“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and how to make money without much creativity

I like zombies. I’ve been writing about zombie movies for quite a few years now and I know a bit about them. I never tried reading a book before maybe because I think that certain cheesiness that is attractive in movies wouldn’t work that well in books. As a Jane Austen fan, however, I had to read a book entitled “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and boy, oh boy I wish I had never had this idea.

Let me start by saying that I don’t believe in sacrilege. I think that everything can be played with, formatted and altered, including the so-called masterpieces of literature. Therefore, my problem with the book isn’t the fact that “the author” messes with Jane Austen’s ideas. What annoys me is that he took a great book and added some insipid fight scenes into it and by only slightly changing the original he produced an unworthy piece of shit.

In theory I like the idea of the posh Victorian ladies being covered in blood and trained in martial arts to fight the plague of zombies that haunts England. In practice, I’ve just summed up the alternations that have been made to the book. The idea is quite cool but the execution leaves the reader with the sense of boredom. The story known from Pride and Prejudice is…well… known so there aren’t any surprises in the plot. The additional few action scenes and martial arts oriented conversations won’t make the book about a bunch of ladies wanting to get married innovative (and/or worth reading). The novel is exactly what it says it is in the title. You’re basically rereading “Pride and Prejudice” in the universe filled with zombies. The effect is BORING.

I could see how the idea had a lot of potential. If the author had added a bit of humor to it, it could have been a really good read. He could have added some social commentary. He could have changed his characters in so many other ways than just making them skilled in combat. Instead of all this   he just sticks to the original script.  The horror scenes aren’t even particularly scary.

I couldn’t understand throughout the reading why this book was written at all apart from of course the financial incentive because of its catchy title. This novel is indeed a marketing miracle which manages to incite interest merely because of the clash of two ideas seemingly impossible to put together. Can you really imagine anything more contradictory that the would of Jane Austen with zombies? No. It doesn’t mean, however, that apart from reflecting on the matter you should buy and read a book about it.

To sum up, the idea behind “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is interesting but the novel itself is a waste of time. Maybe on the screen it could possibly be entairtaing but I’ll most probably give the movie a skip.

So, Dear Rinsers, have you heard about the book? Have you maybe seen the movie? What do you think about cultural recycling? Share your thoughts in the comment section.