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: Haute Cuisine
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephen King's "The Stand" - that masterfully crafted thriller of suspense and terror made special by King's unique grasp of human nature and attention to detail - has set the standard for apocalypse fiction. Up until now, that is.
Max Brooks' "World War Z" adds an entirely new dimension to horror fiction in this cleverly crafted, deviously irresistible and, um, "tasty" tale of zombies and survivors. As the story goes, Brooks, originally commissioned by the UN to chronicle the aftermath of the decade-long "Zombie Wars", sets out to write his own tale - the "human factor" in contrast to dull facts and statistics the UN was looking for. Written in the style of a documentary through Brooks' interviews, it is told in the words of survivors across all walks of life in all countries and cultures.
But the appeal of "WWZ" runs much, much deeper than standard zombie horror fare. Sure, there is the obligatory gore and gross-out violence - in fact Brooks' takes bloody havoc to entirely new levels placing Zombie's not just on the earth, but beneath it, above it, and in the water. What sets this apart is Brooks' brilliant dissection of human nature - mostly the dark side of human nature - as he skewers the politics, mores, economics, societies, greed - and some goodness - that makes the world turn. Though this is fiction and pure high adrenaline entertainment, there are warnings and wisdoms on every page. Brooks keenly understands the depths man will plumb when faced with unmitigated disaster and terror, and some new heights as well.
Despite the horror genre, this is an intelligent and thoughtful novel - one that should enjoy wide appeal. Don't wait - buy the hard cover - and don't be surprised to see a rush of knockoffs trying to recreate the magic Brooks has captured.
Book Review: Another great read from Brooks
Summary: 4 Stars
Brooks puts together a great book. Not only does it provide a great story about the Zombie War but provides a few nice shots at modern American society. I really enjoyed this book. It had a bit less humor then his survival guide. Some of the stories were kind of boring, I was hoping for a bit more action. I mean after all this is first person accounts of a war! Oh well you can't have everything.
Oh I also want to add that those looking for a scary read should look elsewhere. There is no horror in the book. Maybe the exo-suit wearing guy has some but other then that its not really scary. Shocking maybe but scary no, sorry. Finally, Brooks a Mahhattanite should know that the Mets play in Queens
Book Review: A cut above genre
Summary: 4 Stars
Zombies as a genre fit overwhelmingly into a visual medium, and there have been quite a few great zombie movies, "Night of the Living Dead", "Sean of the Dead", "28 Days Later", as well as some fun zombie graphic novels, "Marvel Zombies". Zombies are simple creatures that translate well to visuals with their sole moviation of kill, eat and infect. In "World War Z" Max Brooks takes on the zombie genre in the form of an intelligent oral history from the survivors of the global epidemic. Each chapter is the story told from a different survivor and organized chronologically from the start of the infections in China, throught the rise of zombies globally, the human resistance, and eventual human triumph. How do you translate the zombie genre from their success in the visual mediums into prose form? Mr. Brooks does exceedingly well by telling the human side of the horror story.
Reading "World War Z" in kind of like flipping throught the cable news channels - getting the headlines and human interest stories. This is the story of humanity falling apart, in gritty detail. The zombies are a gimmick. The unknown horror that descends upon humanity could have easily been the avian bird flu, or some new virus, the true horror is in the human denial, lack of communication between nations, and the Great Panic that spreads like wildfire. Mr. Brooks has a keen eye for real world current events, the geopolitical, social and economic that he inserts into the novel. We're a step into the future, experiencing something unknown and this story feels so real because it is so well anchored the real world.
The story becomes it's most terrifying when, "The monsters that rose from the dead, they are nothing compared to the ones we carry in our own hearts". What will we do to survive? How far will we go? What would we do to save humanity from extinction, and how would we live with our actions and sacrifices? These are the diverse stories of the human resistance and courage to fight back. As with the better zombie movies, this books tells us more about ourselves than the enemy. It's social commentary as horror-action fiction. Recommended.
Book Review: World War Z Makes This Reader Want MORE
Summary: 5 Stars
Max Brooks' shamblingly good World War Z made this zombie-genre-fan want more, more, more. This "oral history" chronicles the stories of many who fought in and survived the zombie wars. If any one of their stories were expanded into a full-length novel, I would snap it up. I'm sure he's already been asked, but I must add my voice to the clamor: Please, Max Brooks, if you have a third zombie book in you, write one that follows a protagonist from start to finish so we can go even further into the scary, creepy, wonderful world you've created.
For those of you who haven't read World War Z, if you're a fan of works on the undead, you must add this book to your library. One of the things that makes it so eminently readable is that Brooks manages to make the war seem factually credible, and he uses momentum and deft characterization to carry the reader along at a smoking-fast clip. I couldn't put this book down until I was done reading it, and like a zombie who can't get enough human flesh, I wanted more of Brooks' storytelling.
It's a rare treat to find a well-written story about the walking dead, and this book fills the bill in a most delicious way.
Book Review: Worthy Read for Zombie Lovers
Summary: 3 Stars
A fun read that has a bit of difficulty maintaining a tone. Is this serious, sometimes its very serious, at others a bit comicbooky - as the narrative of war against the undead unfolds we have some rather uneven snap shots - but the highs definitely outweigh the lows. Recommend reading for Zombie or survival fiction enthusiasts.