Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Zombies. Hot, As Usual

This post is sort of a book review, but not really. Because I am no good at trying to review anything in any meaningful way. Still, this book deserves a mention. Here...see for yourself:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: the classic Regency romance -- now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem By Seth Grahame-Smith

If you saw this book on a shelf wouldn't you have to have it? I sure did. From the second I saw we'd ordered it, I was just waiting to get my hands on it. I got it, I took it home, I eagerly began...then my enthusiasm waned. Okay...I understood that it would parody Austen and that Regency sort of writing. But I thought there would be more ultraviolent zombie mayhem! I think the whole Austen parody would have been amusing for..oh, the length of a witty essay in a literary magazine. But it just went on and on and I got bored to tell you the truth. Mentions of the changes round town and in what was expected of proper young ladies now that zombies had appeared were funny. But there just wasn't enough of that going on. Honestly, I decided not to even finish the book. I know Pride and Prejudice ends and I could see how this was going to be going along for a couple hundred pages and I just thought, "What's the point?" And I rarely quit a book. I was just that filled with ennui.

If you like zombies, and come on, who doesn't, let me recommend a couple of other books that you might want to try. They are much sillier and contain much more zombie goodness in every bite. I mean page. Please try...

The Stupidest Angel: a heartwarming tale of Christmas terror By Christopher Moore

Breathers: a zombie's lament By S.G. Browne

I give these ones two snaps and a twist! All you zombies show your faces. Do you have a favorite zombie book? How about some other favorite book? Do tell. Happy Reading!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm more a zombie movie fan. Pretty much any movie the has the words, "of the Dead" in the title are worth a watch. I may have to check these books out, though. I wish P & P & Z would have been better.

MrManuel said...

I was curious about it so good to know. If you like zombie books, you should try World War Z. It is WONDERFUL. It is a recollection of stories a few years after a zombie epidemic. Very good book.

Ananda girl said...

We have The Zombie Survival Guide. It's an everything you need to survive the zombie apocalypse sort of book. Practical and informative while funny.

I agree with Mr.Manuel on World War Z too.

I too found Pride and Prejudice with Zombies a flop. :( But the cover art is fabulous!

Ananda girl said...

Thanks for the tips on the other two. We are zombie fanatics... we should have those.

Tara said...

The cover on that first book gives me the creeps a bit, so that would've convinced me to buy the book. Thank you for saving me the time and money, though!

laura b. said...

AlienCG: haha! You're right..you can hardly go wrong with "...of the dead" somewhere in there.
I wish it had been better too.

MrManuel: Thank you, I haven't read World War Z. I definitely will.

Ananda: A second for World War Z, excellent! And The Zombie Survival Guide sounds fun :-)
Yes, if you like zombies, you should definitely check out the other two.

Tara: Yes, it was a great idea that was not so well executed. As a spoof, if could have been Airplane, but instead it was, say, Disaster Movie.

Anonymous said...

My Summer reading list is now set.

Churlita said...

I love zombie movies too, but haven't read a lot of zombie books. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm excited to sink my teeth into all of them...

dmarks said...

Ever read "The Serpent and the Rainbow"? I read it years ago, but this topic got me to remember it. It's fascinating, it is non-fiction, and it has zombies in it.

Sebastien Millon said...

I saw that book at Borders, and thought it looked like a lark! but I had a feeling it might be a one trick pony kind of gimmicky thing...

Sebastien Millon said...

and I made a note of your recommendations, especially that first book, love the title.

laura b. said...

Nickie Goomba: ha! Thanks for stopping in :-)

Churlita: I might like zombies even more than vampires. Vampires are used as romantic vehicles, but zombies bring the dark humor for some reason.

Dmarks: You know, I haven't read that...or even seen the movie version. I will have to read it, as it sounds pretty creepy and interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

Sebastien: You got it exactly right...don't know why I didn't spot it right off :-)
You can't go wrong with Christopher Moore, though. He's great at rather dark social satire.

Pamela said...

How did I miss this post??

laura b. said...

Pamela: I don't know! Where were you? :-)