Austen continued...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
By: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre: Bookclub, The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
Grade: A-
Rating: PG-13 (violence can be a bit explicit)
Sticking with the Author: Yes

My liberal block book club read Zombies this month, so this was a second reading for me. If possible, think I actually liked it even better the second time around. Smith's rewrite of the old favorite inserts legions of the undead into mix, which flows surprisingly well. Elizabeth Bennett is no longer just a somewhat poor, contrary gentlewoman, her intellect is now equaled with her ability to kill zombies.

Her father, who was completely undevoted to his daughters' education in the Austen version of the novel, is obsessed with having all of the girls trained in the deadly arts. It seems they have spent quite a lot of time under the tutelage of a Chinese master and are pretty much the only protection Longbourn has from the zombies. In another twist, it is relatively easy become a zombie (all it takes is a simple bite), though they appear to be easily thwarted as they often confuse cauliflower with the brains they like to eat.

The large death toll also has an interesting consequence of satirizing P&P on a much deeper level than purely plunking zombies down in 1813. The ridiculousness, depravity, and indifference of many of the minor characters and particularly Mrs. Bennett deepens and becomes more obvious. These characters find their comforts more important than the death that surrounds them or the even the need to protect themselves. The feelings of each character are more obvious, less hidden in Austen's sometimes burdensome prose.

Darcy retains his old charm from Austen's version, but also has the added bonus of also being the Regency period's version of Jackie Chan. His feelings for Elizabeth are also much more central to the story, less out of left field that they appear to be in the original. Smith does a fantastic job of combining Austen's best lines and adding his own, making the writing flow easily. Though the language feels more modern, it still retains Austen's charm.

Spoiler: I would have to say my absolutely favorite part was what happened with Mr. Wickham. Though having to live your life with Lydia was probably a rather harsh punishment to begin with, I always felt this need for vengeance that was never quite fulfilled in the original version. Here, Wickham not only has to marry Lydia, but is also maimed by Darcy and ends up convalescing in a home for disable pastors in Ireland. Highly entertaining. I did fell bad for poor Charlotte though, becoming a zombie and all. She always got the short end of the stick.

Extremely entertaining and well written. I look forward to Smith's continued projects with Austen's stories.