World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

by Max Brooks (Goodreads Author)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 111,495 ratings · 10,539 reviews

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospit...more The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. "World War Z" is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?"

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission. Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war:

"I found 'Patient Zero' behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he'd rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was 'cursed.' I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy's skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse." -- Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China

"'Shock and Awe'? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can't be shocked and awed? Not just won't, but biologically can't That's what happened that day outside New York City, that's the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn't shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us They're not afraid No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid " -- Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers

"Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . 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." -- General Travis D'Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe(less)

Paperback, 342 pages

Published October 16th 2007 by Three Rivers Press (first published September 12th 2006)

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Jun 05, 2008 Ellen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was initially recommended to me by several people in the office and since I love zombies and apocalyptic themes, well, I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations and I struggled to finish it. (I'm going to write this review under the assumption that the reader has some inkling about the story and how it's constructed.)

There are two issues that killed it for me. Firstly, most of the characters had the same--or similar--voice. Of course this is partly to d...more This book was initially recommended to me by several people in the office and since I love zombies and apocalyptic themes, well, I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations and I struggled to finish it. (I'm going to write this review under the assumption that the reader has some inkling about the story and how it's constructed.)

There are two issues that killed it for me. Firstly, most of the characters had the same--or similar--voice. Of course this is partly to do with the fact that the voices all originate from the mind of one individual, the author. Also, the more journalistic/interview approach to constructing the narrative limits how much color the author can impart on any given character. Q and A is inherently dry, no matter how exciting the events described are intended to be. This is a minor gripe, though, and one that can be lived with.

A more serious complaint, however, is that this book can be seen as completely lacking any and all dramatic tension that a person (or, me) expects from a survival horror-themed story. The primary draw--the zombie war and how humanity survived--is such a compelling hook, but it's told...by the people who survived. As in, past tense, as in we are left with their impressions of things that happened to them. Basically, then, the story devolves into an excercise in basic exposition: "And then this happened, and then that happened." And so the author is free to weave his story without any pesky things like character development, story arcs, plotting, and personal details that are shown and not told. It seems to me like an extraordinarily easy (maybe even lazy) way to tell a story.

One other minor point: For me, accounts of survival when the victims are real have meaning that allows them to transcend the limitations described above. WW2 Holocaust survivors' accounts, for example, can take your breath away. The difference is, of course, that they were real events that happened to real people.

Since all the classic storytelling elements are dispensed with, we're basically left with the author's views on our current world, particularly and naturally, the wars and our culture(s). However, it's my view that there are dozens of books written about these subjects already; books that haven't needed to sex the discussion up with a horde of shambling undead.

So, in summary, if I'm going to read an apocalyptic recounting of the end of civilization as we know it, I want to read about people in real time, struggling to survive, not being told how people surivived after it was over.

(I realize, though, that it's all a matter of taste, as I know half a dozen people whose views I respect that absolutely loved this book.) :D

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Feb 08, 2013 Seak (Bryce L.) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Seak (Bryce L.) by: Everyone and their dog.

Shelves: audio, 2013, braaains

I've broken my cardinal rule for reading books just before the movie comes out. This rule I've alluded to is the following - I don't read the book directly before the movie (at least 1 year before or it must be read after or just wait on the movies). The reason for this is that I want to enjoy the story through both mediums and if you read the book just before the movie, you've set yourself up to be a critic - analyzing everything and complaining about every detail that's inevitably left out, bu...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Penny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Lovers of zombies/those curious about the whole zombie-loving craze

Recommended to Penny by: Two enthusiastic Barnes & Noble employees

Shelves: zombies-aliens-vampires-dinos, reviewed-books

I know what you're thinking. "Five stars for this book? Why???"

If you've been following my reviews then you know I tend to stress over how many stars to give a book, and I'm not one to hand out five-star ratings willy-nilly. I'm usually quite cautious when it comes to handing out that all-important fifth star. I'm stingy. That being said, every once in a while a book, that may or may not be amazing, comes along and wows me.

And now you're (probably) thinking: "But Penny, it's a book about zombi...more

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Mar 24, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(My full review of this book is longer than Goodreads' word-count limitations; find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

Anytime I hear of some funny, gimmicky book suddenly becoming popular among the hipster set, I always squint my eyes and brace myself for the worst; because usually when it comes to such books, the worst is all you can expect to find, an endless series of fluffy pop-culture pieces designed specifically for crafty point-of-pur...more

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Jun 23, 2012 mark monday rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: rain-man-reviews, after-the-fall, horrortime

On the menu tonight: WORLD WAR Z

Amuse Bouche
Our rich Tartare à la Homo Sapien will astonish you with its hauntingly familiar flavors, its bright and vivid colors, and the truly gamey taste of terror, tears, and trauma. Fresh kill will never appear so carefully arranged and presented: prepare yourself for a buffet that appeases both the palate and the intellect.

Appetizer
A surprisingly hearty summer soup: tantalizing hints of summer flavors frozen solid, then slowly re-animated to surprise the un...more On the menu tonight: WORLD WAR Z

Amuse Bouche
Our rich Tartare à la Homo Sapien will astonish you with its hauntingly familiar flavors, its bright and vivid colors, and the truly gamey taste of terror, tears, and trauma. Fresh kill will never appear so carefully arranged and presented: prepare yourself for a buffet that appeases both the palate and the intellect.

Appetizer
A surprisingly hearty summer soup: tantalizing hints of summer flavors frozen solid, then slowly re-animated to surprise the unwary diner. You will literally gasp in amazement as the flavors you thought had come and passed during the colder months rise again to challenge your taste buds! The stew contains a veritable global village of ingredients: you will taste the inscrutable flavors of the mysterious Orient, the refined and subtle tastes of English manor and European castle, the bold and ruthless tang of Mother Russia, and at its core, the zesty essence of woodsy North Americana will serve to keep this dish firmly anchored in the classic Western tradition. This bold starter will act as a bullet straight into your palate’s head!

Entrée
One could perhaps assume that a multi-course, zombified meal will be centered around a choice cut of rare beef steak; our menu will sorely disappoint such traditional diners. Instead we offer as the centerpiece of our prix fixe meal an array of delights that appease not the base emotional senses, but the higher appetites of the intellect! Never fear, diner, your hunger will be truly satiated – but only if you are able to cast aside your yearnings for an old fashioned cheeseburger and partake in a less sensual but perhaps more fulfilling menu. To that end, we offer a buffet of international flavors: taste the crusty unleavened bread of walled Israel, savor the rainbow flavors of a South African duo of rib and grain, relish the fatty riches of Canadian poutine (we understand that Americans will often flee north simply to indulge in this dish!), enjoy a classic sampling of melancholy Japanese swordfish... the world is yours to consume, in a carefully planned and constructed rejoinder that laughs in the face of undead chaos, and shouts: I Am the Decider!

Dessert
For our last dish, we offer you this stunning plate: a downed, half-mad pilot, communicating with phantoms as she hurtles through dense bog and over abandoned freeway, bravely resisting the hungry hands and teeth of the undead!

Wine Pairing
We are proud to offer a new vintage “Max Brooks”, heretofore enjoyed only by ironic survivalists, now available to the world at large.(less)

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Jun 14, 2009 Ceridwen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Workers of the world, unite!

Recommended to Ceridwen by: My loving family

Shelves: america-and-environs, zombies, omg-were-all-going-to-die, the-future-is-now, the-housewife

At an impressionable age, I was traumatized by a double feature of “Evil Dead” and Romero's “Night of the Living Dead.” I was at a slumber party, so I couldn't very well go into another room and fall asleep, lest I wake up surrounding by clippings of my own hair and cuss words written on my face, backwards, so they would read forwards in the mirror. (Teen-aged girls man, worse than zombies.) So stuff about zombies is all shiny and sparkly for me, running with currents of terrifying electricity....more At an impressionable age, I was traumatized by a double feature of “Evil Dead” and Romero's “Night of the Living Dead.” I was at a slumber party, so I couldn't very well go into another room and fall asleep, lest I wake up surrounding by clippings of my own hair and cuss words written on my face, backwards, so they would read forwards in the mirror. (Teen-aged girls man, worse than zombies.) So stuff about zombies is all shiny and sparkly for me, running with currents of terrifying electricity. I'm reminded of a family rabbit we had, who had a predilection for chewing on the wires of things so she could get a jolt. You'd catch her there, getting zapped, slightly, and then lolling about with her big, rabbit eyes kind of rolled into her head. Then she'd go back for more. I guess I just compared myself to a rabbit, and maybe we weren't the best rabbit-owners, but she did die of old age and not electric shock.

Of course, because of my zombiphobia, I received no less than three copies of World War Z when it came out, from caring friends and family members who think pushing my buttons is funny. And it is! Ask me about several hundred topics that I fell strongly about and watch the cussing ensue! Or don't; I'm sure you have better things to do. I took my sweet time reading the book, as I know I'm usually in for a week of nightmares about being trapped and chased. What's up, Freud, you old coot? Read any good books lately?

Books about monsters tend to fall into two camps, and they're not mutually exclusive. One is the action movie camp, about running and shooting and wearing sweet outfits and posing heroically. The other is more introspective, about society and the individual, musing on the boundaries between Us and Them and all that. In some ways I was lucky that I saw the best the genre had to offer, at the time, when I saw “Evil Dead” and “The Night of the Living Dead,” although maybe that's a weird way to put it. I have a feeling that zombies wouldn't have frightened me as much if it hadn't been Romero's nasty take on society and social order and all that. The little girl devouring her bickering parents? Seen right after my parents (admittedly non-rancorous) divorce? Thanks Romero, you should call Freud and hang out.

World War Z falls into the latter camp, although there are some nice chase-and-shotgut scenes if you're into that sort of thing. The whole end-of-the-world thing is slightly dampened by the structure of the book. It's really a collection of first-person narratives about the Zombie Wars, which begin right about now, and continue for about ten years. Then the tide turns, and humanity begins to reclaim the world from the undead hordes. The narratives are ostensibly recorded ten years after the last zombie has been cleared from American soil, although there continue to be “white zones” all over the world: Iceland, Siberia. God knows what happened in North Korea. But because the stories are recorded at all, you know that the tellers don't end up as snacks.

The best thing about the book is its international viewpoint. It's a sad truism that when the monsters start their invasion, it almost always happens in Southern California, because that's where the movies are made. I guess there's a secondary landing point in London or Cardiff, if you've been watching a lot of Dr Who, but that's neither here or there, because the viewpoint is still limited. Brooks is clearly taking aim at international politics, national and social norms, even global economics. I mean, the outbreak begins in China, for chrissake. He martials characters from all over, and manages to tell a pretty coherent story from mostly seen-from-the-ground perspectives. (The exception being the Australian astronaut who watched the whole thing from space. Ba-dump-tss.)

Brooks doesn't have the best ear for how different people talk, so the narratives have a kind of sameness that's disappointing. He clearly loves, and has read, a lot of military history and the like, and the jar-head soldier monologues are the best in the book: filled with fake military slang (the zombies are Zack, natch), loving descriptions of invented weaponry, and good-natured grousing about the Tough but Caring Sarge. The worst are from parts of the world that I suspect Brooks doesn't know as well, like Russia or Cuba, and the commentary ends up being pretty on-the-nose. Weirdly, so is the American housewife's commentary, although she may be an animal more mythical than zombies.

So, anyway, I just read this again because I was looking for something mindless and consumable, and I got Brooks' hot, tasty brain as a bonus.

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Jan 26, 2013 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: meh

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 mania...more 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 apocalypse told in journalistic hindsight from the perspective of those who survived), and 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. He also captures 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 can not solve would be just as damaging as the physical threat. Brooks does an excellent job of realistically portraying this.

So, I'll say it again: not a bad book. Just not for me. Now I'll go sit in my corner and wait for someone else to catch biblio-cooties. It shouldn't be long. I just have to wait for someone to write a 1 star review of an Orson Scott Card or Janet Evanovich book and my transgressions will be forgotten. (less)

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Oct 31, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: if you want your brain challenged, then eaten

Shelves: apocalypse, zombies, audio

Thoughtful and thought-provoking. Not at all the typical zombie book, and not at all what I expected. Published in 2006, the issues and underlying plot points are as pertinent today as then. What would happen in a real zombie apocalypse? Given current politics, economics, cultural trends, and geography, I'd be willing to bet it happens closely to Brooks' vision.

World War Z is structured along the lines of a documentary, a collection of remembrances about the world-wide zombie war. Divided by ch...more Thoughtful and thought-provoking. Not at all the typical zombie book, and not at all what I expected. Published in 2006, the issues and underlying plot points are as pertinent today as then. What would happen in a real zombie apocalypse? Given current politics, economics, cultural trends, and geography, I'd be willing to bet it happens closely to Brooks' vision.

World War Z is structured along the lines of a documentary, a collection of remembrances about the world-wide zombie war. Divided by chronological order, one can get the feel of the evolution from chapter headings: "Warnings," "Blame," "The Great Panic," "Turning the Tide" "Home Front USA," "Around the World and Above," "Total War," and "Good-byes."

"Warnings" begins with a doctor in China responding to a remote village to a request for help. His tale lures the reader in, giving an intimate view of the initial confusion, the fear, the drastic response by the state, and the systemic holes that lead to ultimate break down. From there, the interviewer talks to a human smuggler in Tibet, drug war agents in Greece, a black-market surgeon in Brazil, a laborer from South Africa, a member of Israeli intelligence, and a repatrioted Palestinian. It's a brilliant idea for a narrative about a global issue, because each culture group frames the problem in terms of its own narrow focus (how could it not?), giving the reader insight into how confronting any issue takes place in a morass of history--but also how similar we are at the individual level. And, unfortunately, the degree to which personal selfishness, both altruistic (saving loved ones) and greedy, pave the way for worsening disaster.

Further interviews include the ordinary survivor (who was anything but), soldiers, an astronaut, and various government officials including the vice-president and a diplomat. It makes for an extremely interesting analysis, because it covers both the personal, private story and the larger, world arc.

Ultimately, it was a sobering and satisfying commentary on humanity and the current state of the world. While that sounds potentially dull and analytical, structuring the story around a zombie war is frosting on the vegan cupcake. While it possibly could have been as strong of a narrative if Brooks was imagining a virulent and lethal virus, zombies gave it a flash factor that draws dystopia fans in. Besides, reanimated dead do create challenges of their own that would be unique in warfare. One general talks about how traditional warfare centers around people that are "bred, led and fed." Zombies require none of those things--their ranks grow with death, they require no leaders, so it is not possible to remove key strategists in a campaign, and they don't require any sort of supplies or rest, so there is no possibility of destroying a supply line. Underwater environments prove to be the long-term zombie reservoir, presenting unique challenges to world-wide eradication.

Minor quibbles include a lack of some of the science behind the outbreak, as well as that of the lone survivors. And, while it is a thought-provoking story over all, it's not exactly a gripping one that kept me up at night. That's actually okay, as it proved more satisfying in the long run. Just temper your expectations.

In some ways, this was the complete antithesis of Zone One, (review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) which examines the zombie post-apocalypse through the individual and humanity's slide downward. This looks at zombie wars through multiple viewpoints on a world-wide scale, and it's ultimate message is hope with cost.

I highly recommend to zombie or science-dabbling fans. Four flesh-eaten stars.

http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...(less)

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May 18, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, kat-s-book-reviews

At this current moment in time my husband and I do not actually have a working will. We are the legal definition of intestate. We have not yet made any preparations for our death and we only have life insurance/house insurance because his mother organized the whole damn thing (come to mention it she is also the reason we have electricity, water and a phone line - the internet though was all us because we'd die without it.)

So believe me when I say that we don't organize... anything. Except our zo...more

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Jan 08, 2010 John Wiswell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Sci fi readers, horror readers, fans of oral history

There are reasons to be wary of this book. The title is a little silly, and Max Brooks's Zombie Survival Guide was tongue in cheek. Hell, he's the son of legendary comedy director Mel Brooks. And zombies are creatures that gained popularity thanks to film, which is contrary to the nature of most good creatures. Vampires, ghosts, wizards, witches, dragons, orcs, goblins, angels, werewolves and even Frankenstein's undead abomination came from literature first, and entered film later. Film seldom c...more There are reasons to be wary of this book. The title is a little silly, and Max Brooks's Zombie Survival Guide was tongue in cheek. Hell, he's the son of legendary comedy director Mel Brooks. And zombies are creatures that gained popularity thanks to film, which is contrary to the nature of most good creatures. Vampires, ghosts, wizards, witches, dragons, orcs, goblins, angels, werewolves and even Frankenstein's undead abomination came from literature first, and entered film later. Film seldom contributes originality to prose. Fortunately Max Brooks pulled off a minor miracle in adapting the largely theatrical terror into the written word, by use of the literary apocalypse convention and oral stories. Our familiarity with the outlines of a zombie outbreak (or any plague outbreak) from so many films helps fill in the gaps between his various storytellers' accounts.

Brooks has a remarkable sense of voice, and places the various interviewees well, such that they sound all the more distinct in contrast to the preceeding and following speaker. We get a lot of interesting subjects, from the country doctor in China who treated the first "bite," to a hitman hired to protect a millionaire mogul, to a blind man who somehow managed to survive in the most infested parts of Japan - Hiroshima. Thus we also get a total sense of the rise and fall of the outbreak, with each arc illustrated by brilliant personal narratives of "true" stories from those periods that give us a sense of not just the plot, but how culture changed in this fictional earth. The narrative is unified by the interviewer who visits them and directs parts of their story, but only enough so that we can both enjoy the overarching plot and the survivors' stories.

Like the best science fiction the outlandish premise allows us to get a fresh view of real human issues. Brooks approaches such issues on multiple levels, from simple human interests like base selfishness and how we act in desperation, to political crises, such as early on in the book when the Israelis and Palestinians blame each other for the plague, and even claim it is a hoax perpetrated by their enemies. Many of the characters are inspired by people from real life, like Howard Dean, Karl Rove and Nelson Mandela - but rather than coming off as cheesy, they lend an air of authenticity to the tale. There is just enough real tension, both base and topical, to lend it the right aura for a great exercise in modern fantasy/sci fi - it's easily one of the best fantasy/sci fi books set in the modern world I've read in quite some time.

The quality of Brooks's book was totally unexpected. This was supposed to be a spin-off from an impulse-buy. But by the time you finish World War Z I think you'll hope along with me that this, his first work of fiction, won't be his last.(less)

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Apr 15, 2013 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: the living and the dead alike

Shelves: clear-unparalleled-genius, kindle, read-in-2013, the-zombies-ate-my-brain

"This book is so good that you might even come back from the dead to read it. " The Zombie Weekly

"More satisfying than gnawing on your neighbours leg bone and meatier than the cast of "the Biggest Loser USA". " Moan Magazine

"A great insight for any living dead who want to out think the living er living" Corpse Chat

"I was so amazed by this i ate my own arm" Ghoul Housekeeping

"Settle back with some chips, crack open a skull for a bit of brain dip and enjoy world war z" ZQ Magazine

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Nov 14, 2010 Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: my 15-year old former self

Shelves: novels, verysleazyfun

To everything there is a time - a time to reap and a time to plant, a time to listen to Schoenberg and a time to listen to Lady Ga-Ga, a time to read Marcel Proust and a time to read about zombie apocalypses. That time, for me, passed some years ago. I shouldn't've picked up this novel but I was seduced by shedloads of great reviews on this very site.
Although my copy has a front-cover blurb by Simon Pegg, it's his very own great little zom-romcom Shaun of the Dead, plus George Romero's splendi...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Bonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombies-like-brains, audiobooks, read-in-2012, adult

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

I did like this one surprisingly. I say surprisingly because this is ultimately a documentary of what happened in 'World War Z' and had great potential of being boring. I thought it was a nice change up in writing style. Considering the fact that all of these personal statements, made by different individuals involved, were conducted after the war was 'over' it didn't have the excitement or in the moment terror that I always love in a zombie novel....more

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Jul 07, 2008 Rebecca DeLaTorre rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just can't get on this bandwagon. The pseudo-government reports the book is written in handicap it in many ways. First, there are no protagonists to grow with, no story arc, no climax, etc. You know what's going to happen from day one--there was a world crisis involving zombies and at least some people live to tell the tale. The sure knowledge of the outcome deflates any tension and book feels flacid. The pseudo-scientific jargon is a poor imitation (my sister, a nurse, tossed aside Brooks' o...more

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Oct 28, 2009 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-brains-junk-food, tastes-like-people

this book is about zombies the same way the bible is about god. they are mostly background actors who are the reason other characters do what they do and occasionally they will rarrrr in and kill a bunch of people because they cant help it, but mostly they are an invisible presence, always to be feared but never given a voice.

this whole book takes place after the zombies have already destroyed most of the world and is a collection of the testimonials of hundreds (?) of different characters deta...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Aubrey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-star, reviewed

This book is such a product of its times, it's laughable.
I have a soft spot for zombie wars that are laid out in realistic fashions. A prime example is the show 'The Walking Dead', one of my favorite television series of all time. I haven't quite figured out why I enjoy it so much. Perhaps it's because it's one of the few examples of warfare that doesn't suffer from misrepresentations of the fighting and the enemy, where violence is considered honorable and the enemy is demonized with little reg...more This book is such a product of its times, it's laughable.
I have a soft spot for zombie wars that are laid out in realistic fashions. A prime example is the show 'The Walking Dead', one of my favorite television series of all time. I haven't quite figured out why I enjoy it so much. Perhaps it's because it's one of the few examples of warfare that doesn't suffer from misrepresentations of the fighting and the enemy, where violence is considered honorable and the enemy is demonized with little regard for their point of view. The previously mentioned television series is especially adept at portraying the slow decay of morals suffered by humans on all sides, a chilling reminder of one of the oft mentioned phrases in ads of the current season: Fight the dead, fear the living. Bloodshed is a horrible and messed up business, and glorification is rarely emphasized in a war where the dead rise up to feed upon the living. It is a catastrophe, and the definition of survival is a vague and fragile thing, especially when said survivors begin to "feed" on each other.
The book did an excellent job of thinking through this hypothetical incident, touching upon key factors of warfare the world over. It also made a decent effort at showcasing how devastating this war was, and how horrible humans can be in response. No individual person came out of this thing "happy", not with their morals intact. However, its author sought to accomplish too much, and ventured far beyond the boundaries of their writing ability. A series of interviews from around the world detailing many aspects of a global disaster is an interesting way of going about it, but only if there is variation on the common theme. Throwing some historical trivia around and characterizing via stereotypes does not a multicultural collection of voices make. Had the author stuck to a nonfictional recounting that acknowledged that it was being composed by a single person, the book would have easily earned four stars. I will admit to being extremely fascinated by the strategies they came up with, the different cultural aspects they integrated into their thoughts on how humanity would go about dealing with this contagion. However, by making the US once again into the "hero", in addition to crafting each voice from a recognizably singular mold, they displayed their inherent biases as a journalist born and raised in said country.
So, five stars for the technical aspects, drawn from research of cold hard facts of countries the world over. Two stars for the "human" aspect, somewhat an irony considering the opening section that emphasized that the narrator was seeking the latter over the former. I appreciate what I learned, but the method of execution was severely lacking.
Edit: Saw the author at a talk about Haitian Voodoo in Public Consumption (aka, Zombies). Apparently he writes these books because he's legitimately terrified about a coming zombie attack. Going by his face when a flash mob started dancing to Thriller at the end, I don't doubt it.(less)

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Jul 01, 2011 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Members of the Undead club

Recommended to Maja by: --- 365andMe ---

Shelves: audiobooks, zombies-zombies-everywhere, reviewed-in-2011

This will be a short review and it will mostly be about my (imaginary) relationship with Alan Alda and my creepy stalker habits. I apologize in advance.

I've always wanted to marry Alan Alda. Not because I find him particularly attractive, but because I enjoy hearing him speak. The way I see it, if I was married to him, I’d be allowed to wake him up at all hours and make him read to me in that sweet, nasal voice and with that subtle but charming accent. Ok, so maybe my view of love and marriage i...more This will be a short review and it will mostly be about my (imaginary) relationship with Alan Alda and my creepy stalker habits. I apologize in advance.

I've always wanted to marry Alan Alda. Not because I find him particularly attractive, but because I enjoy hearing him speak. The way I see it, if I was married to him, I’d be allowed to wake him up at all hours and make him read to me in that sweet, nasal voice and with that subtle but charming accent. Ok, so maybe my view of love and marriage isn’t the healthiest one around, but a girl can dream, right? Since I obviously won't be marrying him any time soon, buying this audiobook was the next best thing.
That happens to me sometimes. I fall in love with people’s voices and/or accents and I lose all sense of shame. Once I’d even followed some Romanian tourists around all afternoon just to hear them speak. (view spoiler)
So imagine my surprise and delight when I recognized Alan Alda as one of the narrators of World War Z. Max Brook himself was also a cast member. It’s no wonder I was thrilled with this audiobook!

World War Z is basically a collection of stories told by the survivors. The main character, also named Max Brooks, recorded their testimonies and shared them with the world. Every single story (and there are maybe 15) is very interesting, some more emotional than others.
Here’s another confession: every bone in my body is completely apolitical and there’s plenty of politics in World War Z. I didn’t care about that part too much, but I’m sure some of you will appreciate it more. Personally, I preferred the stories about survival that had nothing to do with politics, like the story of a female US army pilot (who may or may not be hearing voices) trying to survive in the swamps of South Louisiana.

I recommend this (audio)book to every one of my zombie loving friends, as well as those of you who aren't yet convinced. Maybe Max Brooks will be the one to change your mind.
(less)

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Aug 03, 2007 Silvercharmer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone. You don't have to like zombies, you just have to be able to stand them.

Shelves: zombies, scifi-fantasy

this book. is brutally fantastic. i'm not sure if i've ever used that particular combination of descriptors before, but it fits. this is the same guy who wrote the "zombie survival guide," though i will have to rely on the husband to tell me how much of that manual informs this book, as he has been reading that one. both books were his christmas presents, btw, and i had no real mission to read either, but i started idly flipping through world war z out of boredom, and the next thing you know i h...more this book. is brutally fantastic. i'm not sure if i've ever used that particular combination of descriptors before, but it fits. this is the same guy who wrote the "zombie survival guide," though i will have to rely on the husband to tell me how much of that manual informs this book, as he has been reading that one. both books were his christmas presents, btw, and i had no real mission to read either, but i started idly flipping through world war z out of boredom, and the next thing you know i had finished it. zombies have only recently been part of my life, and unfortunately, if there is a class of experts regarding this particular "virus," i belong in it. this comes from being married to someone who scouts out every place we go, be it wal-mart, the mall, a restaurant, for possible weapons, fortification sites, and plausible escape routes in the event of a zombie invasion. these things invade my dreams, frighten the living hell out of me, but still, this book rocked my socks.

what makes this book interesting is that it takes the form of an honest to god historical account, complete with footnotes. the author chronicles individual accounts of a zombie infestation that sweeps the entire world and puts the human race on the brink of extinction. it takes itself absolutely seriously from cover to cover, which is part of what makes it so successful. it's written for an audience who presumably knows the basic history of the war, which of course, we do not. it does not explain the timeline, it does not define certain events, just refers to them as though you will recognize what the speaker is referring to. you are expected to catch on, read between the lines, fill in the blanks on your own, which fuels your imagination while simultaneously leaving you begging for more. it's just the right amount of information, i think, because even though i would have liked to see a basic chronology of events, have some background information available, i think the writer was right to give me less than what i think i need, because having that information might actually detract in the end.

unlike the traditional zombie movies (the exception that comes to mind being the latest romero flick, land of the dead), this looks beyond the immediate desperation for simple survival, and explores the effects on economy, military, government, commerce, trade, etc. things you might not normally consider (if you spend time considering the fallout of a zombie infestation), such as what refugee patterns would emerge and how that would jeopardize different nations, the fortune that would suddenly be made in human trafficking, the impact on our oceans and atmosphere, which nations are tumbled to the ground and which ones rise from the ashes to gain prosperity and power, the desperate yet woefully ineffectual efforts made by civilians to survive (when they do not have survival skills), the spread of the virus through infected organ transplants, the zombie threat underwater, the fortunes made by pharmeceutical companies off of fake cures, and a LOT more. aside from these unique and fascinating perspectives, brooks writes a painfully honest account of the human factor. the danger facing humanity was not just from zombies: it was humanity itself. the psychological damage incurred by soldiers, witnesses, survivors...he paints a clear picture of how merely avoiding a zombie bite was not enough to keep you alive.

it's brilliantly imaginative, utterly fascinating on all levels, and so worth the read even if you have no interest in the living dead. though, if you are sensitive to nightmares, be on your guard. i've been dreaming about this stuff like crazy. the past couple of nights.(less)

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May 09, 2012 Sparrow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, reviewed, monsters

I do not find the military or military command or structure very interesting, and this book is mostly about that, so it suffered for me from my inherent disinterest in the topic. I should have realized it was mostly about the military from the reviews I read and even from the title of the book, but I did not think that one through all the way. I listened to this on audio and it is possible that my standards were lowered by some really, really terrible audios I've listened to in the past couple o...more I do not find the military or military command or structure very interesting, and this book is mostly about that, so it suffered for me from my inherent disinterest in the topic. I should have realized it was mostly about the military from the reviews I read and even from the title of the book, but I did not think that one through all the way. I listened to this on audio and it is possible that my standards were lowered by some really, really terrible audios I've listened to in the past couple of years, but I thought this was a pretty quality production. The pace was good, and even though there were accents, they didn't feel like someone making fun of an accent.

Zombies are a weird topic to write a book about because their impact is descriptive or visual. Their dialogue leaves something to be desired is what I’m saying. In a movie, you can be like, “Holy shit! The zombies are lumbering or sprinting toward the hero!” But the zombies are still interstitial to the story. The zombies are never going to sit the hero down and say, “Hey, we’re just like you and your consumerist culture. Your government scientists should have been more careful in experimenting with bioweapons, but if you learn to really believe in yourself and value your soul and the people around you, you could still save humanity.” Nope. A vampire might say that (but substitute consumerist with pleasure-driven) in a vampire story, and some old dude is going to say that in a zombie story, but a zombie is not going to say it.

So, then, I think you lose a little in a book because of its linear nature. A movie can have tons of things going on at once – a zombie in the background chasing the love interests as they confess their undying affection, a group of survivors huddled in a house discussing next plans as the zombies bang on the windows. Things like that. In a book, the zombie action sort of fades while the survivors discuss what to do next. Then zombies come back, then dialogue, then zombies. It’s easy to lose the visceral nature of the zombies.

But, at the same time, I think this book does a pretty good job of looking at different governmental structures and what their responses would be to a zombie attack. I’m not exactly sure how helpful that is, and its entertainment value was an energetic meh to me, but not bad. I think my favorite stories were the pilot and the Palestinian refugee. (less)

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Aug 10, 2010 Brownbetty rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is like ordering ice-cream and receiving a punch in the mouth.

I've been wanting to read this book for a while, since it seemed right up my alley; I love a good apocafic, and zombies are always fun. I made it to page 69 before putting it down with great force--I would have thrown it, except it was a library book.

This book is, as advertised, about the global zombie apocalypse as told by the survivors. You don't stay with a narrative voice very long; each one speaks to the 'interviewer',...more This book is like ordering ice-cream and receiving a punch in the mouth.

I've been wanting to read this book for a while, since it seemed right up my alley; I love a good apocafic, and zombies are always fun. I made it to page 69 before putting it down with great force--I would have thrown it, except it was a library book.

This book is, as advertised, about the global zombie apocalypse as told by the survivors. You don't stay with a narrative voice very long; each one speaks to the 'interviewer', telling their experience of the global plague, and then moves on. It's not worth becoming fond of any of them, and frankly, not very likely either; personalities only go about as far as classing a person as “stupid,” "naive", or “evil,” with the occasional “if only we'd listened to that farsighted man!”

The personality that comes through the strongest is the writer, not the in-story journalist who has supposedly compiled the stories, but in fact max brooks. I don't know the man, but from the 69 pages of his writing I already dislike him.

The overall tone I get from this book is 'smug.' I twitched in the introduction when the journalist describes his motivation writing the book; his boss who pays him rejects his first draft which contains the interviews which contain the “human factor”, dismissing them as “too intimate … too many feelings.” Obviously, this boss is a robot-hearted beaurocrat!

Or maybe the journalist is an idiot. He was told to write up a report containing “cold, hard data,” and “clear facts and figures,” and he handed in an oral history? What did he think was going to happen?

I could handle it if the framing device was “idiot-journalist is idiot,” but it's not just him. It quickly becomes apparent that the actual subtitle of this book is “How the people and institutions I despise will doom us all in the upcoming zombie apocalypse.” Nearly every account falls into “Oh, I was so foolish and innocent then!” or “I remain a selfish bastard, and refuse to feel guilty for my actions.” It's like a whole book of stories ending with “And then the entire bus gave me a standing ovation, and the bus driver told me I was his adopted brother.”

AUGH. Look, 69 pages produced that much aggravation. Imagine if I'd finished it.(less)

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Dec 03, 2010 Conrad rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trashy, fiction, owned

Besides the odd Lovecraft, this is the first horror book I've read since tearing through dozens of Stephen King novels in high school.

I really wanted to like it, but the writer had a couple of ticks that drove me crazy. First of all, the CAs - constant acronyms. Nearly every page, there's an aside in which the character who's being interviewed tells us what an acronym means. It's the worst kind of exposition. If you were gathering a comprehensive oral history of the 00s, and you were talking to...more Besides the odd Lovecraft, this is the first horror book I've read since tearing through dozens of Stephen King novels in high school.

I really wanted to like it, but the writer had a couple of ticks that drove me crazy. First of all, the CAs - constant acronyms. Nearly every page, there's an aside in which the character who's being interviewed tells us what an acronym means. It's the worst kind of exposition. If you were gathering a comprehensive oral history of the 00s, and you were talking to someone about WMDs or 9/11, you (and they) would never, ever, ever in a million years stop to explain what those were. If someone's around to interview someone else about it, you both already know.

Others have also noted that all the characters talk the same. One thing that's refreshing about the Studs Terkel book(s) on which this is based is that every voice is remarkably different from all the others. Every single one has its verbal fingerprint. We all have things we do conversationally, whether we know it or not, to distinguish ourselves. I tend to offset subclauses in commas or parentheses, and I tend toward run-ons, God knows. Everyone does something like this. There're as many tells in what you say as in how you say it; people (like me) with lots of parentheticals are usually intellectually insecure college graduates. In Terkel, this is all perfectly obvious. But in World War Z, everyone just sounds like Max Brooks is writing a tremendously self-conscious novel.

All that said, toward the end I was kind of swept away by the narrative. The guy whose job it was to clear the underground of zombies, the Japanese otaku, some of the people here become individuated enough that you really want to read more about them, even if their self-expression is often clunky and full of Americanisms that you would never hear in the context presented. I just wish it hadn't been so badly written.

World War Z would have been perfect if it'd been presented as a series of interlocking short stories or novellas in third person. Who would want to read the otaku's story if it actually sounded as it would coming through a translator? No one. Honestly, I think Brooks just set himself too hard a task.(less)

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May 23, 2008 El rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Rhonda (it's about zombies!)

Shelves: 21st-centurylit, society-went-boom

The world was almost brought to complete destruction during what is later referred to as the Zombie War. Max Brooks fancies himself a survivor and takes it upon himself to travel the world and interview others. The book is in an interview layout, a rather interesting approach to this sort of book. The subtitle itself, An Oral History of the Zombie War, illustrates that it is and will only be in a Q&A format. This is simultaneously the book's greatest strength and its biggest weakness.

On one...more The world was almost brought to complete destruction during what is later referred to as the Zombie War. Max Brooks fancies himself a survivor and takes it upon himself to travel the world and interview others. The book is in an interview layout, a rather interesting approach to this sort of book. The subtitle itself, An Oral History of the Zombie War, illustrates that it is and will only be in a Q&A format. This is simultaneously the book's greatest strength and its biggest weakness.

On one hand Brooks visits the far reaches of the world, encorporates politics (the chapter specifically regarding who was to blame for the outbreak and the subsequent war was by far my favorite and probably the most important when looking at our own government and military personnel) and environment all in one neat little package, all the while creating this background of a war that did not exactly exist (metaphorical comparisons excluded as I think George Romero has drilled it into our heads that we, the humans, are the real zombies, etc.). There is so much room for a great imagination. And he almost makes it, he was oh so close... but then with all of these fantastic back-drops (China and Australia and some places I may not be able to find on a map) all of the characters he "interviews" have similar tones. They all read the same way. In real life, no two people would tell their accounts of any life-changing or life-threatening experience the same way. If nothing else one person's inflection is different from the next person's. Unfortunately for Brooks there is very little contrast from one person to the next. I find it hard to believe, even following the Zombie War, that someone living in Cape Town Province in Southern Africa would more or less sound exactly like someone living in Troy, MT in the US.

Despite the blustered attempt at an entire book written in Q&A, Brooks still managed to tell a pretty decent and convincing story. His zombies were rather chilling and more than once I had to put down my lunch until I found a "safer" paragraph. I feel I learned a thing or two about what to do in a zombie attack should one, erm, actually occur. For instance if a person turns zombie while they're in the car, their IQ will not be high enough to allow them to get out of the car as they will not be intelligent enough to unbuckle the seatbelt or open the car door. However, as a human walking beside a car in which a zombie will remain forever, one must be careful as the zombie inside the car is still able to moan which, I learned, is a call to other zombies not stuck inside their cars to come and snag you. Food for thought anyway.

I'm stuck between giving this 3 or 4 stars. The lack of character distinction is the most disappointing part of the book and because I am a stickler for those sorts of things I finally decided upon the 3. Still a good read, especially for true fans of the zombie subculture.(less)

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Apr 13, 2009 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finished reading it and enjoyed it. Will write a full review later but some highlights:

Good:
1 - Totally didn't expect to like a "zombie" book but this author had a great take on that genre.
2 - I appreciated the detail and research that went into presenting this book from many different cultural and diverse locations
3 - Interesting style to present the "story" as a series of interviews - not an easy medium to do well but I liked the way this occured.

Bad:
A few things rung "untrue" for me - like th...more

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May 19, 2009 Esteban del Mal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-horror-scifi, fiction, novel, bakersfield-trepanation-society

An allegory for unchecked capitalism (it's no mistake that the walking dead first appear in China). And is it just me, or did the whole zombie genre take off during eight years of Republican (mis)rule of the United States? Some grad student should research that...

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May 05, 2013 Samadrita rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-fiction, post-apocalyptic, zombies-ftw, fantasy, sci-fi, disturbia, spookfest, gory-book-is-gory, adventure, sort-of-good

Initially I had thought World War Z was going to be a book I would be surreptitiously adding to my 'read' list, rating it and moving on to better reads quite unceremoniously.
I had considered not even the remotest possibility of reviewing it, because I assumed this was going to be one of those books one reads for sheer entertainment value and little else.
But here I am writing one anyway, because I think the author definitely deserves some praise for his powers of imagination, if not for the copi...more Initially I had thought World War Z was going to be a book I would be surreptitiously adding to my 'read' list, rating it and moving on to better reads quite unceremoniously.
I had considered not even the remotest possibility of reviewing it, because I assumed this was going to be one of those books one reads for sheer entertainment value and little else.
But here I am writing one anyway, because I think the author definitely deserves some praise for his powers of imagination, if not for the copious amount of research he must have put in to write this.

If you are looking for your regular dosage of blood, guts and gore or a deliciously disturbing montage of decapitated torsos and severed limbs, I suggest you look elsewhere. Because World War Z is different from your mainstream zombie book.
Sure it contains the appropriate number of grotesque scenarios and morbid imagery, but these are not its highlights.
Here the zombie apocalypse serves merely as a backdrop against which the fragility of the world order is exposed - how an unforeseen human crisis of unimaginably catastrophic proportions can make the painstakingly put-together fabric of our civilization crumble like a house of cards.
Instead of recounting the story of the survival of one particular group of humans, making their way from one safe haven to another, Max Brooks gives us the bird's eye view of the nature of the calamity.
The story of the human resistance against zombies unfolds from the perspective of not one but numerous survivors all over the world - military and navy men/women, war strategists, politicians, fraudulent businessmen, doctors, film directors, divers, ordinary civilians and so on. But the multiple points of view are compiled together in a single document, by an unnamed UN official to help create a clearer picture of the extent of the tragedy after the war has ended.
So what one finds in this book are minutiae regarding military equipment, weapons specially designed to fight off the living dead, strategies for quarantine and annihilation of infected people, psychological after-effects of surviving the disaster and living through it. Which makes it a lot more interesting and unconventional since the focus is shifted from the mindless violence perpetrated by a bunch of reanimated corpses and placed on human strengths and fallacies, instead.

So then why only 3 stars?

Because the different accounts start to sound repetitive and the novelty of the mode of narration wears off after you get past the halfway mark. The frequency with which the author bombards the reader with descriptions of tactics employed by military and navy men tires one out after a while. And often, he goes overboard while trying to display his ample knowledge of the socio-political landscape of various nations. The way the book feels like a piece of non-fiction rather than a fictionalized account, also curtails one's enjoyment of the story somewhat.
I would have rated this 4 stars had the book helped me maintain the same level of interest throughout.
That, however, does not mean it is unreadable. The 3 stars ought to say that much.
If you love your zombies yet cannot put up with mediocre writing and respect an author who cares to thoroughly research the topics he wishes to write on, World War Z is your next prospective read.

Recommended.(less)

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May 02, 2009 Aerin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, science-fiction, apocalyptic, zombies, well-that-was-awesome

My boss recommended this book to me, saying that it dealt with his two favorite subjects: international relations, and zombies. "Well," I said to myself, "I don't think there are very many books out there that can claim to do that." Obviously, I had to check it out.

My boss was right. Not only does this book merge the two topics, it does an exceedingly good job of it. Now, I'm a fan of all things apocalyptic, and I have a healthy appreciation for zombies. Still, I never expected a Zombie Apocalyp...more

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Jul 20, 2008 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: one-book-per-week-08-09

I haven't seen every zombie movie or read every zombie book in existence, but I have watched enough to know the cliches of the genre. It was so refreshing to read a book that avoided so many of these conventions and covered some new ground. I mean, how many zombie stories span the entire world? How many cover the entire apocalypse, from Patient Zero to the aftermath/rebuilding? Aren't we all a little tired of zombie stories that closely follow a small group of survivors, as they get picked off o...more I haven't seen every zombie movie or read every zombie book in existence, but I have watched enough to know the cliches of the genre. It was so refreshing to read a book that avoided so many of these conventions and covered some new ground. I mean, how many zombie stories span the entire world? How many cover the entire apocalypse, from Patient Zero to the aftermath/rebuilding? Aren't we all a little tired of zombie stories that closely follow a small group of survivors, as they get picked off one by one?

Each chapter is only a few pages long, and consists of an interview of one individual survivor. These survivors range from the powerful elites who made decisions affecting millions, to the most inconsequential peons swept up in the winds of war, to the soldiers on the front line. Each interview is unique in a number of ways; the individual's personality and experiences, their nationality, their role in the events. The nationality of each character in particular is what makes this book so interesting. Whereas most zombie movies I've seen take place in the US (and often end with the heroes fleeing to Canada for some reason), virtually every corner of the world is represented in World War Z. Every nation deals with the crisis in it's own way; the Canadians flee to the arctic, the Americans try to fight the zombies as they would a conventional war, the French use the opportunity to rebuild their national pride, the South Africans rely on a war measures plan developed during Apartheid, the Russians keep control of their military through decimation. Part way through the book, I realized that what I was reading was sociology disguised as science-fiction/horror. Some might argue that the sociology is somewhat sophomoric and predictable, and they would have a point. But remember, this is not written as a history, it's written as an oral history. Each interview is just one man or one woman, and that's what the book is really about. The big picture stuff is interesting and compelling, but this is about individuals surviving, each in their own way. As the author asks in the introduction: “isn't the human factor what connects us so deeply to our past”?

Which brings to mind another interesting aspect of World War Z. In the first pages of the book the journalist conducting the interviews explains the rationale for compiling an oral history, and states his intention to avoid any interpretations or intrusions into people's stories. We hear his questions in many of the interviews, and occasionally an interviewee with react to his body language but otherwise he is virtually silent. It made me wonder about his story. We know that he is American, and that he was commissioned to write a report for the UN. Given what we learn throughout the book, we can probably assume that he spent the war in the “safe zone” in California, but there is no direct evidence. This is not a criticism of the book; on the contrary it's a compliment to the fact that the author does such a good job removing the journalist from the interviews. It left me wanting more.

As a clinical psychologist, it was enjoyable to see the author imagined the psychological trauma that would result from something unimaginable. Of course, there was reference to standard, expected illnesses like PTSD and depression. But we also encounter some creative and reasonably plausible conditions such as the quislings, feral children, and Asymptomatic Demise Syndrome. The human psyche is capable of incredible things in response to trauma and stress, and it says a lot about this book that the author made a point to reach beyond the kinds of reactions that people have in the real world and try to picture what would happen in this reality that he created. At the same time, given the fact that we are reading the stories of survivors, we are almost by definition hearing the tales of the most resilient ones. As you read World War Z, you can't help but wonder what you would do in this situation. How would you react waking up in a world that makes no sense? I think most people would like to imagine that they would be strong, moral, and resilient, and would always be ready and willing to do the right thing. But most people also believe that they wouldn't violate their morality in response to demands of an authority, and research has shown otherwise. If WWII led to the Milgram obedience studies, what kind of psychological research would emerge in the aftermath of World War Z?(less)

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Apr 12, 2008 Brett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I have fretted long and hard about what my choice for book club would be, when that time finally came. I wanted both to pick a piece of literature that would be surprising and that most others in the club would not have considered reading, but I also wanted it to be good. After all, I have spent the last few months reading the likes of The Kite Runner and Water for Elephants. If I can put up with that kind of sissy-pants literature (I am of course, joking. Partially.) then I wanted to make other...more I have fretted long and hard about what my choice for book club would be, when that time finally came. I wanted both to pick a piece of literature that would be surprising and that most others in the club would not have considered reading, but I also wanted it to be good. After all, I have spent the last few months reading the likes of The Kite Runner and Water for Elephants. If I can put up with that kind of sissy-pants literature (I am of course, joking. Partially.) then I wanted to make others endure something they would not normally consider. So I cast around for a while, and eventually landed on this little book. The deal was sealed when, in a strange coincidence, the day I started to read this book, the author turned out to be reading in town. So I went to hear him, and decided this book was fate. He signed my copy and added "survive book club".

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a hell of a fun book. Though not without moments of humor, it takes itself completely seriously. It is laid out as other "oral histories" are, with short, "man on the street" style interviews, as well as interviews with those that experienced certain unique aspects of the war. Humans have, at least for now, vanquished the zombie threat, though there are still zombies out there and no one knows if the plague might start again. Through the eyes of the participants we see the earliest outbreaks, the chaos of the Great Panic, fighting the hordes to a stalemate, the tide slowly turn, and finally the re-emergence of humanity. WWZ is full of intimate detail, some touching or inspiring; some brutal, remorseful, or bittersweet. There is a fair share of blood and guts--this is a horror novel, after all--but many of the snapshots are unexpectedly poignant.

Really though, the zombies in the story are only a stand in, a way to pique the interest of readers. It could be any kind of worldwide emergency, particularly disease, such as Avian Flu. The bulk of the story is showing lack of government planning and bureaucratic missteps. And it's impossible not to read and think of the inadquate disaster response to Katrina in the U.S., and other large scale catastrophes around the world. Also on this wavelength, there are some fairly clear allusions to modern political figures and to the war in Iraq. However, the novel is truly global in scope, and we spend time in a variety of countries besides the U.S. I was especially intrigued at the way the zombie war boosted the prestige of eastern nations, and helped to tip the balance of geopolitical power toward China and India, much like a major worldwide disaster might really do.

Criticisms I expect to have to deal with at book club: there are 40 or 50 different "voices" or characters in this book, most of them only getting a few pages to speak. As such, some voices will obviously be stronger than others. Also, we do not build up large amounts of attachment to a single character over the course of the book. I think Brooks did a great deal of research on what type of weapons the military might use to combat a zombie plague, and he spends quite a few pages detailing various sorts of tactics and specific weapons that could be used. To some degree, I lost interest in this topic. I felt that since he did the research, he felt like he had to use some of it, but honestly, I wasn't too in to learning about exactly how weapons systems work. Less would have been more. As someone who works in politics, as does most of my book club, some of the interviews with political figures were a little heavy handed.

One particular section I wanted to praise was the writing about zombies in the water. This was a very effective image for me and will have me thinking twice next time I'm swimming in a body of water after dark. And, of course, as with any story about zombies, during certain moments you have to ask yourself who the real monsters are. The zombies, grotesque as they are, have no choice in their actions. It is the humans that stab each other in the back and become their own worst enemies, willing to do anything to fellow survivors in order to gain their own advantage. Even in the last pages, as some survivors talk about the way the crisis brought people together, I had to wonder if they were already starting to gloss over the worst moments with familiar cliches. Do these sorts of crisis bring people together, or is that only the story we tell ourselves when it's all over, when we've done what we must to survive?

WWZ is a fast and interesting read. Obviously I think highly enough of it that I chose it to make my coworkers read. If you happen to be an interp coach reading this, you might seriously think about getting a copy; I think some very cool pieces could be cut from it, and I guarantee you'll be the only school in your area doing them.

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12 likes · like · see review

Nov 16, 2007 April rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I admire the author for his extremely detailed perceptions of a future world recovering from a mass zombie plague, but I just couldn't finish this one. It is written like a case report, with each chapter functioning as a monologue/interview with people of various nations and occupations, all of whom lived through "World War Z." Because the author goes into such incredible detail about the political policies that are put into effect, the military strategies, medical procedures, pharmaceutical adv...more

15 likes · like · see review

Jan 11, 2008 Osho rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007

Studs Terkel meets Dies the Fire. I was pleasantly surprised to find this a better example of fake sociology than horror. Perhaps its emotional impact is mitigated by the fact that everything is in indirect discourse--the storytellers are mediated by the narrator's presence, creating a one-step-removed framework. I kept waiting for a gut-wrenching story from a parent who had to stave in the skull of his/her reanimated child, but none was forthcoming. There was also little about zombie psychology...more

6 likes · like · see review

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About Max Brooks

Max Brooks is The New York Times bestselling author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z. He has been called ”the Studs Terkel of zombie journalism.“

Brooks is the son of director Mel Brooks and the late actress Anne Bancroft. He is a 1994 graduate of Pitzer College. His wife, Michelle, is a screenwriter, and the couple have a son, Henry.

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World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide

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