Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Title:Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Series: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies #1
Genre: Retelling|Romance |Fantasty
Length: 320 pages
Published: May 1st 2009
Goodreads link
Synopsis:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”
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?
Review:
I’m not a film critic, well, I’m not a book critic either, but I like to give my opinion about almost anything, so I’m going to talk about the book and the movie.
For starters, I should mention that I have not read the classic Pride and Prejudice at the moment of this review (Shame on me!) but because everything is better with zombies I said I should read this one.
The book, surprisingly, I liked, pretty much. It’s not out of the ordinary, but it has a “je ne se quoi”, it’s funny and Elizabeth is one of the most badass feminine characters in any of the YA books I read lately. There were certain parts added to the classic that seemed slightly exaggerated and maybe the Bennet sisters are a little overpowered, but the characters are effervescent, the story flows smoothly and unlikely the YA books I read lately where the love story evolves overnight, the idyll between Darcy and Elizabeth is a breath of fresh air.
The film, instead, in addition to cutting out parts of the book (which I would be willing to overlook) cut out Elizabeth’s ferocity and attitude, unforgivable thing! The heroine that in the book is independent and charming, becomes on the big screens a lady in distress and God is my witness that I am sick of it!
It’s hard to adapt an entire book, whose action stretches for a year and has a few very little relevant auxiliary plots, so from the film certain events are missing (which I will not highlight here for the sake of spoilers). But manages to change the story of Ladies Bennet and gentlemen Darcy, Bingly and Wickham making it feel more faithful the era in which it takes place, so I recommend reporting to the film as a different story than the book.
The characters are both in the film and between the pages as amusing, Mr. Bennet is as sarcastic but his delightful wife as… limited. All in all, I liked both the movie and the book. They are not masterpieces, it does not rise to the first place in my charts but it has made me relax and have some fun. For me, it was enough to put the book down at the end and finish the movie without regretting the time spent in the company of the characters, and more than anything made me give the classic a chance (which is a great accomplishment).
4/5 stars
The Booksnom 