Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

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

Product Description from Goodreads:
‘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.

My Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is not my favorite Austen book. In fact, it is third on my Austen list. But, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is so full of win, that I may have to reconsider.  This was my second read of this book, but this time I listened to the audiobook of it.

My first read was last May. I’d traveled to England for to study abroad and visited Bath and the Jane Austen Centre.  While browsing their gift shop, I saw copies for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and laughed at the fact that the book would be sold there.  So, I purchased a copy because there is nothing like paying in pounds for a book that you can buy for about half the price in the U.S.

I remember reading PPZ on the 13 hour plane trip back home and laughing out loud in my seat.  Two weeks prior to my trip abroad, I had to re-read Pride and Prejudice to prepare for the class I was taking, Transatlantic Women Writers.  So the classic was fresh in my mind as I read PPZ.  I have to say, the witty way in which the ‘unmentionables’ are introduced in the story is seamlessly fun and clever.  Without missing a heartbeat from the original story, PPZ is penned as a retelling with a zombie infused twist.  The book also contains 11 wonderful story illustrations by Philip Smiley of life in and around Hertfordshire, as it is now infested with brain eating zombies.

Recently, I was gifted with an audible version of the book and listening to it made me LOVE the book even more. The audiobook of Pride and Prejudice and Zombie is narrated by Katherine Kellgren.  And it is performed exceptionally.  Kellgren was quite animated throughout the story telling, treating the listeners to a variety of voice impressions.  Best of all was probably her portrayal of poor, dear Charlotte; who is infected with the curse and thus slowly transforms into a zombie; in doing so, her speech becomes slurred and Kellgren does a hilarious interpretation of what that would sound like.  

Ms. Elizabeth Bennet, trained in the deadly arts, is a katana wielding, musket shooting, bad ass, zombie slayer.  I loved her exuberance in this book.  She showed no mercy, was confident in her abilities, and highly disciplined and dedicated to her craft.  The love story between Ms. Bennet and Mr. Darcy was much the same, but this time, during the scene where Darcy first admits his feeling for Lizzy, they get into a physical fight.  One in which Elizabeth knocks Darcy’s head into the fire mantle.  Good times!

I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this book.  And not just because words like ‘fortnight’ and ‘his most English bits’ and phrases like “I dare say” and “silly girl” are fun to read, but because it introduced the concept of Zombies being part of the society as part of the norm, so to say.  The devil just closed the gates to hell and the dead were forced to live among the living.  LOL! Genius!

I found myself very surprised by the reviews I read for the book.  Many people were disguised by the fact that a classic was ‘slaughter’ by zombies.  But come on! You have to at lease acknowledge the great creativity behind this concept.  I strongly recommend this book for those with a wicked sense of humor, a love for Zombies, and an appreciation for the alternate universes in which Ms. Bennet and Mr. Darcy dwell.      

Where you can buy this book:  Amazon | Audible

(Yes, I’m lame and wearing a Twilight shirt

5 comments

Posted at 6:28 pm  •  Labels: 2010, 5 stars, Book Review, humor, Zombies