romance and zombies

I've been reading a lot of "girly" books lately. Not that this should be any big surprise, as I have already read the entire Austen canon and loved them all, but usually I read them interspersed with fantasy novels or Sci-Fi, which tends to be written with a more masculine audience in mind. At the moment, however, I am reading both Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South (It was suggested by Katie while I was home, and yesterday it appeared in the book return at work, so I picked it up.). I'm usually a one book at a time person, but the inability to care about or finish People of the Book (in spite of my best efforts) has sparked a bad habit of reading only a few chapters at a time and then moving on to something else. I may have to find something new to read that is so good I can't put it down, just to get back on track with my reading.

The last book that drew me in that way was the first in the current series of girlie books, but with an unusual twist. It was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Much of the text is Austen's original romance, but Seth Grahame-Smith has added hordes or the living dead and made the Bennet sisters warriors of the highest skill. It's amazing how well he has managed to bring in death and mayhem without actually making any major changes in the story line. Of course, this means that while newcomers will still enjoy the gruesome descriptions and illustrations, only a true Austen fan who knows the original will realize the true cleverness of their integration or catch all the jokes.

My favorite part, which had me laughing out loud in the Chicago airport on my way home a few weeks ago, was the scene in which Elizabeth Bennet is first visiting Lady Catherine (known now for her famous skill in the deadly arts and zombie-slaying abilities) and is questioned on her upbringing and training. Instead of asking about whether the governess has left them, she asks if their ninjas have left, and cannot comprehend the idea that five girls could have been brought up without ninjas to defend them in the early years of their training. Ninjas!

Of course, the changes also include a crass joke about Darcy's "most English parts" and gratuitous vomiting, but on the whole it is a good, fun read for anyone who loves Victorian romance and zombies. And if you were afraid it can no longer be taken as serious literature, Seth Grahame-Smith included discussion questions in the back of the book, including what Austen might have been trying to symbolize with the plague of undead spreading across England and, my personal favorite: "Does Mrs. Bennet have any redeeming qualities?"

As ridiculous as the concept may seem at first, the integration of original text and supernatural happenings is so well done that it makes me want to try it myself. Of course, zombies are out at this point, because it wouldn't work just to copy this one. I wonder what I could try instead?

-Kim