by Tammie (Tue Dec 22, 2009)
‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' brings up the age-old quandary
of what is the best way to send devoted Jane Austen followers into a tizzy. Surely,
taking a classic and clever tale revered by many as one of the top ten on the
world's literary list and turning it into a horror story might upset those out
there who were born without a sense of humor, but for those of us that can
appreciate the classics while poking fun at them, this book is devilishly fun.
Take the
Bennet girls and turn them into kick-ass zombie warriors (necessary because
Southern England seems to have a nasty outbreak of the undead) while keeping
all the elements of the original story and that's ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' in a nutshell. Don't worry - all
the key bits are still in there. Mrs. Bennet is still a nitwit whose only goal
in life is to marry off her daughters to the wealthiest man who will take them,
Elizabeth still holds all her preconceived notions about everyone, Darcy is
still haughty and confused in his attraction for Elizabeth (and I can't help
but visualize Colin Firth as I read this or any version of ‘Pride and Prejudice'),
and Jane and Bingley are still meant for one another. But then there's
those pesky zombies roaming all about, noshing on people's brains.
The
co-author (Jane Austen is still listed as first author), Seth Grahame-Smith,
mingles and meshes Austen's lines with his own, re-working them enough to
change the tone and add in horror/action plot elements. The original first line
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a
good fortune must be in want of a wife' becomes ‘It is a truth universally
acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more
brains.' Truer words were never spoken.
The
zombie problem is quite rampant and therefore the Bennet girls have been
trained in martial arts and swordplay to be some of England's best zombie
fighters. As we know, Bingley shows up and Jane goes all swoony for him. Unfortunately,
Bingley is a bit of a pussy and is afraid of the zombies, so mysteriously
high-tails it. Elizabeth is certain the rude Mr Darcy (although quite
handy against the zombies) is behind this and, since her family has been
slighted, she must avenge them by killing him. Their nearly deadly fights
against each other take the place of the dull dances and sitting room scenes
where their surly chitchat occurs in the original. Other plot elements such as
Wickham's underhanded ways, Elizabeth's trip to Pemberley, and the meddling
Lady Catherine (a sort of Grand Master against zombies) are all there, they're
just a little more fun, and gruesome.
One of
the best laugh out loud moments in the book is a scene when Lydia - possibly
the most annoying character in any edition of ‘Pride and Prejudice' - is rambling on and ‘Elizabeth presently
drew her [sword] and cut off Lydia's head...Elizabeth sheathed her blade and, in
a most delicate tone, said ‘I beg you all forgive me, but I could stand her
prattling no longer.'' It's lines and situations like these that make the book
(blasphemous as it may be to those with a stick up their butt) a witty
tome. Because really, in the original, when Lydia gossips non-stop for
several paragraphs, you know you're sitting there wishing someone would do her
harm. Grahame-Smith has given the Bennet girls skills that are as good or
better than most men they encounter, so anyone who has read the original and
cringed at the girls' dull lives need cringe no more.
And the
zombies? You can't help but enjoy their stupidity as they continually mistake
cauliflower gardens for rows upon rows of brains.
So get
off your high Austen horse and have some fun with ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.' Then stay off that horse and
check out Ben H. Winters' ‘Sense and
Sensibility and Sea Monsters.'
