BOOK: The Meowmorphosis (2011)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The MeowmorphosisYear: 2011Author: Coleridge Cook and Franz KafkaLength: 208 pages The Quirk Classics have been an amusing experiment of mashing together a public domain classic and a vastly different genre to create something new. Most people know about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and my favorite from the set was definitely Android Karenina. The only one I hadn't read yet was The Meowmorphosis, an adaptation that uses Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis as its base. Unfortunately, the fundamental aspect of the Quirk Classics mashups doesn't work with such a bizarre novella like The Metamorphosis. Part of what makes the other books in this series click is how the original text remains mostly unchanged in a way that the addition of zombies or sea monsters enhances the narrative. With the primary change in this book being that the main character changes into an enormous fluffy kitten instead of a cockroach, it's hard to keep most of the original text intact and still benefit from...
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BOOK: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009)

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Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters Year: 2009 Author: Ben H. Winters and Jane Austen Length: 340 pages After struggling my way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I thought perhaps the next entry in the “Quirk Classics” line of books would be better. After all, it had a new co-author (alongside Jane Austen) and replaced the almost cliché zombie trope with the lesser-seen sea monster framing. Unfortunately, I once again found myself struggling through the archaic language of Austen’s time. Not only that, but I felt there was far too much talking and way too much nonsense, and that wasn’t even about the sea monsters. I’m starting to suspect that I just plain don’t like Jane Austen’s writing. Half of the book is practically filled with young women swooning over eligible bachelors, learning that these bachelors are engaged or married, and then becoming depressed because of this revelation. If they spent less time gossiping and more time communicating, perhaps they wouldn’t have these problems....
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