I am, as my readers may have noticed, something of a completist. A few dozen Anne Boleyn novels for an article? I am so there. Over one hundred anti-Catholic sermons? I can definitely do that. But there are times when two examples of a phenomenon are enough, I think, to pass judgment. And so let me just say, for the record, that I have now read two "sexed up" novels--Jane Eyre and, just now, Dracula: The Darker Passions (you may have seen it go by in my Twitter feed)--and I am comfortable in saying, on the evidence of these two novels alone, that this "trend" has no redeeming virtues whatsoever. It's not witty, it's not insightful, it's not...well, it's not much of anything, really, except kind of embarrassing. And if you want embarrassing, you can always go read bad Alice in Wonderland fanfiction or something; you don't need to pay actual money.
I agree!!
Posted by: Susie | January 11, 2013 at 10:38 AM
I feel the same way about the "...and Zombies" phenomenon. I had hoped that "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" would be amusing, but it was merely irritating. I couldn't help but think that it could have been funny if it were done differently, but it was awful.
Posted by: JaneC | January 17, 2013 at 03:25 PM
This! Fanfic and amateur pr0n is not hard to find. Why pay for packaging and the pose of publication-worthiness?
Posted by: Jenine | January 17, 2013 at 05:42 PM