TITLE: World War Z
: An Oral History of the Zombie WarAUTHOR: Max Brooks
STARTED: April 15, 2010
FINISHED: April 24, 2010
PAGES: 352
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: It goes by many names: "The Crisis," "The Dark Years," "The Walking Plague," as well as newer and more "hip" titles such as "World War Z" or "Z War One."
SUMMARY: [From Amazon.com
] Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus.THOUGHTS: Man did I ever love reading this book. It's a terrifyingly entertaining romp that had me alternatively laughing, cringing, and hoping I didn't have nightmares. In a word, this book is spectacular. The Boyfriend has a "thing" for zombies - I end up tagging along for the fun. I started reading this book just cause he did; I certainly did not expect to fall in love with it the way that I did.
Brooks takes your typical zombie apocalypse concept (Brrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains!) and creates, what I would argue to be, an unexpectedly great work of literature and social commentary. I mean, seriously, who could turn a book about zombies into an enlightened view of human reactions to famine, disease, and war? Not only that, Brooks made the whole work compulsively readable. That takes oodles of talent.
The format of World War Z plays off of Studs Terkel (College honors program shout out - What! What!). Brooks creates a series of oral history interviews. Every word of this book, aside from the introduction, is a verbal account of how various people survived the plague of undead. Brilliant, I say! This layout gives an all-encompassing view of the zombie war. Brooks is able to craft a myriad of individual stories that just feel real. No, seriously, the way he writes makes each person seem alive. It's almost hard to believe that the people in this book don't exist. The oral history form also means that Brooks explores all areas of the zombies' effect on the world. He covers everything from doctors to politicians to soldiers to refugees. Even better he covers the affect the zombie attack had on air, water, and land. Brooks has practically written a "what if" of the entire world.
The one minor quibble I had with World War Z is that it sounds the same - as in you can tell one author wrote the book. Sure the military men use a few more curses and acronyms but, for the most part, there is no variance in tone, vocabulary, or emotion to distinguish between interviewees.
RATING: 10/10 [Best. Book. Ever.]
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