(Thoughts) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

This book is a satire on the original book Pride and Prejudice. Pride and Prejudice was originally considered a comedy of manners on the English upper class. This book would be satirizing a satire. Seth Grahame-Smith preserves 85% of the original text of the novel, then changes the setting completely. The majority of the changes in content are in the background description and settings. Essentially the book has been moved from the genteel english countryside to a countryside infested by the living dead.

What seems to make this possible is that the characters in the original novel are completely focused on their immediate selves and interests. They are aristocrats who are worried about marriage, money, and genteel activities like attending balls, having tea, and throwing dinner parties. The world outside does not seem to hold much interest. Seth Grahame Smith is making a statement that you could have placed the original Pride and Prejudice almost anywhere. The story is universal.

In addition to the changes in the setting, Seth Grahame Smith mashes in pop culture elements to create a slightly different story. A mash up is where you take two different things and put them together to make something completely new. For example when you mix google maps with the prices and locations of apartments you would get a map of how much it would cost to rent an apartment in a neighborhood. This is the first time I have seen this kind of mash up using a novel. Apparently, this novel has set off a frenzy to publish more of these kind of novels.
http://www.locusmag.com/2009/April1_Mashups.html

This is different than a pastiche where you use the original characters to create a new story. It is fairly common with Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes has become a world travelling character by now, travelling to America, China, Scotland and many other places.

Some of the mashed in elements are that Elizabeth Bennett becomes a zombie slayer as well as her love interest Lord Darcy. She has survived "The 36 Chambers of Shaolin," a reference to the Shaw Brothers 1978 martial arts film. Also she must challenge, Catherine Darcy and her ninjas to gain Lord Darcy's hand. Elizabeth has learned Chinese martial arts and Catherine Darcy has studied Japanese martial arts. This adds an element of silliness not that far from the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The zombies are both a source of horror and farce. Most of the zombies who die are townsfolk, servants, and villagers. Towards the end of the novel, the zombies are mistaking cauliflower for brains. There are other minor farcical elements thrown in like the card game Crypt and Coffin. The book is not meant to be taken seriously. This runs counter to the way many people read the classics. People who take the classics seriously may not like this novel.

There are also black and white hand drawn illustrations throughout the novel. My favorite title for one of the illustrations on P.200 is "The smoke from Darcy's musket hung in the air around him, wafting Heavenward through his thick mane of chestnut hair." At the end of the book, there is a two page Pride and Prejudice Readers Discussion Guide. This is is quite morose and funny.

While I was at Book Expo America, I got a chance to visit the Quirk Books booth. They told me that they were publishing another mash up on July 15, 2009, but they could not give the title. They also have published a Deluxe Heirloom Edition with color pictures in the tradition of separating fans from their money. http://irreference.com/pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies-deluxe-heirloom-edition/

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was on the Locus Bestseller List and the New York Times Bestseller list. I liked reading it. There is value in reading this not just for the content, but to understand a new form of novel that a lot more people are going to be writing. Quirk Books did not have to pay any royalties to use Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's work is in the public domain.

Daily Thoughts 6/13/2009

The card catalog in the nave of Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University. Picture by Henry Trotter, 2005. Are you feeling a little old fashioned today?

Daily Thoughts 6/13/2009

I finished reading Fundamentals of Technical Service Management by Sheila S. Intner with Peggy Johnson. It was a solid overview of managing a technical services department. The book was very much at the introductory level. I thought the section on metadata was kind of interesting even thought I am not a cataloger.

I went to my local library for a bit and dropped off my books. I did not find anything I wanted to bring home to read this time. I did spend a little bit of time on the computers checking my email. It was a nice walk up the hill.

Right now, I am reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I am finding the book to be rather silly and entertaining at the same time. The main character, Elizabeth is both a proper lady and a zombie killing martial artist who spends time cleaning her musket. There are balls, tea, dinner parties, zombie mayhem, and sword fights. Of course there is also a touch of Victorian romance as well. What is surprising about the book is that much of the original content is still intact.

Daily Thoughts

James Weldon Johnson

Daily Thoughts

On the train to work I was reading Mike Resnick, Starship: Mercenary. The main character, Captain Wilson Cole uses his brains to outwit the enemies he is facing. It is both entertaining and funny. I am on finishing my third book without reviewing a book yet.

This morning I spent some time switching old reference titles with new reference titles. I also put some new reference titles in our ready reference section behind the main reference desk.

I am also working on rearranging the furniture in the Job Information Center room. It looks to be going pretty well. We are moving six computers into the job center that are not internet connected. Moving the computers will allow us to shift the new books to be a better location. It was a lot of working preparing to move the annual reports, filing cabinets, and resume books.

We are putting in slat walls to display the new books. It should be much more visually appealing.

I did a bit of work with the law books. I have next week off starting with Presidents Day which will be a nice relief. I did a lot this week. More than I usually do.

I found a few peculiar things while wandering around the internet that I thought were worth posting. This is from Library Journal. Never Mind the Bollocks, Librarians Invented Sex, StupidAlfred Kinsey's "Lost" Report on Librarians and Sexuality
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6637320.html

The other equally irreverent thing was a book title on the Locus Bestseller list for paperbacks. None of our local libraries have it. It is a little odd. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith