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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies #1)

3.25 of 5 stars 3.25 · rating details · 52,170 ratings · 8,594 reviews

“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...more

Paperback, 317 pages

Published May 1st 2009 by Quirk Classics

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May 07, 2010 Madeline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: don-t-judge-me, crap-tastic

I tried to resist. When everyone starting losing their shit over this book and pre-ordering it, I told myself that this was a literary bandwagon I wouldn't jump on. I read the reviews posted here, and saw that for the most part the consensus was that this book was grossly overrated. All the parts that Grahame-Smith wrote (and there aren't many) weren't very well done, the zombie device got old quickly, and the whole thing could have been much better.
It was with all this evidence in mind that I...more I tried to resist. When everyone starting losing their shit over this book and pre-ordering it, I told myself that this was a literary bandwagon I wouldn't jump on. I read the reviews posted here, and saw that for the most part the consensus was that this book was grossly overrated. All the parts that Grahame-Smith wrote (and there aren't many) weren't very well done, the zombie device got old quickly, and the whole thing could have been much better.
It was with all this evidence in mind that I went into a bookstore a week ago and bought a copy.

All of the previously mentioned criticisms are true. But you know what I decided? Criticism be damned, go ahead and revoke my Intelligent Reader membership card, I don't care. Because this book fucking rocked, and was the most fun I've had reading a book in a long time.

It's the exact same plot as the original story, except it takes place in an alternate universe where England has been overrun with zombies for "five and fifty years". Why did this happen? It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that zombies are cool, and the Bennett sisters (thanks to their Shaolin training) are the best zombie slayers in Hertfordshire. Enter Mr. Darcy, who "drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien - and the report which was in general circulation withing five minutes after his entrance, of his having slaughtered more than a thousand unmentionables since the fall of Cambridge."

I don't really know what else to say about this that hasn't been said already in the 1,000+ reviews already posted on this site. If you enjoy zombie movies, either genuinely or ironically, you will like this book. If you're a Jane Austen fan, you'll either think this book is brilliant or are already setting fire to Seth Grahame-Smith's lawn.

We now present our closing arguments in support of the awesomeness of this book:
-The story appears exactly as it does in the original, but with infinitely more general badassery. The scene where Darcy first confesses his love for Elizabeth becomes much more interesting when the entire converstation occurs while Elizabeth is beating the shit out of Darcy.
-"'It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some sort of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples.'
He smiled, and assured her that whatever she wished him to say would be said.
'Very well. That reply will do for the present. Perhaps by and by I may observe that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones.'
'On the contrary, I find that balls are much more enjoyable when they cease to remain private.'"
-Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a famous zombie killer, and has a personal army of ninjas. NINJAS.
-"The entertainment of dining at Rosings was repeated about twice a week; and, allowing for the loss of Sir William, and there being only one card-table in the evening, every such entertainment was the couterpart of the first. On one such occasion, Elizabeth was solicited to spar with several of her ladyship's ninjas for the amusement of the party.
The demonstration took place in Lady Catherine's grand dojo, which she had paid to have carried from Kyoto, brick by brick, on the backs of peasants. The ninjas wore their traditional black clothing, masks, and Tabbi boots; Elizabeth wore her sparring gown, and her trusted Katana sword. As Lady Catherine rose to signal the beginning of the match, Elizabeth, in a show of defiance, blindfolded herself."

PS: Austen Austen AUSTEN.

(less)

202 likes · like · see review

Apr 06, 2009 Ceridwen rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Braaaaaaains

Shelves: for-teh-ladies, zombies, books-about-books, janeites

Most of the time, I prefer to think of the universe as cold, meaningless and without a greater consciousness that imbues our lives with meaning and guides us with an unseen hand. So you can bet your sweet butt that I sat up and took notice when the universe handed me two of my most favorite things, Jane Austen and zombies, together in the novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. What? Have all my years of fruitless prayers been answered? There truly is a benign and smiling force who animates both...more Most of the time, I prefer to think of the universe as cold, meaningless and without a greater consciousness that imbues our lives with meaning and guides us with an unseen hand. So you can bet your sweet butt that I sat up and took notice when the universe handed me two of my most favorite things, Jane Austen and zombies, together in the novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. What? Have all my years of fruitless prayers been answered? There truly is a benign and smiling force who animates both undead flesh and my haphazard existence!

I've been waiting on the release of this book for some time with trepidation. The idea is flawless: who doesn't want to see reanimated corpses intrude upon the landed gentry of Regency England? But the devil is in the details, and I couldn't know if the execution would match the fevered imaginings of my idle mind.

Austen has always attracted fan-fic, but it's usually more along the lines of Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife . (And when I say takes a wife, what I mean is takes a wife. Right now, I'm doing that fist-pump thing that the immature use to connote sex.) It makes sense. Despite all of her savage, manly wit, Jane Austen's stories occur in the carefully delineated world of women. Men must want for a wife, not for combat training and the feel of zombie skulls crunching under the weight of a vorpal sword. The fan-fic takes this all to the logical, romance novel end. Women marry, and then sis-boom-bah, other, more entirely throbbing vorpal swords are sunk into flesh, while toes curl and the gardener rustles below the window.

Zombies come with their own, ready-packed symbolisms and meanings: consumerism, a sort of post-Marxist fear of the the rising masses, along with a discomfort toward mass media. One zombie is funny, a lumbering inconsequential, quickly dispatched. But many zombies, and there are always many zombies, is a force of crowd-sourcing, a d.d.o.s. attack, the worm eating your email, the end of modern life as we know it. Like scientologists.

So what happens when we add one symbol cluster to another? Some interesting things, unfortunately done in a less than interesting manner. Many, many people have already noted that while Pride & Prejudice takes place during the Napoleonic Wars, and soldiers factor prominently in the tale, not one word is breathed about the blood, sucking gunshot wounds and gangrene that is war in the 19th century. (Personally, I've always thought this observation was specious. I mean, things are about what they are about, and not about other things. Do we bitch that we don't know more about Mrs. Lear?) Adding zombies into the story of Lizzie and her Darcy reminds us that life was about more than bonnets and barouches, that people lived and died in service of the motives of the upper classes. Workers of the world unite, and feast on brains.

However, despite my panegyrics in the the service of the idea of this novel, the execution is maybe less than satisfying. Large, large chunks are lifted verbatim from Austen's story, which is fine and all, but when the text strays, you can feel the graft.

For example, Charlotte is bitten by one of the "unmentionables" and slowly succumbs to zombification during the course of her marriage. It works well as metaphor of the slow smothering of an unfortunate match, but to what end? Other people, in equally crappy marriages, do not zombify and need to be beheaded. So, am I just making all that stuff up about badly matched people? Is the only Zombie on top of mountaintops that which I bring with me?

Braaaaaains. (I couldn't resist.)

Cross-posted on Readerling (less)

96 likes · like · see review

Aug 29, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Charlotte Bronte

Recommended to Elizabeth by: too many people

Shelves: 2011, books-about-books, in-by-of-england, reviewed

Usually, I ignore my mother's sage advice when it comes to goodreads reviews but not today boys and girls. Today, I am going to listen to my mother and write nice things only about this book. Please note, there will be spoilers and not all of them are hidden.

How clever of Seth Grahame-Smith to make Pride and Prejudice more appealing to prepubescent boys. How smart of him to realize that Austen's only untapped audience is going to be children who like potty humor and dead things. You can almost i...more

82 likes · like · see review

Feb 17, 2009 Alana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009_02_february, reviewed, arc

Since I am known by my friends as a Jane Austen person, SEVENTEEN different people sent me the link to this publishing announcement. Even though the book won't be published for another two months, a friend managed to procure an advanced copy (aka Word doc of the finished product), and so I read it over the weekend.

That being said, it's rather unnecessary for anyone to read this novel in its entirety, even if it does sound amusing. The best plan is to read the first two or three chapters, and the...more

155 likes · like · see review

Oct 18, 2010 UniquelyMoi *Dhestiny* BlithelyBookish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-by-me

IT IS A TRUTH universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was this truth more plain than during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead.

This book, very simply put, is Pride and Prejudice meets Dawn of the Dead. It’s the classic story, rewritten to include zombies, also known as “unmentionables” and “the sadly stricken.” I felt that the author, Seth...more

18 likes · like · see review

Sep 08, 2010 Zero Restrictions Alfonso rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the biggest case of false advertisement that I’ve seen since The Never Ending Story!!! They claim that in this book you’ll find some Ultra-Violent Zombie Mayhem… but they lie!!! They lie I say!!!! They only have a couple of scenes with some mild zombie violence and that’s it! the rest is a bunch of letters where some reference to some zombie violence happened somwhere is made… and that’s it! then there is a lot of talk about learning kung fu and shit! this book suck! And the worse of it...more

27 likes · like · see review

Aug 14, 2009 Kim Annabella rated it 2 of 5 stars

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of some sweet weaponry to defeat the hoards of zombie flesh eating natives"

BRRRAAAAIIIINNNS!

30 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2009 Alisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: don-t-fit-a-category

Um...oh my gosh...what to say? A quarter of me thinks I should be outraged, the other three-quarters is insanely giggling at the very idea, and then there's the very small uncounted minority of me that is throwing her fist in the air and screaming "Finally! This is the best idea ever!"

And now that I've read it?

Well, actually, I still think it's pretty darn good idea. It was weird reading it though, because the "zombie mayhem" fit so well into the story that I kept catching myself stopping after...more

57 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2009 Sparring rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: everyone-should-be-forced-to-read

this book is a beautiful fantasy, as if someone reached into my head, pulled out two of my dearest loves, and put them together in such a brilliantly captivating fashion as to make me giggle aloud quite inappropriately in public places where i happen to find myself reading.

any lover of jane austen or of zombies needs to get their hands on a copy of this.

and the illustrations? priceless.

33 likes · like · see review

Aug 22, 2009 SpatialH rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mademelaugh, entertaining

"Oh! Mr Darcy gave me his hand!"

hehe.

... was going to give it four stars, 'cuz there could've been *way* more zombie mayhem central to the storyline, but, I added the fifth star for the book club questions in the back. v funny.

If you've never read P&P and really like zombies and ninjas this is a great way to get the story.

19 likes · like · see review

Dec 12, 2012 BarkLessWagMore rated it 4 of 5 stars

Though I'm sure I should have, I did not read the original version of this novel, nor have I ever viewed the movie adaptation(s?) of it before picking up this zombie-fied version. In all honesty, I was never interested enough in the original to seek it out and only heard about this version on a horror website. I know, I know. . . Sorry excuse for a reader I am.

With that being said, I wish I had read the original first so that I could pick apart what was original and what was added/modified to ac...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 30, 2010 Marius van Blerck rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is one of the few classics that lays bare the massive scourge of the undead that blighted so much of English life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has been stated that Austen and Grahame-Smith's works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the eighteenth century and are part of the transition to nineteenth-century realism, while retaining an exquisite treatment of period manners. This is especially the case in this work, where Mrs Bennet seeks advantageous ma...more

19 likes · like · see review

Apr 01, 2009 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Pride and Prejudice we all know has been re-imagined. England is over run with brain lusting Zombies. Elizabeth and her sisters are trained and practiced in the deadly art of Zombie slaying. Elizabeth’s best friend has been stricken with the “strange plague”. And a true gentleman beheads the Zombies for his lady, so that she will not soil her dress.

Without offending die hard Jane Austen fans, maybe Pride and Prejudice should have always had a Zombie element. The Zombies contrast our charact...more

21 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2009 Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: home-library, funny, autographed

I think Jane Austen would approve!

At first I thought I was only going to read it as a joke, but I found it quite engrossing and amusing! Not ridiculous at all—well… maybe just a tad, but it works really well.

It modernizes Austen witticism—not an improvement in my opinion, but accurate in “translation” so that those who initially did not understand some of the sarcasm, backhanded insults, sly body language, hidden agendas, or quips in P&P will in this one. In a way I guess it also removes alm...more

15 likes · like · see review

Apr 09, 2009 Jeanette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

I picked this book up at a bookstore a few weeks ago and promptly began skimming through it and looking at the illustrations. What I read and saw I found very amusing and I was eager to jump into this book.
When I started reading I was laughing out loud a lot and thoroughly enjoying myself. I was all prepared to tell all those devout Janeites out there who were up in arms about this book...more "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

I picked this book up at a bookstore a few weeks ago and promptly began skimming through it and looking at the illustrations. What I read and saw I found very amusing and I was eager to jump into this book.
When I started reading I was laughing out loud a lot and thoroughly enjoying myself. I was all prepared to tell all those devout Janeites out there who were up in arms about this book to relax and enjoy this parody for what it is, a fun, entertaining spoof of Pride and Prejudice. Didn't Jane herself parody popular fiction of her time?
Then I got about 50 pages in and realized that the novelty had worn off rather quickly. Reading about zombies in Meryton and Elizabeth Bennet being a skilled warrior was funny at first but then I realized that what made Pride and Prejudice so enjoyable was missing. Gone was Elizabeth Bennet's wit, replaced with the desire to rip out and taste the heart of any one who said anything that upset her. Funny, sure but just lacking long term reading enjoyment.
Maybe if it had been shortened or if there had been more original content it might have been more enjoyable. I'd guess 80-90% was not original content but just Jane Austen's novel with a few inserts about brains, blood, and battling zombies. I honestly found myself skimming large passages because, well, I know the original so well and was really reading this for the bits of parody scattered here and there throughout the novel. The bits and pieces that were written by Grahame-Smith did seem to, usually, fall into the narrative easily, but at times they were spaced so far apart that I found myself rolling my eyes at the unbelievability. I'd forget I was not reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but Grahame-Smith's zombie parody.
Entertaining and humorous at first but quickly descended into the tedious.
Of course, with all that said, this is by far more enjoyable than the vast majority of Austen sequels and fan fiction out there that have turned Pride and Prejudice into little more than bodice rippers.(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Dec 16, 2009 Liz rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, 2009, action-adventure-etc, sucked, romance, never-again, humour

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES: WHAT WENT WRONG?

Don't buy this book. I did, and I'm regretting my AU$24.95.

It's good as a gimmick, but, as cocky as I'm coming across here, I know I could have written one far better. The problem with P&P as it is originally is that it is a complete story in itself, and therefore to do anything truly interesting with it, you need to change a lot, not a little. Grahame-Smith had this mentality where he didn't actually change the storyline; he just inserted zom...more PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES: WHAT WENT WRONG?

Don't buy this book. I did, and I'm regretting my AU$24.95.

It's good as a gimmick, but, as cocky as I'm coming across here, I know I could have written one far better. The problem with P&P as it is originally is that it is a complete story in itself, and therefore to do anything truly interesting with it, you need to change a lot, not a little. Grahame-Smith had this mentality where he didn't actually change the storyline; he just inserted zombies here and there in the hopes of making it different. Needless to say, it didn't work.

The whole time I was reading it, I felt like Seth was saying, "Hmm. Haven't mentioned zombies for about half a page... time to throw in a reference to katanas or something." It didn't add to the story, and if this had been an original manuscript, it would have been stuck in the reject pile, I'm sure.

I don't know Pride and Prejudice off by heart, but I found it pretty easy to tell the difference between the added bits and the original bits. Grahame-Smith just can't imitate Austen. No shame in that, but then you have to wonder why he's writing it instead of just having the ideas and getting somebody else to phrase it.

The characters were changed a little to fit in with their circumstances, but not everything added up, and that made it difficult to see what interactions they would have, what they would consist of, and whether they would happen at all. If the narrative had been changed more, they would have been a lot freer.

All in all, I'm still reading on, hoping that the reason Elizabeth goes to Pemberley is to find and kill the source of the zombies (a worthy goal), rather than just going on tour with Aunt and Uncle Gardiner (nice, but, of course, predictable). Once I get back my motivation, I'm going to be very prepared to be disappointed.

UPDATE: Got my motivation back. Was disappointed. Am now going to write my own version in which Lizzy attempts to rid the world of zombies. I shall post it once I've written it.(less)

19 likes · like · see review

Sep 20, 2009 Debbie Lake rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, horror, historical, fiction

This book is an odd hybrid of Georgian/Regency romance and horror. I have to admit I was attracted to this book simply by virtue of the fact that it combined two of my favorite genres - Jane Austen and zombies. And the author does an admirable job of using actually passages from Pride and Prejudice in the narrative. However this novel just didn't do it for me. It didn't satisfy me. I knew there was a problem when I put it down for two days after reading the first few chapters. This book just did...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2009 Joanna Karaplis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Confession: Although I enjoyed Price and Prejudice, I'm not a hard-core Austen fan. And yet I've really been enjoying the recent Austen revival that has gripped pop culture. I first noticed it when Bridget Jones spent a lot of time being obsessed with Mr. Darcy (who can forget her interview with Colin Firth?). Then the Austen spin-off books began to appear: Austenland, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Lost in Austen (a choose-your-own-adventure book!), Me and Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy's Diary. An...more Confession: Although I enjoyed Price and Prejudice, I'm not a hard-core Austen fan. And yet I've really been enjoying the recent Austen revival that has gripped pop culture. I first noticed it when Bridget Jones spent a lot of time being obsessed with Mr. Darcy (who can forget her interview with Colin Firth?). Then the Austen spin-off books began to appear: Austenland, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, Lost in Austen (a choose-your-own-adventure book!), Me and Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy's Diary. And let's not forget the movie Becoming Jane.

So when I saw Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on a friend's Facebook page, my first thought was "What a hilarious spoof cover!" And then, upon realizing that it was an actual book, "I MUST READ THIS." Which I wrote, all-caps and all, on my friend's wall. A week later I was curling up with a reader's copy.

A book that gets as much hype as this one already has risks disappointing fans if it falls short. Thankfully, author Seth Grahame-Smith (previous books: How to Survive a Horror Movie and The Big Book of Porn) has managed to weave a tale that will entertain Austen fans and zombie-movie aficionados alike.

In Grahame-Smith's version of events, England is suffering from a mysterious plague that transforms the dead into zombies. However, Mrs. Bennet is still hell-bent on marrying off her daughters, zombie menace be damned. Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters have trained tirelessly in China with Shaolin monks and are quite skilled at dispatching the so-called unmentionables, although the younger girls have become more interested in attractive soldiers than beheading the brain-seeking undead.

When the aloof and haughty Mr. Darcy enters the picture, Elizabeth's warrior spirit is conflicted: should she kill him or kiss him? The cautious couple engages in the same lively sparring as in the Austen original -- but this time, it's not just verbal. And any zombies in the area had better watch out.

Grahame-Smith has managed to take the spirit of a classic and transform it into a hilarious, action-packed romp. The zombies provide an entertaining backdrop without outshining the main story, which remains the developing relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. I predict that this book will introduce a whole new generation of readers to the Austen phenomenon -- and some of them might even be tempted to pick up the original.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 30, 2009 Brad rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-acto-knives-are-nice-and-shiny, hackosaurids, humorous, popular-culture

Taking my cue from the emotional ratings of the goodreads star system (and I can only muster two stars for this book), I offer you a fully gut reaction to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

didn’t like it
1. The ninjafication of Lizzy and the Bennet sisters. It was completely idiotic. The book really should have been called Pride and Prejudice and Ninjas with Zombies to allow dumb ass Ultraviolence. Had Grahame-Smith simply employed the available military training of the Regency period and allowed...more

59 likes · like · see review

Apr 28, 2010 chucklesthescot rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: horror,humour and classics fans

Recommended to chucklesthescot by: bookcrossing

Shelves: fiction, historical, horror, humour

The Bennet girls are highly trained zombie killers who are trying to keep the countryside safe from the monsters who are causing chaos everywhere but their mother is still obsessed with having them all married. Amid the parties and the slaughter,the girls discover love, betrayal, prejudice and a lot of monster decapitation...
This was good fun to read. The main story of the original book is there but the added zombie humour and Elizabeth's love of violence are very entertaining! I particularly e...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 22, 2009 Bry rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: jane-austen-esque, 2009, humor, urban-fantasy, historical-fiction

Seriously I laughed out loud at several points during this book. Now I am a HUGE Austen fan, as in I have read each of her novels NUMEROUS times, and have over 25 sequels, companions, rewrites, etc all of P&P. Addicted? Yes. But at least I admit it.

At first I wasn't sure if I was more curious or appalled at the idea of this book, but in the curiosity won out. And I am so glad I did. I thought it was hilarious.

Did it need more zombies? YES. I thought considering the premise that was a lack o...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2010 Jane Stubbs rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: listened-to-or-read-part-on-wrbh

i really don't get the hype on this so far. it strikes me as gimmicky...and even more boring than the original (blasphemy, i know).

ugh thank CHRIST they finally finished reading this today on WRBH. BORINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. bet seth grahame smith is laughing his uncreative ass all the way to the bank, though.

13 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2012 Indah Threez Lestari rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, historical-romance, in-english

252 - 2012

Sebenarnya sekarang demam Mr. Darcy-ku sudah lewat, tapi rasanya sulit melewatkan novel plesetan yang satu ini. Seperti apa ceritanya? Novel ini boleh dibilang mash-up P&P dan World War Z. Basisnya sih tetap P&P, kira-kira 90% cerita dan dialog masih asli, sisanya baru plesetan dari Seth-Grahame Smith. Makanya nama Jane Austen masih dipajang sebagai penulis.

Di dimensi lain ini, kelima putri keluarga Bennet memiliki reputasi sebagai pembasmi zombie yang cukup handal di Hertfords...more 252 - 2012

Sebenarnya sekarang demam Mr. Darcy-ku sudah lewat, tapi rasanya sulit melewatkan novel plesetan yang satu ini. Seperti apa ceritanya? Novel ini boleh dibilang mash-up P&P dan World War Z. Basisnya sih tetap P&P, kira-kira 90% cerita dan dialog masih asli, sisanya baru plesetan dari Seth-Grahame Smith. Makanya nama Jane Austen masih dipajang sebagai penulis.

Di dimensi lain ini, kelima putri keluarga Bennet memiliki reputasi sebagai pembasmi zombie yang cukup handal di Hertfordshire. Waktu kecil mereka dikirim ke kuil Shaolin segala untuk mendapatkan ilmu bela diri, yang menunjukkan kepedulian Mr Bennet agar anak-anaknya bisa menjaga diri dari serangan zombie. Tapi di dimensi manapun, ada zombie ataupun tidak, Mrs Bennet hanya peduli bagaimana menikahkan anak-anaknya dengan bujangan yang memenuhi syarat.

Cerita dimulai dengan kedatangan Mr Bingley ke Netherfield, yang langsung diincar para ibu tetangga untuk anak gadis mereka. Gosip langsung menghangat waktu diketahui cowok jangkung, gagah dan ganteng yang mendampinginya konon slayer terkenal yang sudah membantai lebih dari seribu unmentionables (istilah zombie di novel ini). Sayang orangnya sombong, sehingga segera langsung dicoret dari daftar calon mantu.

Dengan alur cerita yang masih sama, boleh dibilang di sini Elizabeth Bennet lebih temperamental dan haus darah (rupanya di Shaolin tidak diajari untuk mengendalikan emosi). Begitu menguping Darcy menyebutnya "not handsome enough to tempt me", Lizzy langsung tersinggung, nyaris mencabut belati, menyerang Darcy dan menggorok lehernya. Untung diinterupsi serbuan zombie, yang langsung diatasi Bennet V.

Seperti apa lagi pergeseran cerita dari pakemnya?

Sebagian tokoh sampingan atau figuran terinfeksi atau mati karena serangan zombie. Di antaranya Charlotte Lucas, sahabat Lizzy. Para pelayan di Netherfield mati disantap zombie saat Bingley sedang mengadakan pesta dansa. Dan surat-surat mungkin terlambat atau tidak sampai ke tujuan karena para kurir, yang pekerjaannya rupanya sangat berbahaya di dimensi itu, diserang zombie di tengah jalan.

Kisah Jane Bennet jatuh sakit waktu berkunjung ke Netherfield masih sama. Tapi bukan karena kehujanan, melainkan karena diserang zombie di tengah jalan. Kayaknya di sini wajar kalau Darcy ingin memisahkan Bingley dari Jane, karena curiga Jane sudah terinfeksi penyakit zombie.

Kisah Lizzy berkunjung ke kediaman Mr Collins dan Charlotte tidak dihiasi ujian Lady Catherine atas permainan piano Lizzy, melainkan ujian fighting skillnya melawan para ninja Lady Catherine, yang dibantai Lizzy dengan sukses. Belakangan Lady Catherine (dibantu ninja-ninjanya) juga berduel dengan Lizzy, saat curiga Darcy berniat menikahi Lizzy.

Cerita masih happy ending, dan para zombie masih bebas berkeliaran.(less)

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Apr 02, 2009 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mashups, zombies

There's an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip in which Calvin, like he is wont to do, goes off on a particularly wild flight of fancy about T-rexes flying F-14s and bombing his school. The joke of the strip is Calvin shrieking happily "THIS IS SO AWESOME!" while Hobbes sighs "THIS IS SO STUPID".

That is pretty much the exact right description for this book. It is sublimely silly, capable of being so over the top that you cannot help but laughingly go along with it, even while you're muttering "oh...more There's an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip in which Calvin, like he is wont to do, goes off on a particularly wild flight of fancy about T-rexes flying F-14s and bombing his school. The joke of the strip is Calvin shrieking happily "THIS IS SO AWESOME!" while Hobbes sighs "THIS IS SO STUPID".

That is pretty much the exact right description for this book. It is sublimely silly, capable of being so over the top that you cannot help but laughingly go along with it, even while you're muttering "oh for--" at other parts of it. The concept is, of course, a reworking of the original Pride and Prejudice storyline and adding in a whole extra angle of the English countryside being infested with a plague of zombies.

This necessitates a whole host of changes to various details of the cast and setting: Elizabeth and her sisters in this version are for example trained students of Shaolin martial arts and are among the deadliest fighters in the countryside when it comes to taking down the undead. In fact, this is an England where it is quite commonplace for young women and men of breeding to receive extensive training in the "deadly arts" for the express purpose of dealing with the "unmentionables" who are swarming the countryside. As a result, Oriental influences have become highly fashionable in English society; Darcy's Pemberly shows much Japanese design, and the redoubtable Lady Catherine keeps an entire household of attendant ninjas.

And as you might guess, this leads to some of my favorite scenes in the original story being made infinitely more entertaining by the addition of martial arts. Just imagine the original scene where Darcy proposes to Elizabeth; now imagine it with Elizabeth and Darcy both being deadly, trained warriors. Muaha.

It doesn't always work, mind you; Grahame-Smith is not on Austen's level as a writer, and the seams between the original prose and his additions are not as hidden as they should be. He adds in some unnecessary scatological humor and sexual innuendo that, for me at least, were far more jarring to wedge into a Jane Austen story than the hordes of zombies. Some readers may also find the extent to which Elizabeth has been transformed into a bloodthirsty warrior too jarring against the original state of her character.

Overall, though, even as I acknowledge these flaws, I don't worry too much about them. Because this book is sublimely silly, and is definitely not to be taken seriously. If you are an Austen fan, a fan of zombies, or a fan of kung fu movies--or better yet, a fan of all three--you'll want to check it out. Four stars.(less)

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Apr 14, 2009 Aimee rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 17, 2010 Kristine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

"One last thing before I go...I heard about a book called "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay...who gave that guy the copyright to Jane Austen's book? I mean, seriously? THAT's what you're going to do with a classic like P&P? Write brain-hungry zombies into it? THAT is an atrocity if I have ever heard of one!"

This is a direct quote from my blog when I first heard about this book. I mean, I was angry and insulted. The disrespect! The absurdity! The dow...more "One last thing before I go...I heard about a book called "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay...who gave that guy the copyright to Jane Austen's book? I mean, seriously? THAT's what you're going to do with a classic like P&P? Write brain-hungry zombies into it? THAT is an atrocity if I have ever heard of one!"

This is a direct quote from my blog when I first heard about this book. I mean, I was angry and insulted. The disrespect! The absurdity! The downright desecration! As a lover of the original Pride and Prejudice and of Jane Austen's general greatness it just struck me as an attempt to make his name as an author, riding on Austen's coattails! Now, before anyone starts in on me on how Grahame-Smith was actually a published author before this book, let me say that I know he was. BUT he was no where near as popular, to say nothing about this book's putting him on the New York Times bestseller list. When I finally got over my initial hang-ups and decided to give it a try I bought the book in September of last year. It sat and collected dust along with several other books that were rapidly making up my "I can't believe I've bought so many books-I need to stop-Someone please take away my debit card, otherwise I will go broke" pile. When I finally sat down to read it in April.....

WOW!

I honestly wish I could go back to last July or August, when I wrote that blog post and SLAP myself in the face. I've heard so many people say that it's a simple read, that it doesn't challenge you, and that you don't learn anything. I have this to say to those people: PPPPPPTTTHHHHHH! (that was a raspberry, in case it didn't translate!) I don't think it's true that the book is pointless. If you MUST find deeper meaning than Elizabeth Bennet being a total bad-a**, here's what you will find. Like Austen's commentary on the ridiculousness of worrying so much about marriage for money over happiness (as embodied in Mrs. Bennet), here it is made even more ridiculous by the fact that while zombies are running amok, this woman can only think of who her daughters will marry and how much he earns a year!

If you just want a fun book to read, this is the way to go. This book was a joy to read. I couldn't put it down. It was wonderfully entertaining. I found myself go from chuckling quietly to downright laughing and running to tell my sister what Elizabeth said or did this time. It was light and fun. I loved every single moment of it. When I first opened it, I also found that, JOY OF JOYS, it has illustrations!

The next few sentences are a bit on the spoiler side so if you don't want to know anything about the book as far as plot goes, don't keep reading! It seemed to me that Grahame-Smith had some serious bones to pick with Austen's version. I'll admit that Lydia's happily ever after (or so she thinks) never really sat well with me, either. But I can only complain about how much I hate her as a character. Grahame-Smith actually paid her back what she deserved by giving her a lame husband who often soiled himself, leaving her to clean after him for the rest of her life. KUDOS Mr. Grahame-Smith! I couldn't have thought up a better ending myself. What I found shocking was the way Mr. Collins and Charlotte's story ended. Don't get me wrong, I loved the premise of Charlotte being stricken. I honestly did not expect that, but what happened with Mr. Collins was just insane. Like I said, I feel the author really had some fun with the characters he did not like in the original.

In summation, this book was fantastic! I loved it and I would recommend it to anyone who really enjoys fun and entertaining books. My best friend did not like Pride and Prejudice. She could not get past the third chapter, but I gave her this spin on it and she is loving it so far. Within a day she was just shy of 100 pages into it. The one warning I will give is if you have a weak stomach, I'd say approach with caution. It does get on the disgusting side from time to time, but otherwise, this book definitely made it into my favorites! (less)

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Apr 13, 2009 adventurat rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of P&P and SOTD

Recommended to adventurat by: enjae

Shelves: 2009, austen, fiction, parody, regency, romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 14, 2009 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

The title of this book describes it perfectly - it is just that, the beloved classic Pride and Prejudice, with zombies thrown in to, presumably, liven up the story.

The good thing is that the basis of the book is Pride and Prejudice... verbatim. I believe some cuts were made but most of the book is Austen's work. What Seth Grahame-Smith has added is a lot of references on the periphery to the great war England is waging against the walking dead; their propensity for death, destruction, and flesh...more The title of this book describes it perfectly - it is just that, the beloved classic Pride and Prejudice, with zombies thrown in to, presumably, liven up the story.

The good thing is that the basis of the book is Pride and Prejudice... verbatim. I believe some cuts were made but most of the book is Austen's work. What Seth Grahame-Smith has added is a lot of references on the periphery to the great war England is waging against the walking dead; their propensity for death, destruction, and flesh-eating; and the various skills with blade and sword, steeped in oriental training, that are used to destroy the deadly menace. We find, for example, that the real reason the Militia has come to Meryton is to protect against the unmentionables; that the Bennett sisters have forgone education in music and art in order to study the deadly arts in China; and the reason Charlotte Lucas disappears from the narrative after Lizzie's visit to Hunsford is not just narrative expedience.

Stylistically, Mr. Grahame-Smith does a fairly good job of matching the tone and cadence of Austen's work, even though many of his additions seem to consist of replacing "music" with "deadly arts", "servant" with "ninja", and appending a phrase about the unmentionable menace or superior warrior skills into other descriptive text. There are several added scenes of battle and "ultraviolent zombie mayhem" which again do a fairly good job of blending in with Austen's text in all respects except of course subject matter. Where Mr. Grahame-Smith falters somewhat are the few bits of adolescent sexual innuendo and, especially towards the end of the book, the unfortunately excessive use of the phrase "exercise moisture."

In all, it's not bad, and several turns of phrase certainly cause some laugh-out-loud moments. I kept waiting for a good zombie subplot to get going, but the action in this book, as in Austen's original, is still driven by romance, and while liberally peppered with action sequences, it's kind of like flipping channels between Lifetime's Movie DuJour and Night of the Living Dead. There is nothing that really connects them, and while that juxtaposition is amusing for a while, it really fails to carry the whole book. Probably the scenes at Hunsford and Rosings are the most satisfying, as the undead become more integral to the plot (although to be truthful, I find Lydia and Wickham's fate to be a touch more satisfactory than Austen's original as well!)(less)

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Apr 12, 2013 Mirte rated it 4 of 5 stars

I knew I'd either love or detest this book. And I absolutely loved it. The mix of the original text with zombiehorror is done very well, and is absolutely hilarious. I feel it is a really interesting way of updating a classic like Pride and Prejudice. Unless you're an absolute purist, any Austen fan can appreciate this novel.

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2009 Manny marked it as to-read

Who would have thought that Shaun of the Dead would already have spawned a whole new genre? Even if it doesn't exist, sounds like a great book!

5 likes · like · see review

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About Seth Grahame-Smith

Seth Grahame-Smith (born Seth Jared Greenberg) is an American author, screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for his novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter which both hit the New York Times' best seller list. Seth Grahame-Smith lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Erin, and his son, Joshua.

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