Ti over at Book Chatter (and other stuff) hosts a weekly meme called Confessions of a Reader. I don't expect that I'll have a weekly confession, but I do have one that I've been saving up to post somewhere and this seems like a good time.
Here it is: I totally don't get why someone would ever want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
or Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
or The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies
. I Just. Don't. Get. It. Pride and Prejudice 
, yes. Books about zombies, yes. (Well, kinda. I'm not hugely impressed with the cult following zombies get. Why are they cool when Vampires are cheesy? People who would never read Twilight
are all over The Forest of Hands and Teeth
. Why is that?) I understand the love of classics. I understand that people love a good retelling. I am a huge fan of paranormal books in general. I do not understand this trend to throw paranormal stuff into the classics in this manner. I have zero interest in reading those.
Austenland
as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice is fine. The movie Clueless 
for a retelling of Emma 
, also fine. I love seeing a modern retelling of a great story, with new characters following a classic plot. But I just don't get splicing paranormal bits into a perfectly good book.
If you're read these, can you tell me why? Did you enjoy them? Did you read and enjoy the original? If you haven't, would you? What about books that take the classic characters and write a whole new book, like Vampire Darcy's Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation
or Darcy's Temptation: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
? (I find them slightly more appealing, but they still wouldn't be on the top of my list.)
Here it is: I totally don't get why someone would ever want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
or Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters or The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies. I Just. Don't. Get. It. Pride and Prejudice , yes. Books about zombies, yes. (Well, kinda. I'm not hugely impressed with the cult following zombies get. Why are they cool when Vampires are cheesy? People who would never read Twilight are all over The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Why is that?) I understand the love of classics. I understand that people love a good retelling. I am a huge fan of paranormal books in general. I do not understand this trend to throw paranormal stuff into the classics in this manner. I have zero interest in reading those.Austenland
as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice is fine. The movie Clueless for a retelling of Emma , also fine. I love seeing a modern retelling of a great story, with new characters following a classic plot. But I just don't get splicing paranormal bits into a perfectly good book.If you're read these, can you tell me why? Did you enjoy them? Did you read and enjoy the original? If you haven't, would you? What about books that take the classic characters and write a whole new book, like Vampire Darcy's Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation
or Darcy's Temptation: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? (I find them slightly more appealing, but they still wouldn't be on the top of my list.)
I haven't read either. That is another confession in and of itself. I am guessing it's to hit another piece of the market and a sly way to get a classic into someone's hand that would not normally read one.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what would happen if a young person started with a zombie version. Would they then be compelled to seek the original? Possibly.
LOL...I tried to use P&P&Z as inspiration (reward?) to read P&P. It didn't work and I gave up on both.
ReplyDeleteI think it's all a way to capitalize on the success of Austen and other classics. And the success of Austen is something I don't get! ;-)
Thank you for shedding some light on something for me. Yesterday, we had a costume contest at work. Someone dressed up as Elizabeth Bennett's (that's the chick's name,right?) zombie killer. None of my team could figure out why in the world she would come up with such a costume. Maybe she was inspired by the book! I had no idea that such a book even existed. :)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I have no desire to read any of these books, and I'm not sure I ever will. I just don't get it either.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read either one of them either since they just don't appeal to me.
ReplyDeleteI've had the same thought -- where's the crossover audience? I think maybe some people get suckered in thinking Price and Prejudice and Zombies is a new book, when actually (I've heard) it's just zombie content interlineated within the original P&P.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either! I've recently been offered a copy of "Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters" for review. I pondered it for a bit; maybe for free it was worth a try. But I just can't make myself do it!
ReplyDeleteI am totally with you on the paranormal mash-ups. I don't have any desire to read them at all.
ReplyDeleteI am perfectly content to read the sequels and other stuff though. :-)
No, I don't get it either. And I could get shot for this, but to me it is like putting a graphic sex scene in the middle of a perfectly good book. Why?
ReplyDeleteI think it's all a bit of fun. In the way that SpaceBalls was fun.
ReplyDelete