Ultraviolent zombie mayhem

A gory yet funny twist to Jane Austen's epic novel Pride and Prejudice

A gory yet funny twist to Jane Austen's epic novel Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, published by Quirk Books
Price: $12.95
Rating: JJJJJ

YOU don't have to be an English Lit major to have a well-read copy of Pride and Prejudice. But those who don't know their Chaucer from their Dryden might appreciate Pride and Prejudice and Zombies better. Purists may have a thing or two to say to Seth Grahame-Smith on Facebook and Twitter and all the networking forums on which writers are exposed these days.

A plague has been scourging Jane Austen's beloved English countryside for 55 years, mysteriously turning the dead into zombies and the living into fodder. The zombies like to feed on the brains of the living.

The five Bennet sisters are in the service of the king of England to keep Hertfordshire free from the un-dead.

They are trained in the martial arts, their father having taken them to China to learn, under the guidance of 'Master Liu'. A dojo in their backyard is their practice station and our heroine Elizabeth practices her kicks just as readily as her wit, landing quite a few on her suitor and his aunt.

Mr Darcy is a skilled zombie slayer though, as is Lady Catherine who is a formidable name in this field and has sent many legions of the un-dead back to hell.

The preoccupations of the main characters remain more or less the same. So Mrs Bennet plans the marriages of her daughters, Mr Bennet tolerates her. Elizabeth and Darcy spar physically too, in this book. Wickham goes about his way duping all and sundry what becomes of him and Lydia, well, you'll just have to order the book to find out. Charlotte and Mr Collins are the other pair caught in Seth's tragicomic plotting.

Seth retains most of the original plot movement, language and dialogue, interspersing only in between when hordes of the un-dead come barging in through the ballroom or attack their carriage on their journey to London and elsewhere.

The zombies are drawn by the brains of the living as these are we find out tender and salty. But the book is not just about putting people off their meals. And even when it does, it's mainly funny. You get an inkling of how it's going to be with the very first lines: "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."

The timing of the book is right. The Jane Austen books are in the public domain (author copyright lasts for a limited number of years), so it was legally available for a mash-up. Also, worldwide interest in the undead has been rekindled with the Twilight books. Though, it was New Orleans-based writer Anne Rice who first made vampires sexy.

While all the vampires currently in vogue are dark and brooding, and also their slayers, Lizzie and Darcy have a great sense of humour. And they're much naughtier than their Jane Austen avatars. But Seth does not overdo those scenes; the tone is restrained. They are mischievous and delightful, just like the rest of the book.
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is not available in India yet, so get someone to bring it for you or order online.