Pride and Prejudice and, oh, yes, Zombies

Reviewed by Ambrea

A unique twist on Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies offers a book filled with zombies, romance, gun-toting and sabre-swinging Bennet sisters, and ninjas—yes, zombies and ninjas.  Once a story about surviving the convoluted social strata of polite, English society, Seth Grahame-Smith’s new novel offers a different kind of survival story that’s set in a post-apocalyptic world littered with the walking dead.

Some aspects of Grahame-Smith’s novel are uproariously funny, not least of all for combining the demure English society of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with horrible, flesh-eating zombies.  (Because, let’s be honest here, it’s quite a great combination.)  From the first, iconic line which is twisted to suit the author’s needs—“It’s is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains”—to the rather dirty humor he inserts into the tale, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is in a class all of its own.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies forges its own genre, so to speak.  It combines classic, Regency literature and zombies, horror and romance, and throws in a dash of overly dramatic kung fu.  So, while this novel isn’t entirely typical, it manages to remain interest, absurd, and highly hysterical, especially when Elizabeth refers to Mr. Darcy as being “English in all the right places.”  I must admit that I cackled over that line more than I probably should have, but I found I couldn’t help myself.  The Elizabeth of Grahame-Smith’s novel makes such a huge break from the mild-mannered miss created by Austen, and I found it delightfully surprising.

While I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the first time, I found that I appreciated its appeal less and less.  It does have several merits for its absurdity and its originality—which spawned countless reimagined classics, like Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Android Karenina, and The Meowmorphosis—but, truthfully, it’s a bit of a knock off.  I mean, Grahame-Smith essentially transplants Pride and Prejudice and liberally sprinkles in the words “ninja” and “zombie” and “flesh-eating,” upgrading the Bennet sisters from prim, proper country girls into tough, efficient zombie hunters.

I won’t say that it’s plagiarism, since Austen is credited for her work, but it’s a thinly veiled reimagining.

Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman

 

Reviewed by Ambrea

When small-town sheriff Rick Grimes is caught in the cross fire of a shootout, he doesn’t expect to survive let alone wake up in a coma weeks later—and he certainly doesn’t expect to find zombies outside his hospital room door.  But his grave situation doesn’t deter him from finding what’s most important to him:  his wife and son.  Now, bound for Atlanta in the hopes of finding his family and friends, Rick must learn how to survive in a world that seems determined to kill him.

Packed with stimulating art and gripping stories of survival in a post-apocalyptic world, Days Gone Bye (which is the first compiled volume in the Walking Dead graphic novels series) is an incredible piece of work.    Not only does the artist Tony Moore perfectly render the story, Robert Kirkman weaves an incredibly intricate story of survival, loss, life and death that’s both compelling and tragic.  Kirkman’s skill as a storyteller is truly incredible, creating characters that are believable and stories that are interesting, even with zombies thrown into the mix.

Days Gone Bye is a fascinating graphic novel.   As the precursor to the television series, The Walking Dead gives readers—and fans of the TV show—the opportunity to really dive into the crazy, tragic world that Kirkman and Moore created.  I really had the opportunity to get to know the characters:  what they felt, what they thought, how desperate they were to survive, what they had to endure to reach their current destination.  And I had an opportunity to become attached to each and every person, to like them or appreciate them (which is a big mistake.  It’s best not to get too attached, believe me.).

I admit that I was initially hesitant to begin Days Gone Bye, since it did fall into the realm of “zombie literature,” but I enjoyed Kirkman’s graphic novel.  It’s suspenseful, even if other parts are pretty horrible, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.  It’s the first volume in the series, and I think that Kirkman and Moore are off to a pretty great start.

However, I definitely wouldn’t recommend The Walking Dead for a younger audience.  Filled with strong language, gore, frightening images, and a fair dose of horror that’s sure to make a reader’s stomach turn, Days Gone Bye is probably a little graphic for some readers.  Honestly, I don’t think I read a single issue in which multiple people didn’t die.  As I quickly learned, it’s not just the zombies to watch out for—it’s the survivors.

World War Z by Max Brooks

Reviewed by Ambrea

As the greatest conflict in history, the “Zombie War” changed the world and everyone in it—and one man is intent on retelling the memories of those days, preserving history that may one day be forgotten.  He begins his interviews at the start what history now knows as “The Crisis” and follows the narrative thread from one country to the next (China, America, South Africa, England, Israel, and even Antarctica), until the present day when humanity is no longer faced with extinction from the walking dead.

Admittedly, I’m not much of a fan of zombie lore.  I rarely read books about the walking, shuffling creatures that haunt so much of primetime television, but I became absorbed into World War Z for the simple fact it isn’t your typical zombie horror story.  The author, Max Brooks, creates a series of interweaving interviews, providing a narrative that stretches across all of human existence and experience.  Not only do readers have the opportunity to witness different stories, we have the chance to see what happens in different parts of the world and how various countries encounter the same threat.

World War Z is fascinating and inventive.  I mean, the novel answers questions I didn’t even know I might have about a zombie apocalypse.  For instances, what happens to astronauts trapped on a space station?  Do zombies float—or do the sink and walk on the ocean floor?  Can a person fool a zombie and get away with walking in their midst?  And what happens to the global economy after everything goes kaput?

Brooks answers all these questions and more, providing an amazing breadth and depth to his novel that, confidentially, I didn’t expect.  Although I never did receive a complete explanation as to how zombies were first created or where the apocalypse really begins (there’s plenty of supposition between characters, so I wasn’t completely left in the dark), World War Z is so fully comprehensive in its examination of the Zombie War that I never noticed it lacking.

Truth be told, World War Z is probably one of my favorite books.  There is, of course, the requisite amount of gore and human desperation—murder, cannibalism, suicide, genocide, zombie carnage and so forth—but it tells a story of survival, recovery from a wound that’s incredibly deep.  It shares a dystopian future guaranteed to give a reader chills, but it manages to weave a story that’s intricate, extraordinary, and vaguely hopeful.

Nevermore: Alan Turing, Ralph Peer, Worst Case Scenario, and Malaria

Reported by Jeanne

As often happens with Nevermore, a particular book will prove so intriguing that several different members will read it. Such is the case with Alan Turing:  The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.  This was the basis for the recent movie The Imitation Game. Our current reader says that while the book isn’t a thrilling page turner, it is a compelling book which is enjoying.  He finds it interesting to contrast the view of mathematics as almost a philosophical construct rather than being something practical.  In fact, it seemed those who were looking for practical applications were seen as “sell-outs” in some quarters.  He appreciates that while math is discussed, the book is NOT a dry collection of formulas. The book is a biography, after all, and while mathematics played a major role in Turning’s life there were indeed other considerations.  One part he’s found particularly interesting so far is a section in which a young Turing wonders about the morality of codes and secrets.  Another member pointed out that a U.S. Secretary of State had once shut down the entire cryptographic department in 1929 because “Gentlemen do not read other gentlemen’s mail.” How things have changed! 

The Malaria Project by Karen M. Masterson describes how the U.S. government undertook to create a malaria vaccine.  After half a million soldiers were infected with the disease, researchers were diligently searching for something to prevent further infection.  Experiments were done using animals and then humans.  Not all the humans were able to give consent:  mental patients were a part of the testing as well as prisoners. In fact,  Nathan Leopold of Leopold and Loeb, one of the two wealthy young men who murdered a boy in a sensational case, was one of the prisoners.  Our reviewer thought this was a thorough examination of an important topic.  

The next book up was Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music by Barry Mazor.  While many Bristolians think of Peer simply as “that guy who was here in 1927,” this book shows what a wide ranging effect Peer had on popular music.  He began his career selling records around the country which gave him great insight as to what kinds of music people wanted to hear, something that would serve him well when he became the person seeking out new talent.  The innovations in technology which allowed for better recording helped spur Peer’s success.  Our reviewer was impressed with both the book and with Peer.  He noted that readers who are country and folk music fans will be astonished at the number of careers Peer influenced, but those less well versed may get lost in some of the names.

The Ultimate Worst Case Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven is just the thing to pack the next time you think you may be caught up in an elephant stampede.  Need to perform the Heimlich maneuver? Instructions include human, dog, and cat.  If you’re in your car and end up in the water, this book will tell you how to escape.  The new edition even prepares you for the new danger du jour:  zombie attacks.  Our reviewer had been listening to the audio version of this book and found it to be a delightful blend of useful facts and humor.  She says it was the perfect thing to listen to while working around the house because of the brief sections.  She also advises that we keep a shovel on hand for those zombies, because it’s a dual function weapon.  You can whack and hack with it!