Read This: "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies" by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith

Can we agree that Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice is one of the greatest books of all time? (We can't? I'm not sure we can be friends anymore...) The Regency-era romance is a chick-lit classic, a Brit-lit staple and for more a than a few girls (and boys,) a constant re-read. I've seen both of the major filmed adaptions, the 5-hour miniseries featuring Colin Firth (in a bathtub, no less!) and the more recent version with Keira Knightley as heroine Elizabeth Bennett. I've also seen the bouncy and brightly colored spectacle that is the Bollywood version, Bride & Prejudice. The story lends itself to film very well, but can the main story actually be improved in print? If you add zombies, it can.

In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a parody/homage/adaptation of the Austen's most-loved novel, the plot remains virtually identical to the source material. Mrs. Bennett is still trying to marry off her five daughters, Mr. Darcy is still so proud and Jane and Mr. Bingley are still star crossed lovers for a good part of the story. Even some of the dialogue remains the same. The difference? England is besieged by zombies (referred to in turn as unmentionables or Satan's army) and the Bennett sisters trained with their father in the east on martial arts to fend off attacking brain-eaters.

Lizzy remains a model of the strong young woman, not just resistant to the allures of an easy marriage to her unattractive and obnoxious cousin Mr Collins but also a strong fighter, taking down zombies with guns, swords and her bare hands. When she meets Lady Catherine De Bourgh, the greatest warrior Britain has ever known, she spars with her troop of ninjas before sparring verbally with her.

The scene where Elizabeth rejects Darcy is probably one of the most delicious reworkings in the book. The dialogue is almost lifted verbatim from the original text, but spoken during a heated fight. The mind swims with the theatrical possibilities. And the tweaking results in a hilarious twist on Lydia's marriage, while the story of the Collins's is quite sweet and sad.

It's a fast-paced horror/romance hybrid with all the regency era niceties mixed in with the gory brain-eating. I highly recommend it, even if your not an Austen fan like me.

A trailer for the follow-up novel, Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters:

Read This! "Lydia Bennet's Story" by Jane Odiwe

I'm an die hard Jane Austen fan, her unfailing devotion to a love-conquers-all ideal dovetails with my inner romantic perfectly. But above all, she was a brilliant writer, filling her novels with sparkling dialogue and great wit. The characters may not always been totally realistic (Fanny in Mansfield Park gets this accusation lobbed at her quite frequently) but there is much heart and spunk behind the heroines.

I wasn't sure what I would make of another author taking a stab at these characters, continuing the stories of my favorite of the Austen novels, Pride And Prejudice. But I'm always game to try new books, and if Lydia Bennett was ruined in Jane Odiwe's story I would not be that distressed. After all, even her father finds her to be one of the silliest girls in the land.

Lydia Bennet's Story starts while Lizzie is visiting her cousin Mr. Collins and his wife. Lydia flirts with the dashing Mr. Wickham, as well as any other redcoat that will ask her to dance. When she finally makes it to Brighton, she finds Mr. Wickham continues to tickle her fancy, but she is quite put off by his interest in other ladies. When she convinces herself that she loves him, and he loves her, the elopement plans fall quickly into place. About halfway through out the novel Odiwe begins to continue the story past what we know from Austen's narrative.

Lydia, while still quite silly, cannot help but notice her new husband is not really as perfect as she had led herself to believe. She continues to flirt harmlessly, but her spouse goes beyond flirtations, as well as gambling and drinking. Mrs. Wickham invites herself to her sister Jane's new home, while Mr. Wickham takes himself to Bath. While reconnecting to her old friends, she finds herself at odds with the brother of one. Scandal strikes, and Lydia learns about real emotional connections.

The ending is pretty easy to guess once you get into the second half of the novel, but like Austen's stories, the plot always takes a backseat to tone and wit. Lydia Bennet's Story is no different. While some of the comments are more ribald than dear Jane would have penned, Odiwe really captures the playful social commentary that Austen loved to present. I was quite pleased with this novel, it's light and fluffy but with a lot of heart.

Taylor Swift's Regency Era "Love Story" Video

I didn't think it was possible to love Taylor Swift any more than I do. Her "Teardrops On My Guitar" is the story of my life, her sparkly guitar in the "Our Song" video makes for classic gay's-best-friend material and she covers Eminem's "Lose Yourself" as a concert opener. But then she channels Gweneth Paltrow in Emma in the video for the gorgeous single "Love Story" and I'm hooked. Sign me up, I wanna marry the girl! While her leading man is no Colin Firth, I get a serious Jane Austen vibe from the clip, and Taylor looks ten times better in period costume than in the modern scenes bookending it. Watch and prepare to melt...

I Want To Be Henry Tilney...

As many of my readers (all three of you) know, I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen's novels. I've read almost all of them. I've read Pride And Prejudice a million times, and I just gave an annotated edition to a co-worker as a graduation gift. She loved it, natch, because Pride And Prejudice is an amazing book. I don't even have time for people who haven't read it. I may need to re-read it again soon, although I should read Mansfield Park, the only Austen book I've missed. I've only read Northanger Abbey once, but it's there I found my Austen match: Mr. Tilney.

Most readers of Austen strive to either have (girls and gays) or be (everybody else) Mr. Darcy, and with good reason. No, not that he's played by Colin Firth in the brilliant BBC miniseries, but because he's a rich man who comes to the aid of a woman with very fine eyes. He loves Lizzie despite himself, deep down he is a romantic.

I often compare situations in my life to those of Austen's characters, especially those in Pride And Prejudice. I worry that I am being to much like Jane Bennett and being too cautious in hiding my emotions from my Mr. Bingley. Other times I fear I am being a Mr. Collins, completely oblivious to others desire to avoid my conversation. On the flip side, what if I allow myself to become Charlotte Lucas, accepting the hand of a Mr. Collins for the sake of avoiding loneliness? How horrid a life like that would be, attached to man who I have no feelings for. I hope I would never be swayed in my feelings for someone, just because my friend think he is beneath me, like Emma's Harriet Smith. But who knows? I think I have an Emma or two in my life, but I hope I never become that meddlesome.

But the second son of General Tilney, that is a man I would have no trouble either becoming or being with. He's a bit snarky, poking fun at his love interest Catherine Morland while remaining charming. Even with the gloomy secrets lurking in his past, he is jolly and pleasant. When his temperamental father forces young Catherine out of the house in the dead of night, his gentlemanly instincts cause him to break from his family (and the possible fortune he would inherit) and marry Miss Morland. So romantic! So dreamy! If I could inhabit the being of any Austen hero, I would want to be Henry Tilney.

Read This! "Love and Friendship" by Jane Austen

It's a slim little volume, just 87 pages. But avid readers of Jane Austen will eat up every page of "Love and Friendship" a collection of three apocryphal novella fragments collected by Hesperus Press. All three are written as a series of letters, with a forward by novelist and screenwriter Fay Weldon.

The first entry, "Love and Friendship" is a completed story. It's over the top melodrama non-stop, understandable since she wrote it at age fourteen, but definitely in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The tragic tale of young Laura, who meets, falls for and marries the son of a baronet in the space of about five minutes. The baronet does not approve of his new daughter-in-law, forcing misadventure upon the young couple and their friends. That is only the beginning, the tragedies pile up, as does the ridiculous coincidences that allow our heroine to travel all over England, fainting, meddling in private affairs and ultimately losing her husband and friend. The story is beyond ridiculous, but the sparkling wit and amusing conversation between characters that Jane would put to good use in masterpieces like "Pride & Prejudice" is on full display.

"The Three Sisters" is not finished, I think it would have ranked among Miss Austen's classics if it had. Mary Stanhope has been proposed to by a very boring, unattractive and slightly obnoxious man who has a modest amount of wealth. She doesn't want to accept, but eventually does in order to be the first among her sisters and friends to be married. She reminds me of Lydia Bennett a great deal. When she goes to gloat to her friends, she is introduced to a handsome newcomer. Oops, guess she should have waited! The story ends about there, but I have a feeling it would've been a good one.

The final piece is called "A Collection Of Letters" which describes it perfectly: five stories written as letters. The first is kind of boring, a mother tells of her girls introduction into society. The second involves a girl who has been dumped for reasons not mentioned, and is feeling it much harder than her prior misadventures in romance. She then converses with a older woman who tells her a tale of love taken by death. The third is vignette of another young girl whose frenemies take her to balls, only to make fun of her being less well off. It's kind of funny. Fourth is the awkward conversation between an very nosy young lady trying to learn the back story of a newcomer to the area. Last is a tale of star crossed lovers and their love notes. Each of them would fit perfectly into any of Jane Austen's stories: scenes with out context, but obviously well-written, well-paced and featuring Jane's impeccable sense of delight in love gone a little awry.

As a huge fan of Jane Austen's books, I found this collection delightful. If you don't like Jane Austen, or have read very little of her work, you may find it tedious and lacking in plot.