Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Image courtesy of
www.barnesandnoble.com

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Seth Grahame-Smith
Jane Austen
2009

The Summary
Filled with zombies, romance, gun-toting Bennet sisters, and ninjas - yes, zombies and ninjas - Seth Grahame-Smith's novel lends an interesting and incredibly unusual twist on the classic work of Jane Austen.

The Good
Some aspects of Grahame-Smith's novel are uproariously funny, not least of all for deciding to mix Jane Austen and zombies.  (Because, let's be honest here, what can go wrong with that particular combination?)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies forges its own genre, so to speak.  It combines classic literature and zombies, horror and romance, and throws in a dash of overly dramatic kung fu.  So, while this novel isn't entirely typical, it manages to remain interesting, absurd, and highly hysterical.

In particular, Grahame-Smith manages to insert a certain dirty humor you simply won't find in Austen's work, which makes his novel particularly amusing.  The fact that Elizabeth finds Darcy "English" in all the right places seems like such a twist from the mild-mannered miss of Austen's novel - and it's certainly a fact worth chuckling over.

The Bad
Although this novel does have several merits for its absurdity and originality, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is, at its core, a knock off.

Granted, I don't doubt its originality for combining Austen and zombies, but much of it feels to be copied from Austen's work.  She did most of the work, so to speak, and provided Grahame-Smith with much of the material he would use; he simply sprinkled in some zombies and ninjas, and upgraded the Bennet sisters to zombie hunters.

I'm simply pleased credit is given where it is due.

The Ugly
Zombies are flesh-eaters - and the Bennet sisters are a hardcore group of zombie hunters.

Combine the two and zombie carnage is bound to ensue.