Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
A book review
The title is laugh-out-loud funny: Pride and Prejudice and ... what!!? But is the book funny? Yes, it is.
Seth Grahame-Smith has rudely (yet affectionately) taken Jane Austen's masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice, and made alterations throughout to shift the setting from a sylvan country village in which a woman getting her skirts muddy on a walk is a bit shocking to an England overrun by a plague of the voracious undead. Mr. Bennett (with past assistance from a Chinese martial arts master) has organized Elizabeth and her sisters into a cadre of expert zombie fighters. The humor arises not only from the startling juxtaposition of Austen's decorous Regency setting with zombie mayhem, but also from a certain weird harmony between the original text and the additions.
Overhearing Mr. Darcy speak slightingly of her at a ball, Elizabeth draws "the dagger concealed beneath her dress. She meant to follow the proud Mr. Darcy outside and open his throat." Key moments like this are enhanced by illustrations reminiscent of those in old Nancy Drew books (if Nancy Drew had fought zombies).
Does the mayhem consistently live up to this punchy start as the novel progresses? That would be too much to expect in a novel of this length, but a heightened hilarity does pop up even in the later chapters. When it doesn't, Jane Austen's masterful plotting keeps the story interesting. Since her nineteenth century prose has not been tampered with, other than to add the zombie subplot, readers who find it antique and ponderous will probably find Pride and Prejudice and Zombies similarly hard going. Those who relish the sharp wit just under the surface of Austen's seemingly languid prose will likely have the most fun with this reckless adaptation.
A "Reader's Discussion Guide" features such thoughtful questions as "Vomit plays an important role in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.... Do the authors mean for this regurgitation to symbolize something greater, or is it a cheap device to get laughs?" (2009, 319 pages)