July 2, 2010
Hi My Name is Kelly…and I am a Jane Austen Purist
My critique group lost a member but gained two, which I think is great. New minds, new ideas, lots more discussion. One of the new members–KP–prompted the idea for this post. Looking at my bookcase, she commented that we have similar taste in books and not just the same titles but the same copies of said titles.
These particular bookcases are in my living room. When we bought them, I decided to only put out the books that I loved or thought others might find interesting. Thus, the current selection contains Harry Potter 1-7, some of my college books (Complete Works of Shakespeare, World Lit, Short Stories, Theory of Rhetoric, and American Lit), Elements of Style (all writers should have a copy of this book), Jim Butcher’s Dresden Series (1-3), some other series I loved as a child, and my all time love…Jane Austen.
In the movie Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson, the antagonists have brain washed Mel and keep tabs on him by placing a compulsion to buy The Catcher and the Rye any time he sees a copy. I have a similar compulsion with Jane Austen, specifically Pride and Prejudice though unlike Mel’s poor character, I can say no.
Right now, I own three copies of P&P and Emma, two copies of Mansfield Park and Sense and Sensibility, and one copy of Northanger Abby. No copies of Persuasion. I have a beautiful hardback book containing all of Austin’s novels, one cute but small hardback of P&P, complete with ribbon bookmark, a paperback version of Emma for a critical theory class (it includes different types of critical essays) and then the paperback set of Austen books from my 19th birthday.
In addition to Austen’s books, I have two books of what I consider “fan fiction,” which were given to me by friends: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Confessions has a unique plot though I don’t think Laurie Viera Rigler quite explains the major fantasy element that is central to her plot. The heroine, Courtney, somehow swaps bodies with Jane Mansfield, an Austen time-period aristocrat and must live her life while trying to figure out her own. The swapping lives part doesn’t bother me. In fact I like the idea of it but other than an extreme love of Jane Austen’s books and a crappy love life, Courtney has no connection to Jane Mansfield. All the same, not a bad book but one I classify as beach reading.
P&P and Zombies–sigh–is not an original plot. This book takes Austen’s novel and inserts the zombie elements periodically throughout. I have read this book out of curiosity and here is my own little confession…I felt mortified. My beloved Elizabeth Bennett has been trained to fight and kill zombies. WTH? All the elegance and grace of P&P substituted with gore and violence?
(By the way, I own this book because it was a gift. I did not purchase it. However, the friends that gave it to me are awesome and I love the fact that they thought of me enough to buy this book. Plus, the books itself is a lovely hardback.)
Yes. I am a Jane Austen Purist. You can’t mess with it because her work is fantastic. Changing or altering it might sell books but it doesn’t do anything to add to the story. I don’t know where the motivation came from to alter these classic pieces of literature but for me, it does not work and not necessarily for the reasons you might think.
1. The zombie insertions are not smooth. No matter how a modern writer tries to mimic Austen’s style and language, it fails. To me, it distracts from the love story and the language itself is jarring, ripping me from a book I would normally be absorbed in.
2. The zombie element is weak. Zombie stories have a certain formula and while I’m all for changing it up, P&P and Zombies never incorporates the zombies into the actual story. They are an after thought. They don’t further the central plot at all and there is no tension when the Bennett girls are fighting them.
It’s a fun idea and I can understand why those who don’t enjoy classic literature as it is would be excited about these books. My enjoyment of P&P and Zombies stems from deconstructing it but I can’t love it…not as I do the original.
