Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Quirk Classics)
From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem.
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest—and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Tastier than a broiled rattle snake (cut up into slices like a cake),
I loved this book – what’s not to love? The classic tale of the Dashwood sisters and their adventures and misadventures through polite society and in love melded perfectly together with a fishy accompaniment. Winters never misses a beat in his oceanic additions and I was laughing pretty much all the way through the book. There are some really clever twists here – transforming the fashionable heart of society into Sub-Station Beta was inspired, and the addition of the Fanged Sea Beast of Devon into the scene where Lucy Steele makes her devastating relevation to Elinor concerning Edward Ferrars adds a further dimension to the drama and action.
I couldn’t quite get why there were so many negative reviews of this book, but I do suspect that it is appealing to a very particular type of reader. You have to love Jane Austen to appreciate it(as well as sea monsters). Indeed, the author gives it away in his dedication at the beginning of the book. This book is aimed at people who love both “great literature and great silliness”. If you don’t like both, I suspect this isn’t going to tick many boxes for you.
I’m not a big fan of authors including “reading notes” or “guidance for reading group discussion” at the end of their works – readers don’t need to be told what to think, but I’m prepared to make an exception in this case. Winters’ suggested discussions throw up some fascinating insights and questions to consider, such as “Have you ever been attacked by giant lobsters, either figuratively or literally” and “Which would be worse: being eaten by a shark or consumed by the acidic stomach juice of a sand-shambling man-o’-war?” The latter led to a very heated argument between my 7 year old son and myself, with he arguing for the shark and myself leaning towards the sand-shambling man-o’-war. We had to declare a truce in the end and go onto the subject of sea witches. We failed to think of any books featuring orangutan valets in Western literature.
Cannot recommend this book highly enough.
A bit of silly fun,
Not a big fan,
I don’t know whether it is because I have never read Sense and Sensibility, or whether S&S is just a rubbish book compared to P&P, but it left me wanting.
If you liked S&S, this book may actually appeal to you – no promises though.
I rarely walk away from a book once I’ve started reading it, but I put this one down before I got halfway – terrible.