Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is one of those well-loved classics that, if you have not read it, you have at least heard of it. Popular with high school English teachers, the classic tale has been made into films, musicals and was even the basis for “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” But Austen’s story of love and decorum has never been as exciting as when Quirk Books got their hands on it. Author Seth Grahame-Smith takes Austen’s classic and adds in buckets full of guts and gore to create “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” an adaptation unlike any other. Grahame-Smith breaks up the monotony and picks up the pace, adding sharper language and wittier observations, while maintaining 85 percent of the original text.
The story begins with the Bennet family excited at the prospect of having an eligible bachelor, Mr. Bingley, move to Meryton. Because God has shut the gates of hell and the dead are doomed to walk the earth, Mr. Bennet has ensured that each of his five daughters have been trained in martial arts and weaponry by the finest monks in China. Elizabeth, his second-oldest daughter, is the most proficient. At a ball, Elizabeth comes across Mr. Darcy, a dear friend of Mr. Bingley’s. Immediately, Elizabeth dislikes Darcy and feels he is the proudest man she has ever met, despite the fact that he has slaughtered over 1,000 zombies in his day.
Elizabeth is a cold and ruthless eliminator of Satan’s minions. Fearlessly she conquers whole armies of the undead single-handedly, all while never revealing her ankles. While her affections for Mr. Darcy remain unchanged for most of the novel, many exciting things transpire. Mr. Wickham, a handsome, seemingly gentlemanly soldier, kidnaps and marries Elizabeth’s younger sister Kitty. Elizabeth’s intimate friend Charlotte is stricken by the strange plague and her slow yet obvious transformation into a zombie goes undetected by all, even her own husband. Eventually, Elizabeth finds out Mr. Darcy has strong feelings for her, despite the fact that she had once kicked him into a fireplace, and this throws Elizabeth’s mind into a confused frenzy.
Even the cover art, a proper young lady missing half of her face, clues readers in on just how different this re-imagination of the original novel is. Zombies and zombie references are not just sprinkled in here and there — they really do become a focal point for much of the book. While one would think this would be awkward and unfitting in such an old book, Grahame-Smith weaves everything together seamlessly, not trying to hide the fact that zombies in the 18th century is ridiculous. The zombie scenes themselves are silly, but somehow Grahame-Smith makes them part of the main plot.
Along with spectacular zombie fight scenes that speed up the plot, Grahame-Smith uses language to add unconventional humor. When Mr. Bingley’s sister is vying for Mr. Darcy’s attentions, Darcy says to her, “Miss Bingley, the groans of a hundred unmentionables would be more pleasing to my ears than one more word from your mouth. Were you not otherwise agreeable, I should be forced to remove your tongue with my saber.” Using the old-fashioned speech, Grahame-Smith allows the characters say what, in the original novel, they would keep to themselves. He also sprinkles in some sexual innuendos, only adding to the silliness of the novel. When Jane asks Elizabeth how long she has loved Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth replies, “I believe I must date it from my first seeing the way his trousers clung to those most English parts.”
While “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is undoubtedly a funnier, edgier adaptation of the beloved original, Grahame-Smith can only do so much with his 15 percent contribution. The story still drags on at times, and the old language gets tiresome. The end of the story still seems to take forever to arrive, and a sense of accomplishment is felt when the end is finally reached. English teachers will not be assigning this mashed up version any time soon, but Grahame-Smith get points for creating something that will generate new fans of the old novel and delight Jane Austen buffs.
3 1/2 stars out of 5.
