It's a truth universally acknowledged... - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (book 'review')

Hallooooo!!

"It's a truth universally acknowledged..." that is the only way Pride and Prejudice can begin. Whether it is a parody or a re-telling, you don't start P&P with any other sentence and praise the Lord that Seth Grahame-Smith didn't!

I've mentioned it already in my latest weekly blog post (Costa Christmas range, Mockingjay part 2 premiere and FREAKING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS), but I quite enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In fact, I liked it so much, I'm writing a blog post about it. Not that it'll be long'un, but I need to get my enthousiasm out there.

The story is written by, first and foremost, Jane Austen. The original story was published in 1813. Seth Grahame-Smith add a little touch to it. P&P&Z was published in 2009 and is currently being adapted to a movie!

 

So, the titel is basically self explanatory. It is the classic story of Elizabeth and mr Darcy that we all love and cherish. Well, most of us. I'm not saying that Austen is everybody's cup of tea. Grahame-Smith thought it would be a good idea to add zombies to it. One thing he is very clear about is the fact that he never wrote a parody. It is the exact same story, exact same characters, same style in writing, except maybe that the main character Lizzy is even more strong headed and fierce and that they find themselves in ridiculous and unrealistic situations as a full on unmentionables attack.

I'm not a zombie-apocalypse type of girl. I like my sci-fi and fantasy movies/books, sure, but I just can't stand the sight of the living dead. Give me orcs or Uruk-hai anyday! (I'm probably one of the few people left who has internet access who hasn't seen The Walking Dead yet...) Because this is a story I am very familiar with and a friend of mine had already read it, I decided to give it a go. Half the time I couldn't stop smiling 'cause A) I love that story and B) it was so ridiculous at times. With 'ridiculous' I don't mean it in a derogative manner! But when I read: "she decided to behead him upon their next meeting" and I pictured it in an Georgian setting and then compared it to the original story, I couldn't help myself but to smile. I loved it.

Beware though, that it was not written with the purpose to make a fool out of Jane Austen (you'de be very stupid indeed) or to write a parody or comedy. It is written with all the seriousness that Austen intended, but just with that little extra. I dearly hope that they'll approach the film the same way! Approach it like you would approach the original story and then add the living dead to it. I'd hate to see Jane Austen being laughed at. I'm actually excited about that movie, which are words I never thought would ever leave my mouth. Or being typed by my fingers. Whatever makes more sense.

The movie hits theatres in February or March 2016 depending on where you live, but in very restricted territories. Don't think Belgium is included in the list... I'll link the IMDb page here. I'll also leave this movie still and trailer for you to enjoy and grasp the first feeling of the movie ;)

Let me know if you've read the book or if you're going to read it! And if you're looking forward to the movie as much as I am!^^

Thanks for reading!
xo - Sara