Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance—Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!

by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

(Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2009)

Trade Paperback, 319 Pages, Fiction

ISBN: 9781594743344, US$12.95

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

From the Cover: So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? 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.

My Review: Well … here we are … Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. One of the most hotly anticipated books of the Spring. It took me nearly a week to get my hot little hands on this book. It was sold out at the three local bookstores here, and it was not until Wednesday as I was on my way to New Orleans for an academic conference and I stopped at the Borders in the Houston International Airport that I was able to finally pick up this book! Imagine. I started reading immediately as I waited for my connection to the Big Easy and finished the book Saturday just as the plane was touching down in Salt Lake City. If it had not been for the conference (which was enlightening and engrossing) and all the time I spent in various sessions.

Now, before I get on to my reaction to the book, I need to make one thing clear: I have never read the original Pride and Prejudice. I never had any intention of reading it for pleasure, as they say, and probably would have only picked it up if I had been assigned it in a British Lit class. Now, however, after having read P&P&Z and discussing it with a friend (who has read P&P) I am curious to read it to see what Grahame-Smith left in, what he took out, what he altered and what he added, though, as my friend warned me, I probably won’t find Austen’s novel half as interesting as I found Grahame-Smith’s version.

And, with that said, let’s get on with my thoughts. This is, without a doubt, one of the most fun and funniest novels that I have read in a very long time. Grahame-Smith’s sensibilities (if you’ll forgive the pun) for what is absurd and ridiculous in the context of Austen’s novel (and yet—given the circumstances which he thrusts upon Austen’s England—they are not devices that are improbable) are absolutely wonderful. I don’t want to give away too many of the surprises that Grahame-Smith has in store for the Reader, but I have to say that what he does with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s arguments and Elizabeth and Lady Catherine’s verbal sparring is absolutely brilliant, and nothing short of beautiful farce.

Then there are the zombies … hordes and hordes of zombies, or, as they are called in the novel, unmentionables (or at other times, Satan’s legions). Of necessity zombies bring an element of extreme violence. Now, when I say “extreme violence” I mean extreme violence … the disemboweling-someone-with-a-sword-and-then-strangling-them-to-death-with-their-own-large-intestine-extreme-kind-of-violence, and that’s just one example. As violent as this novel is, it doesn’t overpower the sheer farcical brilliance that Grahame-Smith has created by mixing a comedy of manners with The Night of the Living Dead.

I could not get enough of this book … the novelty of what Grahame-Smith has created is nothing short of pure enjoyment! Whether you’re an Austen Fan, a Zombie Fan, neither or both, you really need to pick up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I think I can honestly say you will not be sorry; this book has something for everyone.

I recently read that based on the success of P&P&Z, Grahame-Smith has signed a two book deal the first of which (no release date has been given yet) will be Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer which will be a fictional biography of ol’ Honest Abe with, you guessed it, vampires. What could be better than that? There is also an article, HERE, which discusses the success of P&P&Z and how Quirk Books has been inundated with other classic novel-zombie mash-ups such as A Farewell to Arms and Legs, The Corpse of Monte Cristo and As I Lay Bleeding. Honestly, a zombie novel written in either the style of Hemingway or Faulkner would be one I would like to see.

There is also, as with “real” books of this kind, a set of questions for Book Group Discussions. They are hilarious. You can find them HERE. Also, apparently the Hollywood studios are in a bidding war to see who gets to bring Elizabeth Bennett, Zombie Slayer, to the silver screen.

Oh. And did I mention that there are ninjas in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Well … there are. Lots of them.