No matter what your opinion is on Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has something to get your attention.
If you’re one of the many people who loved the original book, who identify with the characters, and who never get tired of such a classic story, this is a chance to reread it with a funny little twist to everything.
And if you’re the type of person who’d rather take a katana to the eye than read early 19th-century literature, well, you may have heard this book has zombies. And ninjas.
I knew before reading it that the book would be a little ridiculous; I’d already heard about the brain-splattered battles and random ninja fights. What I hadn’t known was that Seth Grahame-Smith didn’t just throw in a zombie here and there for a laugh. He’s created a whole history for the zombies, and consequences that mesh with the original story.
The nearby militia group that gives the Bennets so much trouble is there specifically to fight “the unmentionables.” Letters get delayed because the previous coach was overrun by a ravenous horde. Travel in rainy weather is dangerous because you could succumb to a fever and because zombies have an easier time clawing their way out of their graves when the ground is soft. And Elizabeth Bennet’s nemesis, Lady Catherine, sneers at her because Elizabeth was trained in the deadly arts in China, when anybody with money studies in Japan.
Be warned though, the author loves to linger on the gore. I like a good zombie fight as much as anybody, but the description of one of the main characters slowly turning into one of “the unfortunates” was maybe a little too descriptive for me. Three words: blood-filled pus. (Okay, two words if you only count “blood-filled” as one.) But if you’re not too squeamish and have a good sense of humor, it’s all in fun.
Through it all, the original story hasn’t changed. Whole pages from the book are exactly the same as before (with maybe a quick mention of the dojo in the backyard.) Despite being written in 1813, the story appeals to so many people because a lot of readers recognize themselves in the characters. Two people fall in love, but don’t realize it at first, and in trying to deny or hide their feelings, they end up driving away the one person they didn’t want to hurt. Two hundred years later people still read Austen with the feeling that she’s speaking directly to them.
But if the somewhat flowery prose isn’t your cup of tea, now you get blood-oaths, decapitations, and roundhouse kicks to the face to go along with it. There’s something for everybody.