The Books We Read » Classic

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Clarissa — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:16:18 +0000

Instead of being a re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice, I would say that Seth Grahame-Smith inserted a story-line involving zombies into Pride and Prejudice. Kind of like a cream puff. At first the cream puff was just a bun, until someone stuck a needle full of whipped cream into the middle and filled it up. The whipped cream doesn’t necessarily change the bun, it just adds to it. Am I making any sense?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is an English classic that has been in print for over 200 years. It’s about the exploits of the Bennet family as their silly mother tries desperately to find her five daughters husbands. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is about the exploits of the Bennet family as the silly Mrs. Bennet tries to find husbands for her five, zombie-slaying daughters. You see, zombies have taken over England and the Bennet sisters have pledged to protect England until they obtain husbands, however long that may be. They trained in China under Kung Fu masters. But that’s not part of this story, you need to check out the prequel for all the deets. So basically, the story moves forward like Jane Austen wrote, with zombies added in by Grahame-Smith.

The bits of zombie mayhem add colour and and a level of grossness that this not there in the original. For instance, when I first read Pride and Prejudice, I never felt like vomiting, not true when I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was never scared, but I was definitely shocked, grossed out, and my stomach hurt from laughing. If you’re into zombies and not sure about the classics, this is the perfect way to initiate yourself. If you love the classic and can stand the fact that someone made it a lot less respectable, check it out. Either way, you just may surprise yourself.

Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Clarissa — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:14:26 +0000

I was thinking of my favorite love stories and I remembered this one. So I picked it up and read it again. And I still love it. It is still so good. This is the last book in the Anne of Green Gables series. The whole series is worth reading, but I just love this one. Rilla of Ingleside is set during World War I. It was published in 1921. I kept thinking that the author must have gone through her war journals to write it. The war is like another main character in this novel, it’s more than a setting or a back drop. I learned a lot. She was able to keep the story interesting and personal as well. This is a novel about the women who “kept the faith” at home, for their men on the front. This is a beautiful coming of age story featuring Rilla, a young, naive beauty. Rilla’s parents are Anne and Gilbert. Anne is still a part of the story, but really, this one is about Rilla. Honestly, you could easily read this one without reading the others, but they are all worth reading.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Cindi — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:36:52 +0000

East of Eden follows two generations of the Trask family as well as the Hamiliton family in the Salinas valley in California, and basically covers from the American civil war to world war I. It feels like a very ambitious novel. I think this book has everything but the kitchen sink all stirred together. I think the saying do one thing and do it well should have been applied with some constructive editing. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is wonderful, beautiful, descriptive, flowing, and filled with meaning and truth. There are also parts so devoted to description and personal musing that do nothing to further the plot that you might get lost in them and not make it out. In some senses the book combines an allegorical interpretation of the biblical story of Cane and Able with musings on human nature, rejection, the choices we make for good or evil, and how the absence and abundance of love shape us.
I enjoyed the characters and their interaction. I believe he tried very hard to portray pure evil in the character of Cathy, but never quite nailed it. I felt Adam was a cardboard cut out of a character for much of the novel. I loved the Hamilitons and would have liked to have spent more time in their own family story. Actually, If I could make a suggestion, I would suggest he split this enormous novel and give the Hamiliton’s their own book.
The philosophical dialogues were my favorite part. I would have liked to stay up late with these characters and get into some deep discussions. I think I was most disappointed in this book because it had so much potential and never quite made it for me.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Cindi — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:23:38 +0000

I was immediately pulled in by this book and the complex cast of characters. Why was I drawn in? Partly because of the difficulty of getting into the book in the beginning. Still I felt there was something great waiting for me if I kept at it. I am so glad I took the time. Each chapter is written from a different persons voice and perspective, and the language carries a heavy flavor of rural turn of the century. Beneath that runs an intimate story of the relationships between family members, friends, and strangers. Most of the characters are very hard to like, but the perspective of the character’s actions often change as you follow their inner psychological musings and hear their actions through other voices that are carrying the plot. The story follows the Bundren family as their mother passes away and they undertake the journey to Jackson to bury her. I haven’t read many books that focus on family and sibling relationships, and these characters are so different and interesting. Interesting not because they are fantastic people, or doing amazing things, or even surviving amazing events, but interesting because the contentions and histories and secrets they hold all ring true. The imagery and symbolism give the text depth and flavor. As you become accustomed to the writing it almost feels like every passage was carefully chosen and holds meaning. I felt like I was listening to real people, and to me that means the author did exactly what he should. This is the first book by Faulkner I have read but I will be looking for more.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

Clarissa — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:00:04 +0000

I hadn’t read a novel by any other Bronte (besides Charlotte) so I decided to pick this one up. I was not disappointed. I loved this one. I have a huge project due at the end of the week but I still stayed up till 1:30 reading it. I get kind of obsessed when I read. Well it was worth it. The writing was engaging, the characters humanly flawed and really believable. I read a second edition print which was prefaced by the author who at the time was writing with a pseudonym of Acton Bell. The author tells how she was abused by her critics for being too hard on men. She admits that she was hard on them, but justly so, it was her hope to write a novel that was challenging, she did it well. I imagine her novel was very scandalous at the time of writing. It just makes me realize how much we as women take our freedom for granted. We owe a lot to women like the Brontes for paving the way.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Clarissa — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:18:36 +0000

I finished reading this one today. It was my second time through. I found it kind of difficult to get through because I already knew all the plot twists and I was impatient for them. Jane Austen was really pretty funny. Her humour is so understated that if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it. I would imagine that this novel was meant to teach morals and manners. Fanny Price is modest, lovely, shy, completely unpretentious and unspoiled. Her cousins provide the opposite. The contrasts are very obvious and therein lies a lot of the humour. This one is definitely worth the read.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Cindi — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:46:59 +0000

Wuthering Heights was a pleasant read and remarkably easy to loose yourself in. The start is a bit slow but the characters and relationships are very intriguing and uniqe and quickly become hard to put down. I’m not a huge romance fan, but if you throw in enough tragedy, inner conflict, pride, circumstance, and self loathing it makes a very potent romance stew. I have previously read other books similar in style and scope to this book, but I feel like I have read them backwards. I’m sure most of them were influenced by the writtings of the Bronte sisters and I probably should have started with them first. I must confess (with proper literary embarrassment) skimming nearly all dialogue from Joseph. After the first painful attempts at deciphering the colloquial dialect, I chose for the sake of pace and continuity not to bother. I read for knowledge and pleasure, and feeling like your mind is stuck in mud while you slogg through his dialogue was neither knowledgeable or pleasureable. Fortunately, he only seemed to have one reaction or response to everything which made skimming easier. While I probably won’t read this type of book often, it definitely satisfies when you are craving a romance not based on flowers and rainbows.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Clarissa — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:11:29 +0000

This was Austen’s first work and last to be published. She sold it early on and the buyer never published it. Frustrated with the buyer Austen later bought it back from him but was unable to publish it during her lifetime. Her brother Henry Austen published it after her death.

As it was her first work, it also featured her youngest and most immature heroine. Catherine is the star of the novel. She is a sweet innocent young seventeen year old girl who ventures out of her small neighbourhood for the first time. She is unaffected, unassuming and really cute. I loved the book, though I do have a complaint. I thought that Austen ended the novel a little too hasty. She wrote what could have been another novel into four pages. I craved more details. Everything happens in the dialog in an Austen novel and instead of writing out the dialog, she summarized it. I wanted to hear the proposal. I wanted to know what she did with the room in Henry’s house that she said she loved. I also wanted to see what her first meeting with Henry’s father was like after he had been so rude. There was so much more left to tell. I found that the ending wasn’t quite as tidy as her others. I was left unsatisfied. But even considering this, I really did like this novel very much. I really enjoyed how innocent Catherine was. She was so humble and sweet. It was a nice easy summer afternoon read.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom with Elizabeth and John Sherrill

Clarissa — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:24:56 +0000

Out of anything I have read in my recent memory, this book has affected me the most. It is the real life story of Corrie Ten Boom. She lived a life full of happiness and misery. Hers is a story of rebuilding and healing. Finding peace among chaos and sharing that with anyone who would listen. Her mother’s example taught her to help the helpless and bring hope to the joyless. As a result of her growing up years she developed an underground to help Jewish people who came knocking on her door in Holland under Nazi occupation during the Second World War. Eventually the underground grew to be very extensive and large and she was caught and sent to prison. She eventually made it to two different concentration camps. Her story is inspiring and beautiful. I loved it.

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

Clarissa — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:44:35 +0000

This is a beautifully written story about the author’s transition from boy to man. He starts the novel at the age of eight and by the time he is eleven, he becomes the man of the family. It beautifully illustrates a wonderful relationship of a father and his oldest son. Ralph’s father knew him so well that he was able to mold him and shape his character without Ralph really noticing. The book has a great message without being preachy. I couldn’t help but to fall in love with each of the characters. Because of the way it was written I understood why Ralph did the crazy things he did, which then led to some insights into the mind of my own son. This is a terrific family book that I highly recommend.