Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance-now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! (Quirk Classics) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

The moment, Monster-lit mash-ups. 'Its 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.' So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Los Angeles screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, in which Jane Austen's Regency prose is drenched in human gore and spiked with Shaolin ninja moves...Scholars think it's a bloody travesty, and the fans agree - the bloodier the better. --The Times magazine, April 18, 2009...The new trend for adding a touch of blood and gore to the genteel world inhabited by the likes of Elizabeth Bennett and the Dashwood sisters is set to reach grisly new heights next month with the publication of a series of books which will indulge the public's apparently insatiable thirst for horror "mash-up" literature. ...Two weeks later, the US-based creators of the best-selling publishing phenomenon Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are due to unleash their follow-up, which brings a bit of aquatic horror to Austen's debut with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.
... Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has sold over 700,000 copies and is to be made into a film'
--The Independent, 13 August 2009--Name the best science fiction titles.Speculative fiction has produced some of the most intriguing story titles ever. But which are the best of the best?
You should never judge a book by its cover, but should you judge a story by its title? If the recent success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is anything to go by, then for many readers today the answer is yes. Seth Grahame-Smith's bestselling mash-up of Jane Austen and George A Romero became one of the most pre-ordered titles this side of The Lost Symbol, based solely on a zeitgeist-surfing title. And if those readers came to the story expecting an obvious joke stretched thin over 316 pages too many, they were not disappointed. --The Guardian, 20 November 2009

A quirky twist. Wannabe novelists looking for a marketable idea can settle on an already successful literary classic that is a surefire seller, add a twist and put it out there all over again. That appears to be the way forward for some, including a version of 'Pride and Prejudice', published by Quirk Books in which the original text is enhanced with new scenes of zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith--The Independent, November, 2009--There's a whole new genre of Jane Austen works. While most adaptations pride themselves on loyally adhering to the original, a recent version of Austen's most famous novel by writer Seth Grahame-Smith has introduced a new element. His book is entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and is an example of the increasingly popular 'mash-up' genre. Grahame-Smith's interpretation sees a household of 18 people slaughtered and consumed by the living dead, and endows the Bennet sisters with martial arts skills to keep the creatures off their crinolines. 'I tried to space through the book sequences of gratuitous gore, so it would be more breezy than the original,' said Grahame-Smith--Pride and Prejudice and Zombies uses some clever genre plot devices to spice up the original novel, including the Bennett sisters substituting reading and playing music for sparring with martial arts experts in the far east and becoming trained assassins, with the sole purpose of defeating the zombie army waiting to attack--Eatmt Brains dot com, Nov, 2009--Jane Austen is quintessentially British, and her novel Pride and Prejudice has been one of the most cherished love stories in classic literature. But what would happen if you were to combine Pride and Prejudice with gore, senseless violence, and the undead? You get the exciting and entertaining Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy that has been loved by generations, but in this version, Zombie Armageddon has been ravaging England for 55 years. The undead walk the earth and feast upon any unlucky living they may find. Any gentleman or gentlewoman of consequence is well-bred, of considerable fortune, and can slice apart a manky dreadful (a euphemism used often in the book, as 'zombie' is apparently uncouth in polite society) with the best of them. Elizabeth and her sisters are some of the best zombie killers in all Hertfordshire.The book takes a little while to get into the swing of things, taking time to introduce the Family Bennet (I am convinced that David Tennant and Catherine Tate should play the bickering Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in the upcoming film adaptation), and chooses to step ladylike into the plot rather than diving in headlong like a more modern tale would do; this may indeed be held over from the Austen original. However, once the story really gets going (or as much as it can get going in a Jane Austen novel), it becomes an engaging story that just might keep you reading for hours on end--Anglotopia, Nov, 2009--A great mix of zombie killing and ballroom dancing. I can hear the purists howling from here (quite like the undead they sound, too) but this remains a joyous rewrite, if not indeed an improvement--The Book Bag, Nov, 2009--All of the principal characters are here so that the plot stays true to Austen's original, and the witty banter between sharp-tongued (and knived) Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is still a source of delight. Mr. Darcy is as foul-natured as ever, else what would be the point of the whole endeavour?Fortunately, this novel is not a one trick pony. No, no - it is a two trick pony! The first trick, of course, is that zombies are always good, and zombies swarming through Regency England and mucking up everyone's romantic agendas are even better. --Mooky Chick, November, 2009

Some reviews have attacked Seth's book for neither being scary enough difficult in such a genteel environment nor effective enough as a straightforward romance. While it's true that P&P&Z won't be for everybody, it is highly enjoyable if you stop looking to pigeon-hole it and instead read it with the same spirit of grisly fun in which it was written--Den of Geek, Nov, 2009--If ever a classic was treated with tongue in cheek irreverence, author Seth Grahame-Smith managed to do it. Oh, I imagine that the coldly calculated jingle of cash was also a great motivator. After all, Seth allowed Jane Austen to do the bulk of the writing (85% of the text is hers) and she had already plotted the basic outline of the book. To give him his due, he s given her half the credit, although he and his publisher will be raking in all the profits of this high concept book.So what s all the fuss about and why are film studios fighting over film rights to this story? Well, long ago in the island of Britain a zombie plague threatened its inhabitants. Thankfully, zombies are slow moving, dead, and stupid, else they would have overwhelmed the English population, decimating the land. The longer zombies have been dead, the less recognizable as humans they become, having lost eyes and limbs and patches of skin, and wearing clothes that are rotten and in tatters. Some zombies are so gross in both looks and eating habits that they cause the observer to vomit, The merest scratch from a zombie will turn a human into one, as poor Charlotte Collins discovers. A comic character rather than a tragic one, her tongue and mouth degenerate early on, causing Charlotte to lisp and talk like, well, a zombie. The thing is, nobody but Elizabeth notices. Hah! In the land of the dead and stupid, even the living are stupid. This plague has been threatening England for at least a generation, but people are still dumb enough to sit near windows at Assembly Balls where zombies can get at them and scoop out their brains, or open doors and windows in steamy kitchens, as the cooks did at Netherfield Park, so that those who were making dinner BECAME dinner.The Bennet family lives in an age when they must be ever vigilant if the girls are to survive until marriage and beyond. Mr. Bennet ships his girls off to China to learn the fine art of fighting zombies with sword and knife. Elizabeth Bennet becomes an especially talented fighter, and is renowned for the ease with which she can fend off an entire horde of zombies, slicing and dicing with the best of them. She had to do just that when she walked three miles to Netherfield Park to check on her ill sister, Jane. A skeptical Lady Catherine de Bourgh tests her mettle by siccing her Ninja Warriors on her at Rosings, but Elizabeth dispatches them so quickly that she nary raises a sweat. Mr. Darcy is a fine zombie slayer as well, but the Bingley sisters can t even carry a sword or knife. You get the drift. In Seth s book, if you re a poor zombie slayer you are either the villain or your brain is toast. The entire book is a satire, from the inclusion of the gross but well-drawn illustrations to the suggested book club questions at the end, which are quite clever. You must read this novel with an open mind and maintain a sense of humor or, like the denizens of Meryton when they see a zombie feast on one of their friends, you will upchuck your lunch. --Jane Austen's World, November, 2009

A quirky twist. Wannabe novelists looking for a marketable idea can settle on an already successful literary classic that is a surefire seller, add a twist and put it out there all over again. That appears to be the way forward for some, including a version of "Pride and Prejudice", published by Quirk Books in which the original text is enhanced with new scenes of zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith.