Piper's Blog

To Bring to Ruin or Naught

I don’t understand.

Critics never cease to surprise me.  Granted, I have learned that my taste in movies and their taste in movies were vastly different.  I discovered that we were searching for two different things.  They loved a movie if it was insightful, serious, and had a purpose.  I liked comedy, explosions, and lovable characters.  I wanted an escape while they wanted to teach the world something.  Not that I don’t see what the critics were saying about “heavier” movies.  I can appreciate the finer movies and regard them as art.  But, I didn’t want real life or a moral.  Real life is sad as is.  Movies are eye candy to me.  I have accepted our differences and am moving on.

Alas, I was shocked by critics of literature.  Recently, I read “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” (PPZ) and “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters” (SSSM).  Both are obviously parody novels and I was excited to see how they would mash-up the two worlds.  PPZ was praised for its originality and clever union of stories.  SSSM was condemned as having the monster/Austin genre jump the shark.  PPZ was released roughly 5 months prior to SSSM.  How quickly fads fade these days!  Interestingly enough, I also disagree with them about which book is better!  This to me is not a matter of taste but of quality writing!!!!!!

Now before I get dismissed as just liking something for the sake of liking something, I must explain that I consider myself extremely well-read.  Everything from Machiavelli and Shakespeare to Christie and Rowling.  I’ve read C.S. Lewis’ more thought provoking novels and the clever social studies of Orson Scott Card.  I devour poems and love discovering forgotten novels.  Finally, of course I have read Jane Austin.  I can read a book I love but concede that the author is rather amateur.  Conversely, I can admit to quality writing even if I don’t like the story/topic.

So…after all that…I must say that PPZ was a joke!

It really could have been absolutely brilliant.  But they didn’t even TRY to integrate the worlds.  It felt truly forced.  I know, I know it is just a silly book.  But, it doesn’t deserve the praise it was getting.  The zombie bits were written in between things and didn’t feel like they were actively in the story.  Then, there were the ninja bits.  Zombies are one thing…but adding weird ninja lore into the book didn’t help at all.  I thought it made a silly book cheesy!  How is that possible!?

SSSM…on the other hand…is rather well done.

This was written by a different author than PPZ.  He didn’t change the story or the names of things but completely changed settings and added characters.  It was closer to what O Brother Where Art Thou was to The Odyssey.  The overall effect felt much more integrated.  My favorite part is that rather than the characters going to London, they went to a sub-marine station on the ocean floor.  They had to take a submarine to get there!

I liked both books for what they were but I feel that SSSM was better written and should not be dismissed just because it came AFTER PPZ.

The End.

 

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