World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Book Review: Glad I finished it...
Summary: 5 Stars
because I found I actually enjoyed it far more looking back than necessarily in the reading of it! Let me explain, I don't disagree with any of the preceding reviews - they are all correct and valid and put their points far better than I could - but you know what its like when you watch a film that you don't think is that great and then you find yourself telling people about lines or scenes or ideas which really impacted on you, thats what this book is like. The book feels sparse when you're reading it but thats its intention - to feel like any of the books which explore 'real-life' experiences - Vietnam, police, etc. Its when you think about the anecdotes afterwards and see how 'characters' react to situations outside the ordinary that you realise the imagination and research behind the concept.
In many ways I want more details, more depth (Sgt Avalon, Paris, N. Korea - these'll make sense if you read the book} but this in many ways may undermine my imagining of the whole crisis. Lets just say that if Mr Brooks decides to write another Zombie book, I won't hesitate to read it. World War Z - well, I had to re-read parts immediately I finished - They shall not pass!!
Book Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was very hard to put down, not just the usual zombie gorefest but a careful well thought out story concentrating more on the political and sociological aspects of the outbreak rather than blood splatter, but it was still told at a personal level.
The scope for spin of novels from the battles and countries experiences surrounding the outbreak are endless and I really hope Brooks puts pen to paper and capitalises on how good this book is.
Book Review: Get down with the sickness.
Summary: 5 Stars
Scenario; China is the epicentre of a class 4 outbreak, humanity is no longer top of the food chain, individuals and governments are clutching at straws pulling everything out of the bag and no one knows how to stop the infection.
Using personal accounts and archive evidence of events as they unfolded Mr Brook's book is a modern masterpiece, never has such a magnificently far fetched idea seemed so imidiate and terrifying.
Book Review: Excellent addition to Zombie Literature.
Summary: 5 Stars
This books ranks in the top five of the books I have read. I read it in one sitting on a long haul flight back to the UK and like other reviewers found myself lost in Mr Brooks world.
The story is basically a bunch of recollections from around the world from various individuals of a plague of zombies, told to the author in a interview style.
The action is all post event, as the zombies were eventually defeated, but it was a close run thing. The interviewees range from the doctor in China who made first contact with Patient Zero, to dog handlers in the USA who train their dogs to hunt out the infected, to a computer geeks in Japan, who is so ingrossed doesnt even realise what is happening in the outside world.
Never silly, the story barrells along dragging its reader with it.
I haven't Mr Brooks first book the Survival Guide yet, but it is on my list!
Book Review: A Future Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I personally liken this book to Bram Stoker's Dracula.
The obvious difference in Vampire/Zombie genre aside, the books are similar in not just their construction from various extracts,(diaries in the case of Dracula and interviews in World War Z). But primarily their similarity stems from them both being books of their time, and it is this that gives me the confidence to state that, in my opinion, this book will become a classic.
Max Brooks' ability to capture the finite details of modern society, regardless of the culture in question, gives the book its true power, and it is this eye for detail that makes the scenario credible. All one has to do is transpose the Zombie plague with H5N1 and we are almost there today.
The only criticism would be the odd geographical slip-up, for example Ludlow isn't in Wales, but to mention it other than in passing would be pedantic.
Another strength of the book was the ability to capture the vernacular of different individuals depending on their status in society or given role, for example Soldiers. Military slang is very difficult to capture in it's purest form, but Max Brooks has done an admirable job on this (and every other) front.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and immediately purchased the Zombie Survival guide on the strength of World War Z.
Unfortunately the survival guide wasn't as compelling, however that is not to say it is a bad book, far from it. It is still a good read, but next to World War Z it falls a bit short, although so would the vast majority of horror books. But to give the survival guide a fair run, one has to take into account that it is a completely different type of book, and it was nice to know the explanation behind the cause of Zombies.
It is easy to see why this book was picked up by the big studios for movie production early on.
Buy it before the film comes out to get the real deal.