I'm a huge bookworm. As proof you can check out my booklists. Now, not all of the books on the list are in the running for the best novel of the century, but they're books that I hope will be amusing reads. Currently I'm reading Emma and The Vampires by Jane Austen and Wayne Josephson:
I'm on page 282 out of 289, and I must say... I'd rather put the book back on the shelf. I know how Emma ends. She ends up with her good Mr. Knightly, and everyone lives happily ever after. I like Emma as it's own book. There's nothing of Jane Austen's that I don't like! But my goodness!
There have been quite a few mash up books hitting the bookstores recently, and I've read two others, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as well as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. The first was rather witty I thought, the second wasn't awful either! If you're not a fan of Lucy Steele in Austen's Sense and Sensibility you're desire to hit her upside the head is sure to grow when you add the Sea Monsters!
I mention those two other mash ups because the mash ups are actually mashed so well that the stories still flow, but almost as their own stories separate from what Austen created. Emma and the Vampires, however, does not. It's disjointed, and at times ridiculous. As I continued reading the book I realized I was reading it for Austen's story, and not because of the mashed up story. The black curtains covering Mr. Elton's windows, and Harriet's plumpness have no relevance in the story whatsoever, despite Josephson's best efforts.
My bottom line opinion? Save your money for a better book, or some nice Boot's body butter, and pick up Austen's Emma at a library or read it here. If you still insist on reading Emma and the Vampires, ask me for my copy. You can have it. I won't be reading it again.
