Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - finished review

A bit of Jane Austen overload as I finished my third (I think) pass of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and immediately followed it with the "and Zombies" version. The interesting aspect of reading these back-to-back is you can better remember which parts were completely altered to enhance the zombie-ness of the latter book.

As a fan of tea-and-crumpets romances and kung fu flicks, I thoroughly enjoyed the PaPaZ novel very much. I should probably read up on how the writer, Seth Grahame-Smith, even thought to mix these genres and why Jane Austen in particular.

Certain moments actually cracked me up - more than any books I've ever read. I also appreciated his take on matching Chinese kung fu vs. Japan's "refined" take with ninjas and samurais. He knows enough to understand the Japanese feeling of superiority over their Asian neighbors.

Grahame-Smith also alludes to a sense of humor with bawdy innuendos which are at times so silly and blatant, you can't but laugh out loud and get a kick out of it.

Kudos to this book. If you can appreciate Austen but enjoy a SHAUN OF THE DEAD sense of humor, this book is for you! And speaking of SotD, I had my own idea of what it'd be like to make PaPaZ into a movie, and my "dream" casting...

It's almost too easy to attribute this to the geniuses of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, but whatever, man - this is MY list so why not, neh? So let's start out with:

Director - Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)

Writers - Emma Thompson and Jessica Stevenson & Simon Pegg

Story by - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Mr. Darcy - Peter Serafinowicz

Elizabeth Bennett - the lovely and funny Emily Blunt

Mr. Bingley - Simon Pegg

(with a wig, most likely. Or, if he wanted more of a backseat role, he could be Colonel Fitzwilliam and we could get another Bingley who is "more handsome" like... Stephen Moyer)

Stephen Moyer then could be either
Colonel Fitzwilliam or Mr. Bingley

Jane Bennett -

(I need help with this one but for now, I could settle on)

Sienna Miller?

Mr. Wickham - the sexy Max Beesley

Lydia Bennett - Saoirse Ronan

(though not married to the idea
- just someone young who can play silly and foolish well)

Mr. Collins - Nick Frost (who'd be fantastic as the portly and bumbling cousin and Lady Catherine's biggest sycophant)

Charlotte Lucas - the funny and talented Jessica (Stevenson) Hynes

Mr. Bennett - James May, if he can act (Top Gear). Otherwise, maybe Jim Broadbent

Mrs. Bennett - Julia Deakin (Marsha from SPACED)

Miss Bingley - Anne Hathaway (would be nice to see her play the bitch)

Mrs. Hurst - Lucy Davis (Dawn from the o.g. THE OFFICE)

Miss Darcy - I'd be ok with Kiera Knightley for this role since it's small and she could somewhat pass as a relation of Serafinowicz

Lady Catherine de Bourgh -
the awesome & beautiful Helen Mirren

I need to ponder on Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner.
(Mr. Gardiner - I'd consider Ciaran Hinds or Alan Rickman, just because they are fantastic and I heart them a lot!)

Plus Mary and Kitty Bennett.


Well, short of Mr. Darcy and Eliza Bennett, I'm open to other ideas and whatnot.

Just remember that you have to believe these people can do some serious kung fu sh*t! (-_^)

Comments?

xoxo