Two things I wanted to draw your attention to today, both warping Pride and Prejudice. One meets with my censure and the other my mirth. We all know that I’m not adverse to messing around with Jane Austen a bit, if it’s done intelligently and with affection. My love for Lost in Austen, for example, makes a mother’s love for her newborn look like callous disregard. But when it is done solely for commercial reasons, or done without any respect for the original or the authoress, then my wrath is untold.
But, first the pleasant. For anybody familiar with Facebook, you’ll enjoy this link.
And now the unpleasant. You’ve probably heard, by now, of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It does what it says on the tin. I’m going to be wicked, and not mention the author or show the cover, as I only want to raise the title to tut-tut and shake my head in disgust, not give him publicity. 85% of the book is taken straight from P&P, apparently, and I can only imagine the remaining 15% was taken from a passing 13 year old boy. I should confess at this juncture that I haven’t read it, won’t read it, and won’t consort with anyone who does read it. Or have anything to do with the film, which is apparently in the pipeline.
So why do I accept some distortions and not others? As I said, intelligence and affection. And my own contrary little mind, I suppose. But I’d be surprised if my reaction and horror and disgust wasn’t echoed in much of the blogosphere. It is officially no longer possible to come up a spoof concept for manipulating Pride and Prejudice. I simply can’t think of anything more ridiculous than the ideas already being shown the light of day.
Oh my gosh, this is fabulous. Thanks for that link.
My sentiments exactly!
love the link, thanks for it and i do agree.
The link was very amusing.
I have been avoiding anything about the zombie sacrilege like the plague.
I think that you accept some distortions and not others is because some -like Lost in Austen- are devoted and passionate reinterpretations whereas others are travesties and are shamelessly trying to take advantage of a lucrative franchise with no respect for Austen or her fans.
wow, I heard about that and I thought it was a joke. Oh dear, oh dear…
I confess I hated Lost in Austen. For me, one of the best things about Austen is her heroines and Amanda was no replacement for Lizzie.
I read a bit of the P & P and Zombies book in a bookshop today, and found the joke wore thin very quickly. Not something I'll be reading in its entirety either.
I must confess along with Sarah that I didn't think much of Lost in Austen. I was merrily going along with it, but I was appalled at the direction they chose for Wickham because it seemed to undermine the character of Georgiana and the whole reason that Lizzie eventually realized that she loved Darcy.
I got a chuckle out of the P&P&Z concept, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the only chuckle to be had was in the concept. I couldn't imagine the joke being good enough to carry through a whole book. Seems like it would require a mashup of two altogether different kinds of humor.
And I love the Facebook P&P. Hilarious. Have you by any chance discovered Ask Lady Catherine? I find it equally diverting.(http://www.pemberley.com/bin/ladyc/ladyc.cgi?)
Here are a couple of titles for you – spotted on the shelves of a local used book store:
– Mr. Darcy's Daughter
– Pride & Prescience (a mystery for or involving Mr. & Mrs. Darcy – I didn't make note of the correct description)
Have you come across these? I don't remember having read about them on any of the several blogs I read.
How do you know the creator of ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ is not also a devoted Austen fan with a good sense of humour?
Are you assuming that they can’t possibly have any taste because they also enjoy the horror genre? Are you going to persist in assuming this without even reading one chapter?
I believe this is called ‘Prejudice’.
Will you refuse to ever read it in accordance with some notion that you are a better person than they are with objectively better taste? Proud, at all?
Ah, erratum, my dear Mel! I have read a chunk, and (more importantly) an interview with the author. He said ‘I made them throw up a lot, because I thought the idea of posh people throwing up in their hands was really funny.’
’nuff said.