"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." With that opening line we took a little side trip into pop culture for this Conversations with Jane assignment. Jane Austen, our beloved author, has a plethora of spin-off novels. These days one can find innocent sequels to Jane's novels as well as "bodice rippers" that our Jane would never have penned. Then there are the monsters, zombies and sea monsters just to name a couple. I wanted the girls to see what pop culture had done to our Jane so we all read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Lovely cover, isn't it?!
So with the caution not to eat while reading the novel, we began this journey into zombie mayhem. I had pre-read the book last year and found it quite humorous (and gross). That anyone would want to take Pride and Prejudice and make it into a zombie filled book is just ridiculous, but it is even more ridiculous that people bought the book and it was on the Best Seller list.
In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, England has been stricken with a great plague and those stricken have become zombies, doomed to search for brains and infect other members of English society. The five Bennet sisters are trained as zombie killers and defend their precious Hertfordshire from the zombie hordes. Our Elizabeth Bennet is quite the warrior. When Mr. Darcy snubs her at their first meeting, she is ready to rip his heart out. Literally :) And thus the story begins. Elizabeth still has fine eyes and Mr. Darcy is still proud (only here to have been trained in the coveted Japanese dojos instead of the Chinese ones LOL). Mr. Wickham is still the cad but possibly gets a more just reward in the end. Poor Charlotte Lucas succumbs to the plague and marries the ridiculous Mr. Collins anyway. Lady Catherine de Burgh is the finest zombie killer in all of England and so on and so forth.
We met at Robin's for our tea and discussion. Robin declared that zombies did not deserve fine china just plain old mugs. Sharon suggested Monkey Brains ... um Bread ... for our snack and Robin provided some. Sharon and Tori provided the blood, I mean the red icing. Appetizing, is it not? (Skyeler did not partake *grin*)
We had a guy join us for Conversations with Jane this time. Riley saw his mom and sister reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and thought it was right up his alley. He finished it before many of us (and the monkey "brains" and "blood icing" didn't phase him in the least).
I was thankful that Sharon had her camera because I walked out of the house without mine! Tori and Elizabeth came prepared with "Zombie Killer" shirts. Their dad and brother just happened to bring them home from a trip out west. It was a perfect addition to our day :)
And who knew that Hadley's boyfriend would come in zombie killer boots LOL! Seriously, he had no idea, which made it even more fun. Sharon couldn't resist taking a picture. The boots fit right in with the theme.
So after all this fun, we sat down to discuss the book. I had no idea that one little book could cause such reactions. Robin, early on, informed me that she could not finish the book because the illustrations were giving her nightmares. Skyeler couldn't finish because there were certain parts that were making her want to throw up. Sharon was totally offended because this was not "her" Elizabeth and "her" Mr. Darcy, among other things. Whew! Riley, being a guy, found it hilarious :) and was glad to join us. Discussion ranged all over, as it usually does, but we hit on the grossest part of the novel (there were a few to choose from) and why there is even a market for this kind of thing. We also listened to the introduction on the audio book by the author himself.
All in all it was an ... interesting experience. We had no activity or extra readings to go along with this book. For their blog project the girls are to post a review of the book, and any quotes they would like to mention. Thanks for joining us for a little zombie fun!
--Angel
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