I lied, there’s another ‘A’ book

Austen, Jane and Grahame-Smith, Seth ~ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

When I selected this book I thought
The book was available, I was in the mood for an impulse loan and I was curious about whether I’d be reviled or impressed with a mash-up of Regency life and zombie unlife.

50-word description
Zombies roaming the English countryside threaten to convert new legions of the undead and, indeed, threaten plotlines in Jane Austen’s most popular book. Keeping much of Austen’s text intact, the Bennet sisters turn their priorities from searching for eligible young men towards mastering weapons and slaying unmentionables.

150-word review
The scene setting cleverly weaves original text with changes to the characters’ lives because of the presence of zombies. Take the introduction of Mr Bingley and his sisters:

Mr Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters were fine women, with an air of decided fashion, but little in the way of combat training.

After a couple of chapters the novelty wore and I fluctuated between joy from clever one-liners and skimming out of obligation to know how it all ends. Boundaries were occasionally pushed perfectly but too often stretched into sloppy parody. For instance, Jane and Elizabeth’s zombie hunting skills and teamwork aligned well with the original, but the showdown between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s trained ninjas was farcical.

P&P&Z was a daring exercise but should have focused more on the concept’s cleverness within constraints of the period and a little less on being outrageous for its own sake.

pride and prejudice and zombies

Found in
Fiction A

Read
Jun 09

Links
Interview with Seth Grahame-Smith
Frankston Library catalogue link

Rating
Inconsistent

This is book 24 of the project.

Short and inconsistent

Archer, Jeffrey ~ To Cut a Long Story Short

When I selected this book I thought
I was in the mood for a mix-up in tempo from long-form books to short stories.

50-word description
The aptly-named title contains 14 stories from the single-page allegory about death to longer tales (some based in truth, according to the notes) of honesty, deception and things never being as they seem.

(Not a) 150-word review
All of the stories twist with smokescreens and suspense but quality varies from outstanding to gimmicky with the weakest tales being self conscious in execution and the focus on the cleverness of the author rather than the stories.

Some of the stronger tales, such as ‘The Endgame’, where a wealthy man fakes bankruptcy to test the loyalty of his loved ones, are based on intriguing concepts and played out with superb characterisation and timing. Otherwise, To Cut a Long Story Short is a mixed bag that sometimes extended my lunch breaks because I couldn’t bear waiting a day to reach the ending and at other times forced me to make passing co-workers discuss The Biggest Loser for entertainment.

jeffrey archer ~ to cut a long story short

Found in
Fiction A

Read
Mar 09

Links
Author’s official web site and blog!
Frankston Library catalogue link

Rating
Inconsistent

This is book 19 of the project.