"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Are they serious!? Intrigued and shocked, I grabbed the paperback off the bookstore shelf. Gracing the cover was a typical portrait of an early 19th century young woman, save for the fact that half of her face's flesh disintegrates, showing zombie-esque exposed bone, with artistic splatters of blood on the woman's dress.
The book, published in 2009, is a joint-effort from Jane Austen (who wrote the classic 1813 satire Pride and Prejudice) and American author and film producer Seth Grahme-Smith. The publisher promises that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is "Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read."
This new spin is very creative, but is it worth the attention? A lot of people think it is, as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was number three on the New York Times bestseller list and was given an A- rating by Entertainment Weekly. I, on the other hand, will not be buying this book.
As a devote Pride and Prejudice fan, I am slightly offended yet another person is degrading the original masterpiece, and by doing so making tons of money. Call me a purist, but there are some things to which you shouldn't add zombies.
Pride and Prejudice is a novel still as fresh as it was in 1813. In it, Austen deftly weaves messages of feminism into 19th century England, a world where women have few rights. With the novels heroine, Elizabeth Bennett, Austen creates a very human, non-zombie woman. Elizabeth is a clever, honest, loving and, as the title suggests, proud, young woman. She is a true trail-blazer for female characters; she fights against society's expectations of women. Elizabeth is outspoken about issues such as women's education and the value and role of women. One of the themes in the novel is the unfairness of the legal system, which greatly favored men over women. The beauty of Pride and Prejudice is not only its subtle, yet radical messages, but Austen's skill as a keen observer of people. My ratty, well-loved copy of Pride and Prejudice is always on my nigh table stand because the story is always as fresh and relevant as it was almost 200 years ago.
Re-writing and re-mashing Pride and Prejudice is not a new concept. There have been many adaptations, from Bollywood's 2004 Bride and Prejudice to Seducing Mr. Darcy, a racy romance novel by Gwyn Cready. I'm not opposed to other people creating their own interpretations of Austen's book, but in doing so, they must keep the elements of what makes Pride and Prejudice so important. For example, in 1995, the BBC made the novel into a carefully-crafted, now-classic mini-series. Ten years later, Hollywood created its latest version with Kiera Knightly playing Elizabeth. Like the BBC version, this adaptation also kept true to the wit and charm of the book's original spirit.
From the reviews and excerpts I've read of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the book pays little attention to Austen's skilled style of writing, nor to the messages that make the original novel so important. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies may be funny, but in the end, Austen will have the last laugh.
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