World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

It starts in the poorer countries. Of course it does; that's where all the major pandemics start, among the people nobody cares about. Odd happenings; a Chinese farmer attacked by a child who appears to be rabid, quickly discarded rumours from the shanty towns outside Jo'burg... the governments try to hush it up, old enemies blame each other for trying to spread panic, the smarter businessmen try to make money off it... all for nothing. Because yes, the dead are rising. When there's no more room in hell, yada yada yada. The zombies eat the flesh of the living, and all of mankind's defenses that we've put in place over the millennia - whether military, political, religious or psychological - prove hopelessly inadequate. The victims show more number dozens, then thousands, then millions, then billions. And every victim gets up and becomes the enemy. By the time we start figuring out what to do, it's almost too late: the entire human species is outnumbered, cornered - and as always, still at each others' throats.

Brooks' novel definitely owes a lot to the classic zombie stories - Matheson, Romero, Fulci - but where most of those stories focus on a small group of survivors, he takes a universal (if slightly US-centric) view. The whole book presents itself as a series of interviews with those who survived - from politicians and military leaders down to ordinary people who made it either by dumb luck or by committing acts just as inhuman as those of their opponents.

Of course, this sort of storytelling is so easy to get wrong - for one thing, it removes a lot of the tension, since we know right from the get-go that the war was won (after a fashion). For another, in order to make us care about these characters that are just in the story for 5-10 pages, Brooks has to pull out all the stops and resort to storytelling cliches a little too often. The good news is he's a good enough writer to pull it off (most of the time) and that the format makes it possible for him to touch down on different parts of the conflict and tell the story in detail - leaving it to the reader to piece it together into a whole.

Weaving in shades of classic post-apocalyptic tales like On the Beach, The Last Man or War of the Worlds, World War Z manages not only the genre-obligatory social critique and "are we really better than them" angle (though the latter could have been more fleshed out) but also a number of scenes that stick in my mind. The US army taking a stand that turns from PR coup into disaster and near annihilation; Russian clerics taking it upon themselves to execute all infected soldiers to spare them from suicide; mankind's last great fleet, cobbled together from everything from old warships (the HMS Victory, the Aurora) to rowboats, trying to escape out to sea; North Korea simply... disappearing; Iran and Pakistan nuking each other into oblivion to stop the billions of Chinese and Indian refugees - but of course, radiation doesn't stop zombies; American families trying to survive without training in the frozen wastes of Northern Canada; and all those... people, all those individuals.

So what if Brooks makes it very obvious which buttons he's pushing now and then? So what if we can figure out how it ends? It's chilling, riveting, and somehow painfully realistic. Four BRAAAAAAAAAAAAINS out of five. show less

I picked this up mostly because I had just been hearing good things about it in various spots, but I was very surprised as how engrossing it becomes while you are reading it. The thing not to forget when you read it is that it is not narrative in the traditional sense, but narrative from different individual standpoints and so the stories that are being told generally are very personal for the most part, even when characters are discussing large scale issues. That is largely what makes the book successful as well as scarier than anticipated. You feel the fear of individual people as they tell their stories, and you feel their loss as well. There are certainly some stones left unturned in the collective narrative, and I suspect that show more leaves the book wide open for a volume II, which I would look forward to.

The apocalyptic feel is really where the book succeeds, even though going into the book you know it's the tale of people who survived and won the war, but the pale shade of gray that starts slowly and then blossoms into full scale calamitous plague disaster makes you feel sad and scared and helpless. Moreover, it has the weird affect of making you start to really think about "Ok, so, how will, uh would I deal with this?" show less

Ignorance was the enemy. Lies and superstition, misinformation, disinformation. Sometimes, no information at all. Ignorance killed billions of people. Ignorance caused the Zombie War.

World War Z is absolutely nothing like the movie, I'll tell you that. Even the type of zombies was different (they're fast zombies in the movie, which does bring its own horror element, but they're slow zombies in the book for a reason that's central to the conflict and its resolution). The biggest difference was the turning point of the war, the catalyst of human victory. In the movie, it was a plot twist, a non-human element. In the book, it's human endurance. It was raw and emotional and very, very real. Suffice it to say that the book is way better show more than the movie.

The monsters that rose from the dead, they are nothing compared to the ones we carry in our hearts.

This book is very comprehensive, almost boring at parts because of it, but undeniably exciting and meaningful likewise. It has something for everyone (except for fluffy romance lovers, I suppose). It goes very in-depth with the war aspects, listing war jargon, guns, as many abbreviations as possible, but without feeling too technical. It had unsettling implications and subtle consequences that I would never have thought of. It really felt real and truly frightening because of that. For anyone who is confused about the format of this book, it is stylized like a nonfiction history book told in specialized interviews with survivors, the interviewer being a meta Max Brooks. It's like the mockumentary version of a book. I really enjoyed it. It left me feeling both terrified and hopeful, along with the survivors in the book. The atmosphere was extremely palpable.

For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth. That's the kind of enemy that was waiting for us beyond the Rockies. That's the kind of war we had to fight.

show less

This is the first bit of zombie fiction I've read, and I'd been interested in it for a while. It was the first purchase I made my shiny new Kindle, and I read it very quickly in 3 days over Christmas. I have to say, it's pretty awesome!

I really enjoyed this book, and I found it to be a really refreshing way to present a zombie apocalypse. I particularly liked the different reactions in different countries and their political and cultural differences. The USA initially tried to downplay it, then capitalists profit from selling inaffective vaccines and wards, the Chinese are still preoccupied with with keeping their militarised state despite their impending doom of their large population, the Japanese being forced to evacuate their show more homeland. The difficult moral and ethical decisions that had to be made by governments were well explored I think, Redeker's Plan making so much practical sense but entails horrifying sacrifices. I found it interesting that the author chose South Africa to be the leader in that area (the politics of the apartheid perhaps make it easier to believe) and that Israel and Palestine put aside difference to save their people. This is really quite complex book, that weaves a huge global tapestry of events and choices.. all of which I found to paint a picture of a realistic nightmare.

Zombies have to be fought on all sides.. land, water, snow. Max Brooks tackles the problems with underwater zombies, frozen zombies and underground zombies left by the war. Even space and satellites aren't forgotten, with an interview with an astronaut that had to stay up in space for years in order to keep the satellite running!

There is a huge cast of characters telling their different perspectives and there are a few that I would have loved to hear more about - especially the two Japanese characters, Redeker's fate, and I really want to know what happened in North Korea!

Verdict: READ IT, READ IT NOW!

Over all I really enjoyed it, and I found it to be a very realistic presentation of what would happen if there really was a zombie outbreak! Especially the political and cultural anges. And it is terrifying. I don't know if if was because I had a bit of a Christmas flu when reading this, and I've been sleep deprived because of it.. but it's sent my imagination wild! I need to stop thinking about zombies. You could make some criticisms.. some of the "voices" of characters are very similar, and it can be difficult to keep track of who is who and where.. but I didn't bother with trying to do that, it isn't a novel about characters but more about events. I suggest you don't try to be all literary about it, and just enjoy it for what it is!

A word on the upcoming World War Z movie...

So after finishing the book I took a look at the trailer for the Brad Pitt adaption.. and I was confused. The trailer basically seems to have no resemblance to the book other than a world wide zombie outbreak, I looked at IMDb and the cast of characters are not ones I can remember reading about.. I don't understand why they would go to the trouble of getting the rights for the book if they are just going to make a different film? Other than it is a cool titles and they want to cash in on the popularity of the book. Maybe it is just a terrible trailer (it does look boring).. but I'm disappointed! This could and should make an awesome mockumentary style film.. like District 9 (freaking love District 9)! Or just pick some of the most interesting stories and following them. It could have been so good.. I don't want to see just a bit budget zombie blockbuster following Brad Pitt around the world, which is what this looks like. DISAPPOINTED. show less

I can't believe I read a zombie novel. I can't believe I really liked that zombie novel. World War Z was a kick and a fairly fast read. It packs a fair amount of critical observation of the state of the real world within the pages of the imaginary world. Although there is plenty of zombie stuff, what the book is really about is human nature, the good and the bad, the selfish and the giving. Which is probably why it appealed to me.

It is written almost entirely as a series of short interviews with survivors from a years long war against a plague that left most of the world's humans undead. The good part of this format is also the bad part. Good because you get a lot of little vignettes, really dozens of very short stories that tell the show more larger story, that tell (usually) some interesting stories, but bad because with all the bouncing around of the stories and characters you sometimes miss the depth of a longer reflection on an issue. It also it makes for some disjointed reading in putting it all together. But my quibbles are mostly minor, because the big picture does come together. I really liked some of the characters, and I found the book to be very well written. Check it out. show less

I have biblio-cooties.

There. I said it and I accept it. Because the majority of my friends really, really loved this book. And I fear they will reject me now that they know that it did little to nothing for me. I shall have to sit alone in the library, other readers keeping a wide berth for fear of contagion, but I cannot tell a lie and I stand by my pronouncement: Hi, my name is Amanda and I did not enjoy World War Z.

In the past, I have ripped into books I disliked with a gleeful, almost maniacal abandon, and so there are some who may suspect that I will do so here. But this is an entirely different case, for World War Z's fault is not that it's a bad book. It's well-written, it's got an intriguing conceit (the tale of the zombie show more apocalypse told in journalistic hindsight from the perspective of those who survived), some imaginative scenarios (sure, we've all thought about zombies on land, but what about zombies underwater?).

In fact there's no fault at all here other than the fact that, as far as undead ghouls go, I'm Team Vampire. I've never really found anything that frightening about zombies, other than a certain "Eww" factor that compels me to think about how I need to stock up on hand sanitizer and wet wipes in a zombiefied world because they're leaving nasty bits and pieces everywhere. To me, there is nothing more frightening than intellect coupled with either undeniable evil or with moral apathy. Since zombies are basically husks driven by a biological imperative instead of conscious thought, they're not my monster of choice. The only zombie flicks I've enjoyed have been Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland. Humor + zombies = a win. Horror + zombies = not so much.

So I knew going in that this was likely a swing and a miss, but it had received such rave reviews that I couldn't resist. I thought the journalistic style might appeal to me, but few of the voices were clearly differentiated enough for me to connect with any one character. There were 3 or 4 stories that really engaged me, but not enough to enjoy the overall experience. What was really frightening, however, is that Brooks does an excellent job of showing how ill-equipped we are globally to deal with any type of rapidly-spreading contagion and the fear and panic that comes out of facing an unknown. Particularly in first world countries, we are so complacent with "knowing all the answers" and controlling everything that the mental toll of facing a problem we could not solve would be just as damaging as the physical one. Brooks does an excellent job of capturing this. show less

I’m so behind on the times. I profess to be a zombie-lover, and yet it’s taken me six years to get around to reading World War Z. I know, for shame. I’d seen it in shops before, thought about buying it, but in the end I never did. Don’t know why exactly. Probably had something to do with my life as an ascetic (i.e., the period when I swore off buying books ‘cos I had too damn many). But asceticism be damned! In the case of World War Z, I should have broken my vow.

In many ways, you could say that Max Brooks revitalized a stagnant genre (or sub-genre, really). I know the purists are probably going to burn me in effigy for saying that, but hear me out. His 2003 tongue-in-cheek How-To book, The Zombie Survival Guide Z was show more published at a time when zombie media was at lull. I mean, can any of you remember any films featuring zombies that came out during the 90s? And I’m not talking about B-movie dogcrap like Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town or Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels. I mean movies that real people have actually seen and didn’t go straight to DVD. I know I can’t think of one. But since about 2004/2005 onward? You can’t sling a (un)dead cat without hitting some sort of zombie-related media.

Of course, there were diehard zombie fans before that point (a fact I take great pains to make clear, as I can already hear the deadheads moaning and shuffling toward me en masse). But until that point, zombies were mostly the stuff of B-movie legend. Zombie literature certainly hadn’t made a big splash, and you never heard about zombie walks or even zombie runs (there was a 5K called the Zombie Outrun in my town not too long ago, and I was freaking pissed that I only heard about after the registration period had ended). So even if you don’t want to say Brooks kickstarted a dead genre, you can’t argue with the fact that the tidal wave of Zombie-everything was built off the ripples made by his subtle little satire.

Similarly, Brooks uses the world-building already laid down in The Zombie Survival Guide Z (tactics, causation, zombie biology, etc.) as the foundation for the cloud-scraping edifice that is World War Z. The premise is fairly simply—though, the execution is anything. Ain’t that always the way of it? Rather than taking a micro-view (if that’s even a real term) of the rise of the walking dead, as is usually the case in most zombie-related media, Brooks instead takes a macro-view. That is to say, he looks at the big picture. How will people across multiple countries and ethnicities react when the undead hordes rise and lay waste to the populace? When conventional means of making war fail, how will governments adapt to ensure their own survival? What sacrifices will have to be made? At the time, it was a totally revolutionary way of approaching the zombie. To my knowledge, there still hasn’t been another work that has examined the subject on a similarly grand scale.

And if you happen to know of one that I don’t, well you can just go pound sand. Freakin' know-it-all.

World War Z is told from the perspective of a journalist affiliated with the UN who sets out to interview people from various countries and socioeconomic backgrounds to document the shared experiences of the zombie war. Using this technique of faux interviews (almost an epistolary novel, really), Brooks is able to depict the wide-ranging scope of the war as well as the individual, humanistic side and the personal stories of those touched by the war. He was able to get the best of both worlds in that regard. And he really did run the gamut with the personalities interviewed—from Palestinian refugees to front-line grunts to handicapped sculptors to the Vice President of the U S of A. They provide both a wide range of experiences and depth in character development. Honestly, the story couldn't have been told as well any other way. So bravo to Mr. Brooks on that account.

The “interviews” are arranged in chronological order according to the progression of the zombie war. It starts out in China with “Patient Zero.” The communist government suppresses information about the outbreak, and it quickly spreads to surrounding countries in Asia, and then globally. With the prevalence of international air travel and lack of knowledge about the disease, it happens with frightening rapidity. Most of the book focuses on the U.S.—mostly because Brooks is American, and America is the most important country ever. Doesn’t everyone know that?

Brooks put an impressive amount of thought into the book, using geography, culture, history, and even psychology to come up with plausible scenarios of how peoples and nations would react when faced with such a crisis. Being an American (and, as I mentioned before, seeing how America is the most important country ever. Freaking ever), I found the strategy devised by the U.S. government to be quite interesting. The intelligence and utter callousness of their tactics were frighteningly plausible. I’ll refrain from going into detail about it. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, right? Also, anything you’d ever want to know is already available on Wikipedia, thankyouverymuch. But I will say that you could write an entire paper on this book based solely on the decisions made by governments in nation-threatening crises and the morality, necessity, and equability of such actions. That is, if you were a recovering rabid English major like someone we know (*coughnotmecough*).

My only complaint? The reason why I didn’t give it a full five stars in the face of such glowing praise? I “read” this one as an audio book, and the only version available was abridged.

F***ing abridged! Want to know how that makes me feel?

Yeah, something like that. Except with more impotent rage. And a shattered CD walkman at my feet (until recently, I didn’t even know they still made those). So yeah, the abridged version cut out more than 50% of the book in favor of a full cast of professional voice actors. They got the likes of Mark Hamill, Alan Alda, Rob Reiner, John Turturro, and the illustrious Henry Rollins (who will still punch you in the damned mouth if you give him any lip). Max Brooks even plays himself as the narrating journalist in the story. All of that is well and good—and truthfully quite impressive, especially considering World War Z is still genre fiction at its core—but I’d rather have the full load of squicky zombie fun dumped on my head sans voice acting than have a bunch of big-name Hollywood stars read to me only half of said squicky zombie fun. You dig?

Though, it looks like I’m not the only interwebs troll to bitch about this little foible. And low and behold, all that bellyaching actually made something happen. According to Max Brooks’ website, Random House has finally agreed to begin production on an unabridged version with a full voice cast with all the characters. When it comes out (whatever God-forsaken future eon that happens to be), I might have to browbeat my library into buying a copy.

Or, y’know, I could just read the damn book. There’s that, too.

http://www.ireadabookonce.com/2012/12/review-world-war-z-by-max-brooks-45.html show less