Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Jane Slayre! Yes, you read that right...

Jane SlayreJane Slayre by Charlotte Bronte & Sherri Browning Erwin.
This is a record-breaker for the Reader's Well - only the second book that I have stopped reading in the middle since beginning the blog. In short, Charlotte Bronte's classic Jane Eyre has been butchered by vampires, zombies and apparently werewolves (didn't reach that part)... and not in the good way. I won't describe the plot here because it's exactly the same as the classic. So the only difference left to review is the presence of aforementioned creatures.

When I bought and started the book, I was ready for my first foray into the trendy paranormal-classic hybrid genre which claims titles like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Shakespeare Undead and The Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer, all of them promising a fun mix of characters we've come to love (or hate) and dead things that turn their old, musty worlds upside-down. I did not get this impression from Jane Slayre. It was not hilarious on a grand scale (which it so could've been!), wasn't particularly smart in weaving the ghouls into the plot, and obviously didn't make an attempt to be scary. Actually as I read, I found myself getting bored, until I finally reached page 133 and decided I'd long surpassed the 50-page rule and called it quits. It's Jane Eyre without the heart, wit and style (excepting the many parts where the original text appears - why??). So now I'm left wondering if it's worthwhile to pick up other re-vamped (no pun intended) classics like Pride - maybe the ones that aren't based on the actual texts would be better, as they don't run the risk of reading like the same thing but not as awesome, etc. That said, here's a quote from the book which hinted at its unfulfilled silliness-potential (sob!) --

Just as she turned a corner, slice! I delivered a solid stroke, a clean cut. I wished we had planned a little better, though. I had barely enough time to fetch the head and drag the corpse out of the way between two other shelves of books before another zombie came in. Plus the green go was already making the floor slippery, as if I were stepping in pea soup...

What do you guys think, are you familiar with these books and have you, or have you not, enjoyed them? Are any of them better than others, and why do you think so?  I'm still pretty disappointed about this one, having wanted to read all of these for a long time. I had the chance with Shakespeare Undead from the library eons go, but had to return it un-read, like so many others. Maybe I shouldn't be kicking myself...

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