Greetings to all! The Obligatory Highbrow Literary Post Confraternity, sponsored by the Acts of the Apostasy Department of Literature and Fine Arts, welcomes you to the Second Meeting of the OHLPC, where we shall be discussing the merits and defects of the novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Overall: In the spirit of brevity and succinctness, the novel's merits are as follows: zombies, ninjas, blood, more zombies, the rolling English countryside. Defects - stretches of mundane dialogue devoid of the slaying of zombies.
Characters: The story remains true to the feelings, thoughts and actions of Elizabeth Bennett, second eldest daughter of the Bennett family, and her relationship with Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth, trained in the Chinese martial arts, excels with proficiency and style in dispatching "the unmentionables" (the polite English term for zombies), all the while maintaining her poise and dignity. As the story progresses, she battles her inner demons that compel her to behead Mr. Darcy for his perceived slights of honor against Elizabeth, and her elder sister Jane - and that internal struggle propels her growth and provides humorous moments of introspection and fantasy.
From the beginning, shortly after their mutual introduction, Elizabeth held some minor appreciation for Mr. Darcy, even though his manners were somewhat lacking. An excerpt:
Elizabeth thought she detected the slightest smile on his face. She watched as Darcy drew his blade and cut down the two zombies with savage yet dignified movements. He then made quick work of beheading the slaughtered staff, upon which Mr Bingley politely vomited into his hands. There was no denying Darcy's talents as a warrior.
"If only," she thought, "his talents as a gentleman were their equal."
I daresay that Elizabeth, despite her best intentions, was getting a serious case of "the hots" for Darcy. Later in the story, the two engage in a knockdown, drag-out Jackie Chan-esque knife-fight, the result of Elizabeth's serious misinterpretations of Mr. Darcy's past actions. Hot stuff!
Another point - the author excelled at portraying proper English decorum, maintaining a consistent representation of Victorian manners among the genteel class. Many times during the story, characters were described as politely vomiting into their hands, rather than soiling their clothes or spewing chunks onto the floor where someone might step in them. Well done!
The tension between Elizabeth and Darcy, expertly held on a veritable tightrope, could not compare, however, to the tension between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine de Bourgh - a tension exacerbated by the fact that Lady Catherine deemed Japanese ninja training to be superior to that of Elizabeth's Chinese schooling. Witness the following scene:
On one such occasion, Elizabeth was solicited to spar with several of her ladyship's ninjas for the amusement of the party. The demonstration took place in Lady Catherine's grand dojo...The ninjas wore their traditional black clothing, masks and Tabbi boots; Elizabeth wore her sparring gown, and her trusted Katana sword. As Lady Catherine rose to signal the beginning of the match, Elizabeth, in a show of defiance, blindfolded herself.
"My dear girl," said her ladyship, "I suggest you take this contest seriously. My ninjas will show you no mercy."
"Nor I they, your ladyship."
"Ms. Bennett, I remind you that you lack proper instruction in the deadly arts. Your master was a Chinese monk - these ninjas hail from the finest dojos in Japan."
"If my fighting is truly inferior, then your ladyship shall be spared the trouble of watching it for very long."
Victorian cat fight! Rwowr!
Immediately following this exchange, Elizabeth expertly dispatched the three ninja, and even tore out the heart of the final one a la Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and ate it. Stuff of classics.
In conclusion, I heartily recommend Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It combines the best of English civility and traditions of a bygone era with copious beheadings of brain-seeking zombies. There were numerous times where I found myself laughing, and the illustrations were an unexpected bonus. There may have even been a love story included, but seriously, who's interested in that?
Discuss in the combox.
Note: the 3rd Meeting of the OHLPC will occur in November 2010, where the novel Abe Lincoln, Vampire Hunter will be discussed. In particular: how are the vampires in this novel treated versus those in the Twilight series? Which story has a more satisfying resolution?
Until then - Minor sermo, magis cruor!
