Scrooge screviews
By Adam Roberts | October 31, 2009
Categories: Book News, Reviews
What am I up to? Well, since you ask (and so politely, too) I'm going through another revision of New Model Army, this one occasioned by the characteristically insightful, incisive comments of my editor, Simon Spanton. A good editor is is more precious than jewels and his value is far above rubies or pearls: and Simon is one of the best editors in the business. One more week, and I'll have a final polish I'm happy with.
Until then, I've been noting with pleasure a couple of zombie reviews. Hard, for instance, to think of a more elevating and honourable point of comparison than I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again:
Imagine a historical Shaun of the Dead written with as many bad zombie puns as you can think of – if you’ve got a long memory, add that it’s been written by the I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again team – and you’ve got an idea of the tone. The narrator’s voice occasionally irritates, with one joke repeated a few too many times, but once the plot kicks in, it’s far more in the background. Given that Roberts is a professor of 19th Century literature, it’s hardly surprising that there are multiple references to different stories, some well-known, others obscure. Like Monty Python at its best though, I Am Scrooge doesn’t talk down to its audience – even when it’s about to make possibly the worst Scooby Doo joke ever! [Paul Simpson]
And here's what the Daily Mail thought:
One man stands between Victorian London and a plague of brain-munching undead: Ebeneezer Scrooge. Yep, it’s that Dickensian zombie novel Eng Lit so obviously lacked. In what you could call a fairly free adaptation, Adam Roberts reworks A Christmas Carol into a zombie-slashing gore-fest, with cameo appearances by Jack the Ripper, Queen Victoria and Dickens himself, plus a bravura performance by the Ghost of Christmas Future as a very funny Ali G-soundalike, Lots of corny jokes and groanworthy one-liners, lots and lots of brain-slurping zombies. Clever and daft in equal measure. [Harry Ritchie, Daily Mail 30 Oct 2009]
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October 31st, 2009 at 2:04 pm
snort, mens adult halloween costume of the royal court jester. Funny Jokes
January 1st, 2010 at 2:53 am
My (fantastic) wife got me 'Scrooge' for Christmas - on import no less, as it's not in US print - and I thought it was great. Loved the mix of humour (2nd spirit, nice), gruesome scenery and the inclusion of an outlander-style of Dickens, and it brought my Christmas '09 to a close with a smile.
Nice ending too, it was very Robertsian.
January 24th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Loved "I am Scrooge"... (my wife gave me it for Christmas as well!)
The Cranberries 'Zombie' reference nearly made me wee myself ;o)