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: Awesome Zombies!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first ever Zombie book. I've seen the George Romero movies, and had serious nightmares about "Bub" coming to get me back in the 80s.
This book is just simply awesome. It's totally entertaining. Brooks interviews survivors from all over the world. It's actually quite creative of him to have his characters explaining what happened in the Zombie outbreak in the part of the world, whether it's Yonkers, Israel, China, Japan, the U.S. Midwest, Cuba or North Korea.
I enjoyed hearing the Zombies referred to by many names according to whom was reporting. My favorite was the name "Zach" given to them by the military in NY. It was reminiscent of what they called the North Vietnamese back in the 60s & 70s, "Charlie".
He is extremely intelligent in regards to the many particular cultures & their mores throughout the world.
I highly recommend this book.
Book Review: A lightning bolt of imagination, and masterpiece of insight
Summary: 5 Stars
At 3/4 through this remarkable book, I am struck by the complexity and scope of Brooks' nightmarish vision. His presentation is so utterly realistic and believable, that I find myslef looking down hallways, across parking lots, and along streets driving, wondering what my immediate actions will be in when the next zombie rising occurs. Perhaps the most striking feature of this "history" is that it feels like real history; the reader develops the creeping suspicion that is will all happen "again" and desires to prepare.
Yes, I know it's just a book, a delicious horror immersion to thrill the mind's darker wanderings. I'm a big fan of zombie movies and as such, inculcated with the imagery, the instinct not to get trapped in closed spaces, and the knowledge that only a head shot will do. But the vast interlocking plot, the well-meant but thrashing responses from governments worldwide, the immensity of dispair...there has not been a book like this before. I dread finishing it, beause I am enjoying it so much. I hope for a sequel (or expanded tales), a movie or mini-series, and a video game. Whether any of this occurs...BUY THIS BOOK. And start becoming more attuned to any chewing, or moaning sounds when the shadows grow longer.
Book Review: Good for Left-Wing Zombie Fans
Summary: 3 Stars
If your politics lean strongly to the left, and you like zombie fiction, this could be the book for you. The idea is interesting, at any rate.
Personally, though, I grew rapidly bored with the silly politics of it all. The liberal charaters think like liberals and the conservative characters think like liberals think evil conservatives think.
Book Review: If you liked the 9/11 Commission Report, you'll love this BORING book.
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this book after reading Max Brooks' other book, the one that's actually worth reading, entitled The Zombie Survival Guide. That book has everything everything everything a zombie lore lover could possibly want in a book. This one has exactly F*** ALL that a zombie fan would want, and it reads like crappy war journalism.
In this book, Max Brooks pretends to be just that, a war journalist traveling from place to place interviewing people who were a part of the fictitious (duh) Zombie War. This person who was a jet pilot and that person who was a unit commander and the other person who was this and the other person who was that rant on about how the chain of command failed them and the media failed them and their equipment failed them and they saw this horror and that horror, most of which has NOTHING to do with zombies and everything to do with the typical kind of breakdowns and failures that plague anyone who fights any war, ever. Seriously -- the zombies are rarely even mentioned in this book. It's like 350 pages of veterans griping about the conditions they faced during the war.
I bought this book 'cause I wanted ACTION. I wanted what every zombie fan wants -- the zombies are at the gates and the survivors are waging a desperate struggle to keep them at bay and stay alive just a little longer while they plan their escape. That's what zombie fiction is -- oh my God they're coming to get us, board up the doors and windows, quarantine the bitten, get the shotgun and the chainsaw and rock and f***in' roll. You know, survival horror as it should be.
But this .... this is just a parody of war journalism, and as such I guess it's a decent book. But if you're a ZOMBIE HORROR fan (as opposed to a fan of boring, existential, oh-the-humanity ex post facto war journalism), it's a piece of doo doo and should be avoided.
Max, you owe me a zombie horror book that's worth reading.
Book Review: Zombie fans fantasy come true
Summary: 5 Stars
When George A. Romero made the film Day of the dead, that was his attempt at answering all those little questions you had about zombies, this book is filled with all of those answers and more inventive scenarios than you could have wished for. Great book, if they ever make this into a movie, ill be the guy waiting for 3 weeks outside the theater just to see it. Buy this immediately, wether it be on amazon, ebay, or whatever.