#59 – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Read because: Do I really need to explain myself on this one? Elizabeth. Darcy. Ultraviolent zombie mayhem.

Borrowed from: the Sacramento library

Rating: 8 out of 10

Synopsis (from Booklist): This may be the most wacky by-product of the busy Jane Austen fan-fiction industry—at least among the spin-offs and pastiches that have made it into print. In what’s described as an “expanded edition” of Pride and Prejudice, 85 percent of the original text has been preserved but fused with  “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” For more than 50 years, we learn, England has been overrun by zombies, prompting people like the Bennets to send their daughters away to China for training in the art of deadly combat, and prompting others, like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to employ armies of ninjas. Added to the familiar plot turns that bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together is the fact that both are highly skilled killers, gleefully slaying zombies on the way to their happy ending. Is nothing sacred?

My review: I could see how people wouldn’t like this book, taking one of my favorite writers of all times and shoving zombies into the nooks and crannies, but frankly, I don’t want to be friends with those people. I thought PaPaZ was a riot. It was a great way to get people reading Austen, and I thought Graham-Smith did a good job of not only putting zombies in the book, but reworking plot points so they made sense in the British/zombie world (poor Charlotte Lucas). 85% of the writing is still Austen’s, so if you really, really, really can’t stand Austen (and I know who you are), then this might not be changed enough for you to like it. My one gripe would be the unneccessary sophomoric sexual innuendos. This book was definitely re-written by a dude (no offense, guys). (Finished 9/12/09)