From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Max Brooks

Start date: December 1, 2012

Finish date: January 1, 2013

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

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What Members Thought

May 30, 2008 Sandi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, post-apocalyptic-dystopian, cross-genre

8/27/08 Update--I'm downgrading my rating of this book. I still like it, but I realize it's not very original. I caught the beginning of "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" on the SciFi channel a few days ago and it was deja-vu. The zombies are reanimated by a virus and you can only kill them by shooting them in the head. Since the movies (and video game) came first, I'm afraid my original rating was a result of ignorance.

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I avoid best-sellers and 8/27/08 Update--I'm downgrading my rating of this book. I still like it, but I realize it's not very original. I caught the beginning of "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" on the SciFi channel a few days ago and it was deja-vu. The zombies are reanimated by a virus and you can only kill them by shooting them in the head. Since the movies (and video game) came first, I'm afraid my original rating was a result of ignorance.

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I avoid best-sellers and horror novels. I have found that there’s a lot of crap out there that ends up on the best-seller lists and I’m not a fan of horror novels. But, “World War Z” has generated a lot of buzz among people whose opinions I respect, so I decided to set aside my prejudices and give the book a try.

To set the record straight, in my opinion, this book is more apocalyptic science fiction than horror. Yes, it is about zombies going around attacking humans. However, the origin of the zombies is explained in a very scientific manner. A peasant in rural China cuts his foot while wading in a river and soon sickens. He dies, but his body is re-animated. He bites a couple of people and they go through the same disease process. It isn’t long before this virus is spreading faster than you can say “bird flu”. This disease is so virulent and so un-deadly, it makes Ebola look like a common cold.

The way the story is told is pretty unusual in fiction. It’s told through a series of interviews (oral histories) with Zombie War survivors taken shortly after the end of the war. The chapters are broken down into the stages of the Zombie War. Each interview is preceded by an introductory paragraph that tells who the interviewer is meeting and where they are. The subjects range from political and military leaders to soldiers and civilians. They come from all walks of life and from all around the world. He even interviews a feral child who ran away from zombies attacking her family and neighbors and was surviving on her own after the age of four.

As compelling as the concept is and as unusual as the narrative method is, “World War Z” suffers from some serious flaws. First, the oral history style decreases the dramatic tension of the story. Each history is short, anywhere from a few paragraphs to a few pages. The reader doesn’t get enough of each character’s story to really engage with him or her. Furthermore, because each story is told in retrospect, the reader doesn’t get a sense of immediacy. The characters also don’t have sufficiently different voices to make their stories convincing. Oral histories of real people work because they are real people and each has his or her unique voice. In “World War Z,” each character is the product of the author’s imagination. Brooks has an incredible imagination, but he only has one mind and that becomes obvious after the first few interviews. I think this book is one that would really work best in an audio book format with a different actor taking each part and giving it uniqueness.

Despite its flaws, I really liked “World War Z.” I like the way this fictional work reads like non-fiction. I like how the story is told through multiple first-person accounts. It’s unusual and intriguing. The author made some daring choices and it clearly paid off.
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Feb 08, 2011 Kate Rudasill rated it it was amazing

FIVE STARS! One of my favorite novels of the past few years. Such creativity, it satisfied my every desire of "what would I do in that situation". Looking forward to the movie, but a little concerned about how it will be butchered. ...more

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Jan 11, 2009 Ashley FL rated it really liked it

I thought this was great. It is written as an "oral history" and even the author's biography are within that frame of reference.

A must-read for fans of post-apoca-lit! ...more

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Dec 19, 2009 Jason rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The best zombie book ever written. How can I ever compete with this?

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Tom rated it really liked it

Shelves: hard-copy

Really liked this book but the lack of a central character and a central story line (other than the assembler/editor of these war stories) kept me from totally connecting with it. The book is written in the style of a post-war compiled set of memoirs. That lends a lot to the authenticity but keeps you jumping around from person to person.

Very fun (errr... maybe not "fun." Maybe "disturbing" is the more appropriate word) to see the author speculate on the horrible choices countries and communiti ...more

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Apr 15, 2008 Mike rated it really liked it

Shelves: enjoyed

Really enjoyable book. Basically written like an actual WWI or WWII book would be written. The author travels all over the world to different locations to interview a wide variety of people (military, students, etc) about their personal experiences during the "zombie war". The book tries to give a look back into history and show how humanity came back from the brink of annihilation.

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