It is a terrible thing to confess, but I have not read Pride & Prejudice, nor anything else by Jane Austen. I haven’t even seen any of the lavish costume drama adaptations on the TV. This does not bother me: I don’t cling to that idea of a classical canon that you have have read. I have never had cause to regret not reading Jane Austen – until I came across this book on Amazon.
the full title is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance-now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! which I find hard to resist.  There is always a risk that the joke only lasts as long as the title and can’t sustain an entire book, and the reviews on Amazon are decidedly mixed, but I get the impression what enjoyment you do get out of the book will be doubled if you are familiar with the original.
If I decide to get this I think I would have to order the Penguin Classic at the same time. Apparently the opening is:
Its a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was this truth more plain than during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead.
Buy it. It’s genius. Sure, I have read and watched some of the original versions (does that even make sense?! I’ve read the novel and seen some adaptations anyway). But I love the zombie aspects so much its hilarious. Read the books side by side to see (1) how little has changed and (2) how the additions just make it brilliant for a zombie fan.
And a friend who is a huge Austen fan has a copy so it works both ways. (I would ask her how she enjoyed it but will have to wait until she recovers from swine flu….)