Jane Austen’s classic book “Pride and Prejudice”, published in 1813, has been adapted into many film, television, and theatre versions in the past. One creative way this particular book was revised was by Seth Grahame-Smith, through his 2009 parody called “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”.

“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, through her adventures of zombie fighting while still dealing with issues of marriage, education, morality, upbringing, and manners.  Elizabeth, one of the five daughters of her family, has to deal with the ignorant society of the nineteenth century and the constant pressure of marriage from her silly mother, all while slaughtering the incoming hoards of unmentionables.

She is also given a completely different past in this version, one that took her and her sisters to China to study from the Oriental masters in the skills necessary to ward off the stricken.

Also in the parody, the ever-proud Mr. Darcy is presented with new fighting talents acquired from Japan and Elizabeth still struggles with fully understanding the intents of this man. Her sister, Jane, still falls in love with the amiable Mr. Bingley, while the younger Bennet sisters are still vain and wild in personality.

“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” had a prequel released in 2010 and a sequel published a year later, both written by Steve Hockensmith. A film adaptation of the book is also due to come out sometime in 2015, starring Lily Collins as Elizabeth, Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy and Matt Smith as Mr. Collins.

All in all, I thought it was a pretty good book. The parody followed the original plot quite closely aside from occasional scenes of undead slaying. and the content mimicked the nineteenth century writing style while shortening the long, wordy passages from Austen’s version. Zombie-fighting scenes were very interesting and added the pizzazz that gave the classic book a more modernized perspective.

I recommend this book to those who like classic books and the most obvious, zombies. I give this book a six and a half out of 10.

16nvuong@usd489.com