgment. You can have straightforward zombie fight scenes AND a good story. Even a good satiric story. It would take more work to write, yes, but surely it would be worth it? That would be a much better way to get people to read Austen's work. I'm just not convinced that this particular writer actually cared.
Am I being overly sensitive? Probably. I have high standards for my literature, even literary parodies. And, as I mentioned above, this book managed to hit a lot of my personal pet peeves (the ones I discussed in my post, plus several others). Of course, all this is just my opinion, and I'm absolutely not saying that anyone else has to share it. If you liked the book, I'm happy for you, and it certainly makes for a much more interesting discussion. As for me, I don't know if I missed the point or not, but I still don't like it, so I'm going to go read some other book.
Am I being overly sensitive? Probably. I have high standards for my literature, even literary parodies. And, as I mentioned above, this book managed to hit a lot of my personal pet peeves (the ones I discussed in my post, plus several others). Of course, all this is just my opinion, and I'm absolutely not saying that anyone else has to share it. If you liked the book, I'm happy for you, and it certainly makes for a much more interesting discussion. As for me, I don't know if I missed the point or not, but I still don't like it, so I'm going to go read some other book.
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