World War Z
I remember Max Brooks' World War Z being immensely popular at
one point in college. Since one of the big battles in the book takes
place at the college I went to (or rather, the college across the
street), I just chalked it up to that. And since I wasn't much
interested in zombies at that point in my life, I made no real effort to
read the book myself. But then my book club chose it for the month of
January, so I gave it a try.
World War Z isn't at all what I was expecting. The scope is massive, actually covering the entire world. There's a section devoted to the front in the United States, but there's also sections about how the plague started in China and the civil war it sparked there, Russia's attempts to maintain control of the military, Israel's decision to lock their borders, a nuclear war between Iran and Pakistan, the emergence of Cuba as a new economic superpower, the complete disappearance of North Korea, and the evacuation of Japan.
The worldwide consequences of the zombie outbreak are incredible, and the author clearly devoted a lot of time to thinking about how this might play out. Countries don't just start getting along magically, and that doesn't happen in this book at all. I really liked that having a common enemy didn't solve any problems, it just made existing problems worse.
The book is told as a series of short stories from the point of view of characters all over the world. Because of this, I had a hard time connecting with any single character. I barely remember any of their names. But the stories themselves are hardly disconnected. They offer different points of view on the same events and help illustrate how interconnected everything really is. How the refugees fleeing from China brought the plague with them, spreading it around the world. How harsh but successful military measures in South Africa were adopted or rejected by various other countries. How the crew of the International Space Station worked to keep key satellites in repair. How people finally rallied and fought back, inspiring hope elsewhere.
World War Z felt more like a war story than a horror story. The zombies are there, ever-present, but once we figure out how to kill them, it's really just a matter of doing that. Finding the weapons and the manpower to eradicate the threat and retake the world.
I really enjoyed this book, even though I never connected with a single character. It's more about humanity in general. Our flaws and strengths. Our petty feuds and heroic efforts. Like I said, the scope is really incredible and I loved seeing all of the stories connect to tell a single story, albeit in broad strokes.
I just have no idea how they're going to adapt this to a movie. I doubt it will be the same experience at all.
World War Z isn't at all what I was expecting. The scope is massive, actually covering the entire world. There's a section devoted to the front in the United States, but there's also sections about how the plague started in China and the civil war it sparked there, Russia's attempts to maintain control of the military, Israel's decision to lock their borders, a nuclear war between Iran and Pakistan, the emergence of Cuba as a new economic superpower, the complete disappearance of North Korea, and the evacuation of Japan.
The worldwide consequences of the zombie outbreak are incredible, and the author clearly devoted a lot of time to thinking about how this might play out. Countries don't just start getting along magically, and that doesn't happen in this book at all. I really liked that having a common enemy didn't solve any problems, it just made existing problems worse.
The book is told as a series of short stories from the point of view of characters all over the world. Because of this, I had a hard time connecting with any single character. I barely remember any of their names. But the stories themselves are hardly disconnected. They offer different points of view on the same events and help illustrate how interconnected everything really is. How the refugees fleeing from China brought the plague with them, spreading it around the world. How harsh but successful military measures in South Africa were adopted or rejected by various other countries. How the crew of the International Space Station worked to keep key satellites in repair. How people finally rallied and fought back, inspiring hope elsewhere.
World War Z felt more like a war story than a horror story. The zombies are there, ever-present, but once we figure out how to kill them, it's really just a matter of doing that. Finding the weapons and the manpower to eradicate the threat and retake the world.
I really enjoyed this book, even though I never connected with a single character. It's more about humanity in general. Our flaws and strengths. Our petty feuds and heroic efforts. Like I said, the scope is really incredible and I loved seeing all of the stories connect to tell a single story, albeit in broad strokes.
I just have no idea how they're going to adapt this to a movie. I doubt it will be the same experience at all.
Comments
Post a Comment