Editor's note: Beginning with this post, Caroline Duke, Playaway's Content Development Coordinator, will be a regular contributor to the blog. Look for her posts on new and noteworthy Playaway releases, literary awards, movie tie-ins, and other items of interest.
Jane Austen fans are either thrilled or appalled with this zany take on her classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. As a bona fide fan, I’m torn – sorry for Ms. Austen that her masterpiece was tampered with, but admittedly, I also loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (launched on Playaway October 1st) and look forward to more blasphemous spin-offs.
Since Pride and Prejudice is public domain and not protected by copyright, Seth Grahame-Smith simply took Austen’s original text and added a few zombies. In the end, he didn’t do much writing, albeit cleverly weaving the living dead into a classic love story. Compare the famous first line of the original: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Now Grahame-Smith’s: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” Still holding true to Austen’s original themes, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies breathes new life into an old classic.
Katherine Kellgren’s narration is unbeatable, giving each character his or her own voice, and she even does a convincing zombie impersonation. I recommend this title to open-minded Jane Austen fans as well as anyone who enjoys a good romance with some paranormal activity. Keep your eyes peeled for the next Austen spoof releasing in November on Playaway: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.
