Shelf Control: Classic Meets Undead In Pride And Prejudice And Zombies

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." And in celebration of this milestone, we are going to dedicate this week's edition of Shelf Control to Austen's classic novel. On second thought, this week's Shelf Control doesn't really focus on "Pride and Prejudice." It focuses instead on what is arguably the most popular parody of "Pride and Prejudice." Nope, I'm not talking about Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight." Rather, I am referring to Seth Grahame-Smith's "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," published by Quirk Books in 2009. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." So begins Austen's classic novel of manners. Grahame-Smith's zombierrific mashup novel, on the other hand, begins thus: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." With that opening sentence, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" invites readers to embark on a journey through pages and pages of zombie madness:

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.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is, of course, available in paperback or hardcover at online and brick-and-mortar bookstores. You can also read it in e-book format on iBooks, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and other popular e-reading apps. But did you know that you can also read it as an interactive iOS book app called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Interactive eBook? If you can't see the video embedded above, please click here. Released by PadWorx in 2011 in partnership with Quirk Books, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Interactive eBook is the official iOS adaptation of Grahame-Smith's parody novel. It features page after page of interactive illustrations with matching original music. Oh, and "buckets of bone-crunching zombie mayhem" are also included in the book app. What's more, the app actually contains both Grahame-Smith's "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" itself. Just hold your device right side up in portrait mode to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Or hold your device upside down in portrait mode to read "Pride and Prejudice." And if you want to see both novels side by side, just hold your device in landscape mode. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Interactive eBook is available in the App Store for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad running iOS 4.0 or later. The app went free on Jan. 25 ahead of its source material's 200th anniversary, but it already reverted to its regular price just hours ago. You can download Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Interactive eBook now for $8.99. As always, if you have suggestions for Shelf Control, please feel free to email me at aldrin@appadvice.com or simply leave a comment below. [gallery link="file" order="DESC"]