Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen ★★★☆☆

So Weirded Out   

Fiction – Fantasy? (so classification of this book is a little shaky)

319 pages

Publication Date: 2009

Literary awards: Goodreads Choice Nominee for Favorite Book & Fantasy (2009), The Kitschies Nominee for Red Tentacle (Novel) (2009)

Pride and Prejudice with zombies, need I say a whole lot more?

Okay, first of all the cover is very disturbing.  So disturbing in fact I had to hide it from my kids.  My husband on the other hand thought it was awesome, so go figure.  I found the

pairing of zombie slaying with early 19^th century manners incredibly interesting and was curious to see how it was handled.  Grahame-Smith did a good job of inserting new scenes and content into the original.  The extra content is more salacious and not just in regard to the sorry stricken, we’re talking about some overt sexual references.  It was a little gross – it is a zombie book after all – but definitely not as graphic as it could have been.  In some ways I found the resolutions in this version more satisfying than the original.  I especially enjoyed Elizabeth kicking Darcy in the face after his first proposal.  A very natural reaction to my way of thinking – I mean who hasn’t wanted to do that.  And the Reader’s Discussion really added an extra element of fun.

On the other hand I had a terrible time slipping into this story.  There were some pretty intense changes to the characters and the overall feel of the book that I personally could never get used to.  Frankly, I had a very surreal feeling during the whole time I read the book and was just so weirded out.  I think someone who admired the original less (full disclosure: I named my youngest Elizabeth after Elizabeth Bennet so you can kind of see my devotion here) or wasn’t quite as familiar with it might have an easier time with this book.

ISBN  1594743347 (ISBN13: 9781594743344)