Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: A book review

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Twisted classic..?
Summary: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.

My Review: Well I don't agree with that last part. P&P has never had trouble drawing in an audience and I don't think it's going to stop nowadays. Either way P&P&Z was made, and the big question is this: has it ruined a masterpiece of literature or has it increased it's audience and added something more. I'd have to say in regards to question number one: no, no it hasn't. I mean it's so unbelievably camp and overly grotesque you're too busy laughing at the utter ridiculousness of it all that there's no room to get mad at it being in P&P. Has it increased it's audience...I'm not sure really I'll have to look that up. Has it added anything. Oh definitely not. It's far to silly to seems like some sort of social commentary. It's not a particularly clever parody in my opinion. It's just sorta...there, and it sparked a creation of other such there reboots of classic novels like "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" "Vampire Little Women" and "Alice in Zombieland."
I think it could have benefited from being more "zombie" and less "Pride and Prejudice" particularly near the end. Some more drastic changes would've been nice as well, and this incarnation of Elizabeth seemed widely schizophrenic, because one minute she was the wild zombie slayer for the added text bits, and then she was back to original text Elizabeth who has a proper emotional breakdown over Lydia's disappearance. I mean the breakdown is understandable in the original, it just seems outta place with this new Elizabeth. Again I think it would have been more enjoyable completely re-written instead of being mostly Austen with Zombies thrown in.
Content: Some rawther inappropriate innuendo's that seemed out of place and uncalled for.
-_-; I am not amused. Violence, gore, gross stuff. Zombies for crying out loud.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Recommend: For people who have ever read Austen and thought "it could be more zombified". ^_^



Thursday, August 4, 2011

Booking Through Thursday: Anticipation

Today's Booking Through Thursday ask's: What’s the last book you were really EXCITED to read?

And, were you excited about it in advance? Or did the excitement bloom while you were reading it?

Are there any books you’re excited about right NOW?


Probably My Unfair Godmother, because I didn't even know My Fair Godmother had a sequel coming out. So I was pleasantly surprised. Advanced books? I dunno I think it's best for me not to get excited in advance 'cause when I do by the time I get around to reading them, the bloom has worn off, and I get bored. Right now there are currently no books that are making me run to the bookstore...or even online. Shame really.


Right Side Talking: A Book Review

Author: Bonnie Rozanski
Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Summary:
Imagine that you are a young girl with intractable epilepsy. As a last resort you submit to an operation to sever the connection between the two sides of your brain. Though the operation successfully reduces your seizures, you are left forever with two separate minds: left and right, each unaware of the other.

Imagine further that while recovering in the hospital, you witness a murder. Your dominant left brain cannot recognize unfamiliar faces, and is, therefore, unable to identify the killer. Your right brain can, but is unable to speak. Gradually, painstakingly, the right learns to spell out its thoughts in scrabble letters. At long last, on a table in a hospital lab, you describe the person who committed the crime. Too bad the killer is reading that very same message.….

Right Side Talking is a thriller that will grip the reader from its opening surgery scene to its dramatic courtroom climax. Its cast of characters: a 15-year-old epileptic; a brilliant surgeon; an unlicensed, resentful doctor from abroad who must work as an orderly; a grumpy, relentless detective, and a feisty psychologist Finally, most fascinating of all, there is the human mind itself.

My Review: I started this book online, but was finally given a nook and able to finish it without straining my eyes. :D Yay~! Anyway to get down to business, Right Side Talking was well researched, the author really new what she was talking about in regards to the intricacies of epilepsy, surgery, and the resulting research into how a person functions after the connection to both sides of their brain has been severed. The plot does start out slow because of this, but it picks up more near the middle. The writing was easy to read, and understandable, but at times came off slightly unemotional and rushed. I'm not sure I fully understood the main character, or many of the side characters outside of the murderer oddly enough. I had a surprising amount of compassion for the murderer although what he did made me feel ill, he was so obviously unwell due to all sorts of hardships in life it made me also feel quite sad for him. Everything leading up to the ending was well written and quite intense so I was very enthralled. All in all a pleasant read.
Content: Violence, some language
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Recommend: If you are interested in medical drama's, howcatchem's, and court drama's.