Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Book Details
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Paperback, 320 pages
2009, Quirk Books
ISBN: 1594743347

Synopsis
'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.' So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

Review
Pride and Prejudice was a good book. It's a literary classic and should be respected as such. But, let's face it, it's antiquated and not exactly relevant to our times. It contains many beautiful tragically romantic story lines, but it lacks the action most readers of popular fiction crave.

Enter Seth Grahame-Smith. He took a famous and beloved story and transformed it into something fresh and, dare I say, better. We get to experience all of the romance of the original, but with the bonus of zombie action in place of the dry wordy parts. It may not make the story more modern, but it certainly makes the story more accessible to the masses.

I personally like the idea of paranormal/classic mash-ups. Grahame-Smith has pioneered an entirely new sub-section of literature that enhances stories commonly dismissed as being too old to be entertaining. The addition of zombies to Pride and Prejudice gives the characters more dimensions. Lydia is made even more obnoxious as she dismisses her duties in favor of flirting. Mrs. Bennet is portrayed more self-centered by risking Jane's life in order to have her under Bingley's care. All of the Bennet girls are given a purpose beyond waiting for a husband. The zombies make them stronger.

Strong women are hugely popular in fiction today. You can suffer weak and whiny characters for only so long before you lose interest in the story. The Bennet girls are warriors. They don't need men, but they would like to find husbands just the same. It's empowering without losing the basis of the original story. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a beloved classic with a modern twist that takes it to an entirely new level of entertainment.

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