Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Quirk Classic Series) MP3 CD – MP3 Audio, December 15, 2015

II was very disappointed in reading this (and I only read it because of the upcoming release of the movie adaptation) to find that about 90% of this is actually Jane Austen's canon. There is nothing new as far as the basic plot but Seth Grahame-Smith adds a word, a sentence, a phrase or as much as a paragraph here or there in order to insert something or other about Zombies or what he takes for comedy. And at times these additions are totally outré, out of place and then ignored by the characters. For example: at about 10% we have the scene at Netherfield in which Elizabeth has come down to the drawing room after being with Jane, who has a terrible cold, and Caroline states to Darcy, “You write uncommonly fast.” Darcy: “And you prattle uncommonly much.” More canon from C. and Darcy then says, “And how odious indeed that I should so often suffer to write them in your company.”…etc., etc., etc. These snide little remarks from Darcy are inserted and there is no reaction...from Caroline or from Elizabeth? Then another example of a sentence dropped into place with its adding nothing to the goings-on: at 37% - “Apparently overcome with excitement, Charlotte dropped to the ground and began stuffing handfuls of crisp autumn leaves in her mouth.” No reaction from those around her?And I have to add these sexual innuendos, and he thinks to get a laugh. I groaned. @63% (Mr. Darcy has shot some zombies on Pemberley grounds while Elizabeth and the Gardiners are visiting.) “She remembered the lead ammunition in her packet and offered it to him. ‘Your balls, Mr. Darcy?’ He reached out and closed her hand around them, and offered, ‘They belong to you, Miss Bennet.’” Out of the blue – Really? And when Jane asks Elizabeth when she realized she was in love with Darcy “…I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing the way his trousers clung to those most English parts.”Then must you additionally portray Mrs. Gardiner as having adulterous behavior? @ 64% “…she set off in quest of her former acquaintance, and (unbeknownst to the sleeping Mr. Gardiner) her evening was spent in the satisfactions of intercourse renewed after many years’ discontinuance.” Is this really necessary? It, again, adds NOTHING to the plot! The Gardiners have always been favorites of mine and I don't like to see this written of her.There are so many WONDERFUL variations written in JAFF and if you want to use one with paranormal characters and stories I can easily find others which are not only the author’s own creations but also a better story line; not this man’s simple adding to the best of stories. Oh, I do know why a paranormal tale was selected by Hollywood: what with Twilight, Grimm, Vampire Diaries, Once Upon a Time, etc, being so popular but it seems the fact that this author wrote Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows simply gave him the connection and the Hollywood crowd took the easy way of finding a Jane Austen tale with paranormal shades.Elizabeth in this tale is a different character: she refers to herself as the bride of death. And she has some grim thoughts when confronted by annoying or even bad behavior: thoughts of chopping off a sister’s head, of both cutting out Darcy’s heart and cutting off his head to present to Jane as revenge for how he separated Bingley from Jane.The activity with the zombies does not provide a grand adventure, a teaming up of ODC to win a battle, but rather some occasional skirmishes: walking into Meryton, visiting a church, the Netherfield Ball, etc. our characters are beset upon by the undead and they use their skills to dispatch one and all. There is some argument about whether having trained in China or in Japan has provided the best Masters and there is also the matter of the architecture at Pemberley being rendered in the Oriental manner.So do you have to read this book to anticipate the movie? NO. As most is Jane Austen’s canon you know what to expect. Way over priced as it is not creative at all.

In what should come as no surprise to anyone, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a novel about Pride and Prejudice... and zombies. Fully living up to its publisher's title, Quirk Classics, this novel contains the far fetched, the hard to believe, and the down right insane antics of Jane Austen's signature characters plunked down in a world over run by brain eating, flesh rotting, and by no means bright "unmentionables" whose presence change a classic into "something people would actually want to read".Also, this book is illustrated! I enjoyed the art in it, even if some of the costumes depicted weren't completely true to the era, they were far more fitting for the level of fighting that was going on in the book.If you mean to enjoy this book you have to take it in the spirit it was written in. Be prepared to laugh at over the top absurdness, far fetched plot lines, insatiable blood-lust, and super human abilities. And, we haven't even gotten to the zombies yet. Elizabeth and her sisters are warriors, trained in China to be sworn protectors of the crown of England and defenders of Hertfordshire in general and Longbourn in particular, Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a great and mighty warrior with a small highly trained army of ninjas at her command, and Mr. Darcy rides to the rescue with a Brown Bess and Katana at his side, ready to shoot and be-head any of Satan's servants that cross his path.The ridiculous I can forgive, the disbelief that I had to suspend could be attained, almost always, but I have to say that there were times when the story went a bit too far even for the lark that this book was intended to be. There were also times when I wish that I was a trained ninja myself just so that I could karate kick the editor that did such a shoddy job on this book.Normally I can forgive a typo here, an awkward sentence there, and even occasions where the author managed to forget what time and place he was talking about and so changed the name of it... once. All of these things happened far too often to be forgiven in this novel. There was an awkward sentence where some bad splice editing resulted in, "she would never see him again, on good terms again." What? Also the author was attempting to convey the great honor Mr. Darcy and his sister did to Elizabeth by visiting the day of her arriving and not the day after as originally planned. This was done by saying she would arrive the day after, saying she did arrive the day after and then saying afterwards that it was so nice of her to arrive the day of. What? And, finally, the place of Wickam's banishment was changed several times from Kilkerry to Kilkenny to Kilkerry to Kilkenny again. It's Kilkenny, by the way.My other problem with the book is that the author clearly didn't comprehend the scenes he was editing. What was being said, why it was being said, or what was really going on in a given scene seemed to go right over his head. There were numerous examples of that throughout. Also during some scenes he wrote in stuff gratuitously just to satisfy what a modern day person would want to say or do in a given situation, not what would have been done in the times it was written, zombies not withstanding. Yes, we all wanted to blast Wickam when he came home to Longbourn with Lydia on his arm. Elizabeth had more wit and class than to actually do it, though.But, other than that, if you are in for a book of silliness, zombies, and some old Pride and Prejudice favorites mixed up in a way that's sure to have Austen spinning in her grave then give Pride and Prejudice and Zombies a whirl. As long as you don't have high expectations you won't be disappointed.

As a huge fan of the original this variation was fun and completely different to jane Austen's at times. Such as the violence but I liked how the dialogue at key points (proposal, refusal, lady Catherine encounter etc) kept true to the original. Story line was changed a bit for the movies with Sam Riley. So worth reading the book if u liked the movie for alternative story.

大筋は渡辺由佳里さんのレビューの通りで、ゾンビと戦うシーンが随所に出てきますが、ストーリの流れは原作をかなり忠実になぞっています。原作を半ば神聖視していて、ゾンビがからむグロいシーンが出てくるのが許せない、という方には向きません。ただ、そこを固く考えなければ、原作を再読する楽しさとパロディーとしての楽しみを両方味わえる作品です。原作を再読しているか、したいと思っているファンにはお勧めです。イギリスのアマゾンで121、アメリカでは816のレビューがつくくらいの人気作（ただし3-40％は☆1-2で平均☆3.5と評価が分かれています）だけに、以前から映画化が試みられていましたが、やっと今年2015年に公開されることになったそうです。エリザベスがダウントン・アビーでローズ役、実写版シンデレラで主役のLily James、ジェーンがダークシャドウでヒロイン役のBella Heathcote、Mrダーシーがビザンチウムでダーヴェル役のSam Riley、Mrビングリーがノアでセム役のDouglas Boothと、原作をそのまま制作しても成立しそうなキャストですので、グロいシーンが苦手でなければ、原作のファンには必見になりそうです。

Strangely engaging - relive the familiar with a 'walking dead' twist !!

Who knew what a great addition zombies would make to Longbourn?Highly recommend!

It's a great concept. I love Jane Austen and I love the idea of Edwardian ladies trained as Shaolin warriors. The zombie plot uses Jane Austen's turn of phrase where possible; and the juxtaposition of Austen's world and the martial arts training makes for some great humour. The problem is that you can't help comparing it with the original and it doesn't match up. You're reading Austen's writing and the bits the authors have converted effectively (which to be fair is most of it); and then suddenly you're reading a crude joke about balls and the immersion that's been working surprisingly well is broken. Worst of all I don't like Lizzie - I admire Jane Austen's Lizzie and come to appreciate Darcy. But this Lizzie Jeckyll and Hyde - often cruel and out of control. Does she really have to have a warrior code that expects her to execute a man who snubs her when she dances? It's great to break women out of old fashioned stereotypes, but that's old hat, why not think a bit harder about how Lizzie might actually integrate a warrior code into Edwardian society?Anyway I realise I've written mostly negatives, but actually this is a good book and I enjoyed reading it. If you like Austen and Zombies (or at least Austen and fantasy, as I do) then you're you'll have a good ride ... with the odd bump. So four stars.