Saturday 23 May 2009

A good yarn

A good yarn- in both respects :D These are two of the gifts that I was given for my birthday by my best friend. There where others, and indeed, other gifts from other people but these two are (looks around furtively) ~whispers~ my favourites. Just don't tell the DH that as he bought me the camera that I have been wanting for ages which also rocks mightily but there is something about the ones above that make them extra special.
Firstly, the yarn; multiple greens, deliciously squishy, hand spun by my best friend!!! She has obviously been practicing hard and mastered the art of spindling. I'm not kidding when I say that this yarn rocks. I got hugely excited about it once it was free of the pretty paper and then once I found out that she had spun it for me I nearly started hyperventilating. I am going to have to think of something very special to make from it- something all for me and me alone.
Secondly, the book; ~snort, chuckle, chuckle~ was pretty much my response. Yes people- it is exactly as it appears, somebody has taken Pride and Prejudice and added in Zombies. I just finished reading it last night and I have to say that it is magnificent. It takes all the best and most loved bits out of P&P and mixes them in with a zombie plot line. It's both sympathetically and cleverly done and the outcome is really quite funny. It's a smooth and griping read and I really, really enjoyed it. This is quite impressive given that I am mortally afraid of nearly all things Zombie related- don't ask me why, I'm quite happy with other members of the horror genre but there is something about Zombies that really gives me the creeps. I can't stand most Zombie movies, the only exception here being 'Shawn of the Dead' and I think it's because the Zombies are not as green/rotting/falling to pieces as they are in other things, nor do they run fast or have much in the way of intelligence so are thus easily avoided and/or defeated in battle. I feel I could survive a major zombie incursion if they are that kind so therefore I am fine with it. The zombies in P&P are much the same and are used mostly for a bit of comedy. There are one or two significant changes to the story lines of a few of the characters but nothing that alters the main course of the book or in one or two instances, add to it. My only complaint if it can be called such a thing is that the zombie plot line doesn't in itself develop all that far. I was kinda left with a feeling of wanting more though I wasn't disappointed in anyway. This may just be part of that feeling of regret that I get whenever I finish a good book. I always find the sudden parting with characters and injection of reality upsetting and from this book I even miss the Zombies.

3 comments:

  1. I'm so excited to read the book now! My husband and I picked it up recently when we went to see Star Trek at the mall.

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  2. Oh my gosh! I'm a big Jane Austen fan and at first was disturbed by the thought of someone doing this to my favourite of her novels. It's nice to know that it was a positive experience overall but I don't know if I will ever be able to bring myself to read it.

    That's quite an honour to receive personally handspun yarn; no wonder it was your fave!

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  3. Hmm, not sure what I could have done camerawise to top handspun yarn - I'm not sure that a homemade camera would have hit the spot....

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