Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
DAWN OF THE DREADFULS!
The Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a NY Times bestseller, no less!) prequel: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith...you MUST read it, people!
And read to the bottom of this blog, as THERE ARE PRIZES TO BE WON!
Before I tell you why this is a must-read, I have a few dirty little admissions to get out of the way upfront:
1. I have never really liked Jane Austen's novels. (No, do not throw things at me!)
Her women always struck me as weak, whiny and piddling creatures not really worth my time. But, since I was an English Lit major in college (before theatre got me in its clutches), and ended up halfheartedly attempting a Lit minor later, I HAVE read almost all of Austen's work. I even sat through a few of the movies they have made from them.
2. I, indubitably one of the few, the shamed, and the timid, have NOT read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, although I HAVE been planning to since its release. My copy was immediately confiscated and booknapped away into the Teenage Netherworld of my daughter's room, as soon as it hit the front door. I fear I have been scared...er...I mean, been unable to retrieve it thus far.
Be that as it may, the advanced reading copy of PPZ:Dawn of the Dreadfuls went directly into my hidey-hole when it arrived. As selfish a gesture as that may seem, I am eternally happy about it, as I was grinning by page eleven, and laughing out loud and publicly by page twenty-two...and the narrative actually starts on page nine, so that tells you something!
I am NOT going to tell you what happens in this book. Sorry. YOU MUST READ IT! But here is what I WILL tell you:
Hockensmith has the language and mores of Jane Austen down pat without making an offensive mockery of it, which could easily be done with the manners of that historical period...which should reassure you dyed-in-the-wool Austenites.
I must say, I like Mr. Bennett much more in this novel than in any of Austen's imaginings...a Mr. Bennett with knowledge of Shaolin warriorship and a dojo overtaken by Mrs. Bennett's greenhouse appealed to me immediately. Mrs. Bennett...ah, Mrs. Bennett. She is still very Austen, but even more so: more flamboyant, louder, more center-of-attention-seeking, more flibberty-jibberty. I hated her in Austen, and I can only say I still do. Although she does amuse periodically, which I never felt in Austen!
I even much more enjoy envisioning Elizabeth Bennett and her family in the situations Hockensmith puts them in over Austen's own. There is much joy to be found in fighting zombies (Oh! I said the Z word!) while trying to still go to balls and husband-hunt to please one's lunatic, single-minded mother!
I now give you two of my favorite quotes from early on in the novel, which I think express the tone of the novel quite nicely:
One, from Mrs. B, on the subject of marriage and coming out balls, while there are Dreadfuls afoot: "I need both of you on the market if we're to head off utter disaster! Ohhh, by the time this business is done, we'll all be roaming about in our shrouds with fresh brain smeared around our mouths like so much marmalade, you mark my words!"
And one from Mr. B, when queried as to his daughters' lack of desire to be trained as warriors to fight the Dreadfuls: "Then I will disown you, and you will, most likely, be torn apart and eaten by a pack of festering corpses...Any more questions?"
What's not to enjoy here?!
And now, I am afraid I need to gird my loins and venture into my daughter's room, at my most stealthily, trying to rescue Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to continue the saga!
**************
And here's the prize part, people!
Follow the below link, and mention MY BLOG on the discussion boards (hey, even just help me stay on the advance reading copy list at Quirk Books; will ya help a girl out?!) Feel free to rave about me...
You are automatically entered for the prizes when you post.
The jolly folk at Quirk are giving away 50 prize packs (worth over $100!), which include the following:
- Advance copy of this lovely novel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls
- Audio books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
- An online password redeemable for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls
- An AWESOME Dawn of the Dreadfuls poster
- A Pride and Prejudice and Zombies journal
- A box set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies postcards!
Here's the link to Dawn of the Dreadfuls: GO NOW!
http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=dawnofthedreadfuls
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