clean, elegant prose examining the values
of calico versus muslin...
Okay, can
you see the problem? However much I adore my two boys and enjoy teaching, the
words ‘elegant’, ‘sophisticated’, ‘ballroom’, ‘muslin’ and ‘teenage boys’ don’t
really go together. On the rare occasions when I venture into our telly room
(It used to be the lounge, a place where I had hoped to sit and discuss
literature and art, but I surrendered that dream years ago) all I see are males
of various ages, sitting slumped on armchairs, controls in hand while they
scream “Kill it! Kill it! Oh my God, did you see the way the head exploded!”
Boys are earthier, more interested in the thrill of the hunt, of battling
monsters and revelling in the crimson gore of their prey. In short they’re savages.
We ladies,
on the other, hand are lovely. We like things to be clean, neat, tidy, pretty.
As I sit here typing I am drinking tea out of my lovely rose-patterned tea cup,
poured from my bone-china teapot. If I’d had daughters I know they’d be more civilised,
happy to sit down and discuss the books they’d read with me quietly, calmly and
with wit and poise...
All right,
maybe I’m exaggerating somewhat (especially the last bit – any mothers of
teenage girls want to chip in here?) but you get the picture. The average boy
isn’t going to enjoy PRIDE AND PREJUDICE the way Jane wrote it and anyone who
says otherwise is kidding herself. So this is where Seth comes in. And the book
is fun. It’s easy to read and introduces even the most resistant reader to a
style that doesn’t rely solely on sentences like ‘KILL! KILL!’ or descriptions
that include words like ‘SPLAT’ and ‘KERPOW’. The style is gentle parody: here
‘unmentionabIes’ don’t mean flimsy undergarments and women occasionally discuss
the pros and cons of carrying a musket (necessary but unladylike). I defy
anyone who’s read the real PRIDE not to get a kick out of the opening line: “It
is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie possession of brains must be
in want of more brains.” And be honest, wouldn’t you be secretly glad that
Elizabeth defeats Lady Catherine and her cadre of ninjas in a duel to the death
with her trusty katana?
So I shall
continue to encourage boys to read P and P and Z and I shall also be visiting
the local cinema to see the movie adaption of the novel. And who knows? I might
even one day find a teenage boy who admits that he actually prefers the real
thing.
Jacqueline Farrell writes historical and paranormal
romances with The Wild Rose Press. Her two paranormal novels ‘'Sophronia and the Vampire'and ‘Maids,
Mothers and Crones’ and her historical romances, ‘The
Scarlet Queen’ and ‘Dragonsheart’
are available from Amazon and all good e-book stores. Follow her on twitter
@jacquiefw1 and on her website www.jacquelinefarrell.co.uk
Click here
for link to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES . It really is a fun read.
6 comments:
I loved this post, Jacqueline; it made me laugh out loud. I've noticed the 'Pride and Prejudice - and Zombies' film posters and I'm now tempted to see it. If it has half the wit of your post - it should be a riot.
It's always astonishes me what books Examination Boards think are suitable for teenage boys. My son had to read George Eliot's 'Silas Marner'. It's OK but it's hardly the book to make boys leap up and shout, 'I loved it! Bring on more George Eliot!'
Thanks for comment - I watched Film 2016 last night and it's not getting very good reviews, although some people seem to like it, so maybe wait until it's on DVD to minimise payout? A colleague once told me he was trying to get his class of teenage boys to engage with Macbeth (now you'd think they'd at least like bits of this) and was really struggling, but when he got the the bit where Macduff is told about the death of his wife and children he keeps saying 'What, all my pretty babes?' Apparently for a moment there Macduff was a playa as they all thought he was the owner of some kind of Scottish mediaeval playboy mansion full of hot women!
What a fabulous post, Jackie, thank you for cheering up my day! I admit to wanting to see this film, although generally I stay away from Austen spin-offs of any form!
Glad you liked it!
I'm sorry to have to disillusion you about having daughters Jacqueline, but it is my daughter who is trying to get me to go and see P+P+Zombies!
LOL
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