Classics 2.0
Revamped classics have become all the rage in the book world. Ben H. Winters of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters[1] fame is now “co-authoring” Android Karenina.
Looks freaky. According to the Book Bench (a New Yorker Blog), the premise of the book is deviating a bit from the original:
As in the original novel, our story follows two relationships: The tragic adulterous love affair of Anna Karenina and Count Alexei Vronsky, and the more hopeful marriage of Nikolai Levin and Princess Kitty Shcherbatskaya. These characters live in a steampunk-inspired world of robotic butlers, clumsy automatons, and rudimentary mechanical devices. But when these copper-plated machines begin to revolt against their human masters, our characters must fight back using state-of-the-art nineteenth-century technology—and a sleek new model of ultra-human cyborgs like nothing the world has ever seen.
Call me a closed-minded old fogie, but I’m not a huge fan of these types of books. Not that I have anything against the assortment of mythical creatures furthered by these reimagined tellings. I have deep respect for sea monsters, zombies and androids. They are great protagonists of their own stories. However, I feel it’s just strange and redundant to mess with the classics like this. Not they’re sacred or anything, but what’s the point of changing them and calling them the same thing–or attaching them to the same title? The story has already been told the way that the author intended to tell it. Perhaps just like those bloated Jane Austen rehashes[2], they are glorified fan fiction[3]. Why not use that energy to write a unique story starring a sea monster, zombie or android?
Android Karenina [The Boook Bench]
If you’re thinking: ”Androids! Shut Up. Must Have”—you can pre-order your copy of Android Karenina here.
[1] The sister endeavor of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. Coming up: a prequel.
[2] You know, the ones that pick up after Elizabeth and Darcy’s wedding and go into wedding night narratives, which include talk of “burning loins…”
[3]Nothing wrong with fan fiction, just don’t pretend it’s something that’s a timeless literary classic
