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Rewriting the Classics


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I don't usually like zombies, but I LOVED Shaun of the Dead and I think the idea of "Darcy of the Dead" is, quite frankly, hilarious!

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Really? I love zombies :D Sean of the dead is funny too ;)

 

It did?? The movie was hilarious! :icon_eek:

 

Even in jest they scare me, I can watch anything else but ;). As for reading about them? No thanks :D. Kelley Armstrong's 'Broken' was quite enough ;)

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OK, it was not that bad. I just thought it would be scarier than it was. I think Seth Grahame-Smith is writing more though, Abraham Lincoln
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Oh wow,yeah! Sounds great! ;)

 

My Austen/Zombie book arrived today, so I hope I'll get to it relatively soon!:icon_eek:

 

Cool! Remember to post your thoughts ;) My friend's bringing me her copy for a loan today, so I'll be starting it soon I think :D

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Ah! Where will it stop?! :D

 

Apparently nowhere, these seem to be published by something called Quirkclassics... :D

 

I think the idea of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was and is great but I don't think there's any point in rewriting every Austen novel ;)

Edited by frankie
typos as always
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  • 3 months later...

There are many books out there, which retell a story (usually a classic or a really popular one) in a modernized version or by another character's perspective and I believe that many people in this forum have read such books.

 

In my opinion, though I've never read such books, I think that it is really silly and just an easy way to make money. Why, for instance, would I want to read Pride & Prejudice from Darcy's point of view, when I have created a personal picture of his character, or even Lydia's, presenting her better than she was? Cause she wasn't supposed to be.

 

I believe that if you aren't inspired enough to write something of your own, better not write at all. What is your opinion?

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I tend to agree with you, it smacks of authors getting on the bandwagon. I read a silly novella last year called Me and Mr D'Arcy just for fun, it was just daft:smile2:

 

I did mentioned on another thread about the two follow ups to Rebecca (one by Sally Beauman and the other by Susan Hill) as one or the other intrigues me slightly. But in the main, I think they are best left alone.

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On the whole, I don't usually bother, but this year I have read several Pride and Prejudice sequels/parodies - the one I liked best was actually Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as it was very cleverly and (bizarrely) quite respectfully done as well as being very funny. :)

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the one I liked best was actually Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as it was very cleverly and (bizarrely) quite respectfully done as well as being very funny. :)

 

You're the first person I know who has given that a positive review! (most I have seen have said that it is a one-joke book and that it gets old very quickly).

On a wider note, I don't think there is anything wrong with telling a story from another point of view (after all, it is the bed rock of a lot of the mythological sagas that get published, so why should more recent novels and characters be exempt?). Granted, trading on an established name can be a quick way to make some cash, but done well I don't have a problem with it

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May I be polemical and say, it depends? I am the first to loathe jumpers-on-wagons; however, one must sort them from the people with something to say, who are indeed out there.

 

Think of it biographically. As a Beatles fan, I have read with interest books such as A Cellarful of Noise by Brian Epstein, while I have never felt the need to peruse The Man Who Gave the Beatles Away by Allan "guitar groups are on their way out" Williams. I am interested in the reflections of the man who stubbornly believed in the boys when they were still playing the sweaty interior of the Cavern Club; I coudn't care less about the musings of the Decca exec who's carved himself a cushy living out of failing to offer them a record deal.

 

As much of a living can be made by standing on the shoulders of classic authors; and here too, one can draw a distinction between persons of talent who may put pen to paper for all sorts of good reasons, and the band-wagon jumpers-on we mentioned earlier.

 

After all, Shakespeare's plots were more often than not a rehash of olden tales - you wouldn't call him a band-wagon jumper-on, would you?

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  • 3 months later...

Wow these books are dividing opinion, it's to be expected...I recently saw the book covers for Pride & Prejudice & zombies / Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters; very interesting to say the least!

 

To what degree is the involvement of the supernatural element?

 

I might try reading Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter first because the it seems strange and funny! not sure on how scary these stories are though :s

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There is soon to be an Android Karenina and a Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

 

Dawn of the dreadfuls is a prequal to P&P&Z.

 

 

I've read P&P&Z and S&S&SS and Mr Darcy Vampire too, I think my favourite was Sense and Sensablilty and Sea Monsters. Maybe that was because I didn't really enjoy the original.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Kell, please shut this down if it considered sacriligious?

I am just about to start reading this (I have had a sneak peek) and it looks to be a bit of a phenomenon., with a film coming up too. Wondered what diehard Austen fans thought about it, outraged or happy?

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