avatarJanice Harayda

Summary

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is a mashup novel by Seth Grahame-Smith that combines Jane Austen's classic with a zombie apocalypse narrative, receiving mixed reactions for its humor and cultural impact.

Abstract

The novel "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahame-Smith is a literary experiment that superimposes a zombie narrative onto Jane Austen's beloved "Pride and Prejudice." While it has garnered significant commercial success, leading to a film adaptation, merchandise, and foreign language editions, it has also been criticized for its portrayal of characters and perceived lack of taste. The book reimagines Elizabeth Bennet as a skilled zombie slayer and introduces undead elements into the Regency-era story, which some reviewers find humorous while others consider it a disservice to Austen's original work. Despite its controversial nature, the novel's popularity has endured, spawning sequels and spin-offs.

Opinions

  • The publishing industry is criticized for its perceived tone-deafness, as exemplified by the publication of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."
  • The novel's humor, particularly the altered speech of characters like Charlotte Lucas, is seen as cringe-worthy and reminiscent of offensive dialects from other literary works.
  • Some readers and critics appreciate the book as a parody or a form of literary prank, enjoying the absurdity of combining Austen's refined prose with ultraviolent zombie mayhem.
  • The commercial success of the book, including its various editions and merchandise, suggests that many find the mashup concept appealing and entertaining.
  • The author's earlier work, "The Big Book of Porn," is mentioned as a point of comparison, possibly to question the author's literary contributions.
  • The article suggests that the novel's defects are more glaring when juxtaposed with Austen's "sparkling wit," implying that the mashup diminishes the original's literary value.
  • The article's author, @janiceharayda, is presented as an authority on the subject, with a background as a book critic and writing coach, which lends credibility to the opinions expressed in the review.

Book Review: ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’

It’s a cringe-a-palooza, but the novel has inspired a film, T-shirts, and Chinese and Afrikaans editions

A digital edition of the book and scenes from the movie / Quirk Books

Is any industry as tone deaf as the publishing business?

Generations of readers have railed against the cringe-inducing dialect that Margaret Mitchell ascribed to Mammy in Gone With the Wind.

But you might wonder if Seth Grahame-Smith used the enslaved woman’s speech as a template for some of the worst lines in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance — Now With Ultraviolet Zombie Mayhem! (Quirk Books, 2009, and movie tie-in edition, 2017). You might also question whether this novel is truly a step up from Grahame-Smith’s earlier The Big Book of Porn: A Penetrating Look at the World of Dirty Movies.

Some reviews of the movie version have called the story “a parody,” and while the film may have interpreted it as such, the novel is a mashup. It’s a literary prank, akin to drawing mustaches on the Apostles in The Last Supper. Grahame-Smith follows the outline of the Jane Austen’s plot as he interweaves passages from the original and a new tale of zombie attacks that have left Regency England drenched in blood.

Lizzie the zombie slayer

Elizabeth Bennet is a fearless zombie killer who learned her deadly arts in China (and a few similarities between Lizzie the zombie slayer and Buffy the vampire slayer may not be coincidental). Darcy loves her partly because he knows he has met his match among slayers of the undead.

Then there’s Elizabeth’s friend, Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte turns into a zombie whose physical deterioration causes her to speak in mangled English like, “I fank you, Eliza, for dis piece of c-civiwity.”

If that line doesn’t exactly strike you as a thigh-slapper, try this:

“ ‘What can be da meaning of dis?’ howled Charlotte, as soon as he was gone. ‘Mah dear Ewiza, he muss be love you, aw he never wuh have called in dis famiwiar way.’ ”

Millions of people apparently have found this hilarious, and any echoes of Mammy in Gone With the Wind be damned. Grahame-Smith’s bestseller has inspired not just a movie but stickers, T-shirts, a calendar, and editions in Chinese and Afrikaans. The spin-offs and sequels include a graphic novel, a “Deluxe Heirloom Edition, ” and two books by Steve Hockensmith: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After.

But what, exactly, is the purpose of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies when Austen’s sparkling wit only throws its defects into a higher relief?

Any number of answers might come to mind after you read that Elizabeth stabbed one of her victims in the stomach and “strangled him to death with his large bowel.” How about, for a start, “blood money”?

@janiceharayda is an award-winning journalist who has been the book critic for Glamour magazine and for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland. On Medium she writes the weekly “Ask a Writing Coach” series that answers common questions about writing and publishing in mainstream media.

You might also like another of my articles on Jane Austen:

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