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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Brooks, Max

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

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It began with rumours from China about another pandemic. Then the cases started to multiply and what had looked like the stirrings of a criminal underclass, even the beginning of a revolution, soon revealed itself to be much, much worse. Faced with a future of mindless man-eating horror, humanity was forced to accept the logic of world government and face events that tested our sanity and our sense of reality. Based on extensive interviews with survivors and key players in the ten-year fight against the horde, World War Z ...

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Customer Reviews

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Michael T

Aug 1, 2013

very good

I am very happy with my purchase. The movie version raped the book, as normal.

Keelohb7

Oct 18, 2010

Not Enough

I enjoyed this book, but was ultimately disappointed. The characters in the book speak of events, but they are described as though we have really survived this war and thus does not go into detail. I would have liked this book much more if they would have described the events instead of having a simple conversation as though the events of the book were real and not fiction.

jfanning

Apr 23, 2009

hardly wait for movie

little slow starting but it was very descriptive and I really enjoyed it.

girlxfawkes

Oct 28, 2007

Quality Zombie Literature?

I like survival stories. There are two post-apocalyptic, society-is-utterly-changed-by-sudden-catastrophe books that moved me and stayed with me over time. One is Stephen King?s novel, The Stand (and for goodness? sake, read the book; don?t see the mediocre movie!). The other was Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka?s War Day. Both amazing stories came from sources I?d not expected. Third time?s a charm, I guess.

World War Z surprised me. The writing grabbed me, and not the cheesy way a ghoulish hand from under the bed grabs the stupid heroine in a horror movie. I found the structure of the novel intriguing: Brooks shares the story of World War Z by ?interviewing? the survivors ten years after ?the Crisis? has passed. The interviewees are people who were, at the time, doctors, children, government officials, military grunts, cyberpunks, pilots, gardeners at fancy international resorts. They are Americans, Chinese, Russian, Mexican, Korean, British, French, Australian. While this style of storytelling is not completely original, it is compelling. I stopped chortling about reading about zombies (of all things! not serious literature, of course!), and started hearing what Max Brooks understands about humanity ? as a whole, and as individuals.
I thought he had some profound insights about resilience and depravity, about the bald cruelty of survival tactics and the ridiculous amount of luxury we think of as necessity. Most of all, as someone who has fought my own version of life-or-death demons, I really agreed with what Brooks says about hope. Pick the book up yourself, and see if you don?t find it hard to put down. Max Brooks may be a bit odd ? he is the son of Mel Brooks, the director of many tongue-in-cheek films ? but the writing here hits many issues right on the head. That?s the only way to kill the undead, or the critics, if you can tell them apart.

BruceHH

May 3, 2007

Pandemic war

This is an interesting work of fiction but in fiction one can find reality. The novel starts with a disease outbreak in China and an attempt to cover it up. It turns into a pandemic. Does SARS ring a bell, and let?s not forget some of the flu strains. People attempt to flee and pay to be smuggled into Western Europe and US through Eastern Europe and Mexico. There might not be many Chinese sneaking across our borders but there are several other nationalities doing so.
The book also has China purchasing American debt. A lot of our national debt is owned by foreign countries and China is increasing its share.
Part of the spread of the epidemics spread was through the criminal purchase of body parts (organs, eggs and sperm, blood). There is a lack of testing because greed is a great driver.
There is a lack of preparation though an early action plan written, it?s ignored. The U.S. administration takes the easy part of plan but does not follow through with rest of plan. Intelligence services do not really know what is occurring until it?s too late. Mistaken planning exists and things are purchased not because of need but because they look pretty. Soldiers are neither trained nor equipped for the job they?re asked to perform
Military programs are contracted out. Criminals rise to control of countries.
Any current situations come to mind?
It is a quick, interesting and enjoyable read. I recommend it for those who are expected to deal with pandemics and other emergency situations.

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