World War Z Review
I recently finished reading World War Z. I know, I know, the book came out in 2006. As usual, I’m behind the times when it comes to reading books. I have so many on my bookshelves that it takes me a long while to get to them all. This book is one that my kid read back when it was popular and insisted that I read it too. So, it sat on the bookshelf, patiently waiting for my attention for several years. And while WWZ doesn’t fall into the usual reading for me, I’ve always been interested in anything that has to do with zombies. I watch most of the movies and shows. Not for the gore, but because I like to see how people react in the beginning days of the plague and how people may or may not survive in the long term.
Within the first pages I immediately saw why it was popular. Max Brooks is an excellent writer and the format appealed to me. Instead of creating a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, he structured the book as a series of interviews. Each story is only a few of pages so it’s great if you like to pick up a book, do a quick read, and put it aside until next time. I personally like short chapters. It’s evident in my writing. But in the format of interviews, I found that the book didn’t hold my interest. There wasn’t much to compel me to open it and keep flipping pages. The story that I liked the most was about a downed pilot stuck in a Louisiana bayou. It was longer than the others, so I became invested in her, and I wanted see her survive. I wish more of the stories had been like that.
But I will say this about the book. Kudos to Brooks in his understanding of people and countries. If I were to sum up the book, I’d say that it was a character study of how people handle emergencies. It was as if he thought, “How would the American people and government respond to a zombie plague? Japan? Russia? Israel?” He included almost every country and every environment. What would happen in the mountains? Bayous? Coastal towns? How would this effect how people live in their homes? What kind of houses or fortresses would they have? Would people trust each other afterwards? And what would this do to humanity if we survived? Would the world still be worth living in?
He answers all these questions and more.
So, while it is a book of interviews about how people survived a global zombie apocalypse, it’s much more than that. It’s a study of humanity.
It’s definitely worth reading.
Posted in Review, Writing and tagged Max Brooks, VP Chandler, World War Z by VP with no comments yet.
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