'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'

[Chic Freak]

Has anyone else stumbled across this bizarre range of novels that re-hash a classic but add zombies into the plot?! Amazon just recommend me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance-now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515P9ohF%2B%2BL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU02_.jpg

The opening lines are apparently,


It's a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was this truth more plain than during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead.

:lol:

[krakenslayer]

Yeah, I have this. My girlfriend bought it couldn't get through it, she said it felt really contrived. But she's a big Austin fan, and knows the original book inside out, so that may be a part of why she didn't like it. They seem really popular though. I've yet to attempt it, but I'll probably give it a shot.

[blind2d]

i've read the whole thing. It's actually not bad, besides the brain eating. Spoiler:





There's Kung Fu!

[krakenslayer]

Brain eating zombies and kung fu. Hmm. That might make the "LULZ ZOMBEEEZ!" kids cream, but it doesn't really excite me. I kinda expect the joke will wear thin after a few pages.

[blind2d]

Perhaps, but I made it through! Trust me, it's a lot more interesting than the original!

[deadpunk]

Thorn posted an interesting article in Dead Discussion (http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?t=13197) that relates to this. :)

[clanglee]

I couldn't get through it. I tried, it was pretty awful though. I've never read the original, but this version is just the original story with a stupid zombie subplot.

[Danny]

tried reading it but its actually a very bad book thats attempting to sell based on a "huh, wierd" angle when its really just a bad piece of fan fiction.

[blind2d]

True, hells, but at least it's unique!

[Danny]

True, hells, but at least it's unique!

no its not. its a copy of an old popular story with new, poorer quality bits added in. this is the literary equivalent of eddie murphys dracula in brooklyn movie. There are hundreds of books, movies and even a few videogames that do the same thing, copy something that sold well and add something unrelated to appeal to a different audience. Its a shame people will settle for poor material because its kooky, maybe i should fart out a version of the strange case of dr jeckyl and mr hyde where there are ninjas?

[krakenslayer]

no its not. its a copy of an old popular story with new, poorer quality bits added in. this is the literary equivalent of eddie murphys dracula in brooklyn movie. There are hundreds of books, movies and even a few videogames that do the same thing, copy something that sold well and add something unrelated to appeal to a different audience. Its a shame people will settle for poor material because its kooky, maybe i should fart out a version of the strange case of dr jeckyl and mr hyde where there are ninjas?

Well, it's not ninjas, but... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068172/

[blind2d]

Not entirely agreeing, hells. Sure it's craptastic, but it's fun! No one has before published a Jane Austen classic with such gruesome modifications! <-- that's the original part. But... you probably already knew that's what I was talking about.

[deadpunk]

no its not. its a copy of an old popular story with new, poorer quality bits added in. this is the literary equivalent of eddie murphys dracula in brooklyn movie. There are hundreds of books, movies and even a few videogames that do the same thing, copy something that sold well and add something unrelated to appeal to a different audience. Its a shame people will settle for poor material because its kooky, maybe i should fart out a version of the strange case of dr jeckyl and mr hyde where there are ninjas?


Not entirely agreeing, hells. Sure it's craptastic, but it's fun! No one has before published a Jane Austen classic with such gruesome modifications! <-- that's the original part. But... you probably already knew that's what I was talking about.

Several of the stories I have written on this site have placed zombies smack in the middle of someone else's literary creation. So, as a concept, it isn't that original. However...

If it is done well, if the author does good research and captures the true essence of the original, it can be enjoyable. When I try it, I make damn sure I'm accurate. If you aren't, readers will tear you to shreds.

People on this site often ask me if I ever have ever considered submitting my Dark Knight stories to DC. The amount of research that went in those stories was more than I do for my fiction that is wholly original. But, it paid off. I had to take Batman out of the comic form, make him a literary character in a foreign environment and still keep him true to form. Clearly an idea that started as;


Dude, what would happen if Batman fought zombies?

...yet, I think I did it fairly well.

Fanfic in any form has that potential to be a crapfest. But, if the author is accurate, and the reader has realistic expectations, it can also be a fun read. :)

[Danny]

Ya' sort've got that last week in Blackest Night #5:

"Bruce Wayne of Earth-"

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/khazrak/BlackestNight5021-22.jpg

[deadpunk]

Awesome. :)

[clanglee]

Sure it's craptastic, but it's fun! .

You see, I didn't find it that fun. It had all the bland stuffiness of a Jane Austin book, with this innane zombie threat thrown in. And kung fu. Just silly as hell, and not in a good way.

[blind2d]

Awwww, you're right... damn hack writers! Damn them to hell!

[Mike70]

i've read it and it's crap. pure and simple. it's not even contrived. there should be a term coined (which i am about to do) to describe what the "sub plot" of this book is: meta-contrived.

this "book" is the work of a complete and total hack who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near either a word processing program or classic work of literature ever again. in fact, the vid of the dude getting caned that tricky posted a bit ago is what ought to be done to the perpetrator of this piece of shit. never has there been more undeserved hoopla around a book

i am a big fan of jane austen (i'll pause for your laughter) and this doesn't honor her or the work in any way, shape or form. it's like some of the conversations i've had while tripping on shrooms but in this case, someone wrote it down and published it.

[MoonSylver]

i've read it and it's crap. pure and simple. it's not even contrived. there should be a term coined (which i am about to do) to describe what the "sub plot" of this book is: meta-contrived.

this "book" is the work of a complete and total hack who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near either a word processing program or classic work of literature ever again. in fact, the vid of the dude getting caned that tricky posted a bit ago is what ought to be done to the perpetrator of this piece of shit. never has there been more undeserved hoopla around a book

i am a big fan of jane austen (i'll pause for your laughter) and this doesn't honor her or the work in any way, shape or form. it's like some of the conversations i've had while tripping on shrooms but in this case, someone wrote it down and published it.

Heh...I haven't read it, but the premise struck me as the sort of idea by someone who thinks they're REALLY CLEVER...:rolleyes:

[Mike70]

the premise struck me as the sort of idea by someone who thinks they're REALLY CLEVER...:rolleyes:

that too.

i mentioned the shrooms thing because this book really does read like it was dreamed up over hallucinogens. you know one of those "man, wouldn't it really be awesome, if like, zombies were to take over netherfield and then mr. darcy and the bennetts had to fight them off."

"dude, that'd be bank. i'm starting to wig, man, get me some paper and write this shit down."

[blind2d]

And somehow it was published... gives me hope for my own work!

[deadpunk]

More Victorian Zombies... Sherlock Holmes vs. Zombies (http://comics.gearlive.com/comix411/article/q308-victorian-undead-sherlock-holmes-vs.-zombies/)