Paperback, 352 pages
English language
Published April 29, 2007 by Duckworth Publishing.
“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War
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 …
“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War
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’?”
These post-zombiepocalypse vignettes are kind of great but the lack of characters or plot in this book finally wore me down.
This was an excellent read! I can certainly understand why critics have compared Max Brooks with Studs Terkel. World War Z is probably one of my all-time favorites in the genre of post-apocalyptic fiction. Brooks eschews a conventional narrative to tell the story of the Zombie Apocalypse—and for those who watched the film before reading the book (as I did) will be shocked at the stark differences between the on-screen adaptation and the original work. Instead, Brooks frames the book around a series of interviews conducted by the narrator—an assistant for creating the postwar official history of the conflict—that allows the reader to get a global portrait of the conflict as it erupted in places as diverse as South Africa, China, India, the West Indies, North America, and the Pacific Isles. If you have read Stud Terkel's Hard Times or The Good War you will already be familiar with how …
This was an excellent read! I can certainly understand why critics have compared Max Brooks with Studs Terkel. World War Z is probably one of my all-time favorites in the genre of post-apocalyptic fiction. Brooks eschews a conventional narrative to tell the story of the Zombie Apocalypse—and for those who watched the film before reading the book (as I did) will be shocked at the stark differences between the on-screen adaptation and the original work. Instead, Brooks frames the book around a series of interviews conducted by the narrator—an assistant for creating the postwar official history of the conflict—that allows the reader to get a global portrait of the conflict as it erupted in places as diverse as South Africa, China, India, the West Indies, North America, and the Pacific Isles. If you have read Stud Terkel's Hard Times or The Good War you will already be familiar with how Brooks conveys the story of World War Z. It's an engrossing read and often times you have to remind yourself that you are reading a work of fiction. Brooks sets up a lot of realistic scenarios for how different countries reacted to the war and how the a similar worldwide pandemic could influence geopolitics. For example, Cuba's serendipitous geographic position during World War Z turned it into a leading economic force in the postwar reconstruction. Brooks also offers some intriguing commentary on how different organizational military cultures throughout the world adopted varying strategies and tactics to combat zombies—and how this particular war upended a reliance on technological sophistication and elaboration.
This is a must read!
4.5 stars.
Quick question: are zombies fantasy or Scifi? Or both?
Commute audiobook; it was a great one: sufficiently simple to divide my attention with driving, sufficiently engaging to keep me awake on a long drive.
The book:
The gist of WORLD WAR Z, if you aren't familiar, is this: in the not-too-distant future, the relatively few remaining humans are beginning to recover from the recent global zombie war. A government researcher collects a series of personal histories of various events during the war and presents them mostly chronologically w/r/t the war.
As a book that people want to read for purposes of enjoyment, this probably works better as an audiobook than it does in print. As other reviewers have noted, one failing (the only failing?) of WORLD WAR Z is a lack of differentiation of voice between the different characters, which seems a shame given that the characters are …
4.5 stars.
Quick question: are zombies fantasy or Scifi? Or both?
Commute audiobook; it was a great one: sufficiently simple to divide my attention with driving, sufficiently engaging to keep me awake on a long drive.
The book:
The gist of WORLD WAR Z, if you aren't familiar, is this: in the not-too-distant future, the relatively few remaining humans are beginning to recover from the recent global zombie war. A government researcher collects a series of personal histories of various events during the war and presents them mostly chronologically w/r/t the war.
As a book that people want to read for purposes of enjoyment, this probably works better as an audiobook than it does in print. As other reviewers have noted, one failing (the only failing?) of WORLD WAR Z is a lack of differentiation of voice between the different characters, which seems a shame given that the characters are all over the world and from all walks of life. The audiobook has a diverse voice cast -- an allstar cast: Alan Alda, Nathan Fillion, Becky Ann Butler, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Martin Scorcese, Rick Young, Jeri Ryan, Masi Oka, Kal Penn, Common, Alfred Molina, Mark Hamill, etc. The different speakers lend character differentiation where it may be lacking in print.
But it's not just a goofy zombie book. It's also an analysis of the state of global geopolitics, in which no one ever does anything about any problem, for fear of alienating the people who make up their power base, until it's too late. The zombie hordes stand in for any global disaster; it's particularly relevant now given the current ebola outbreak. In WORLD WAR Z, there's a small outbreak of a new infection in a remote part of China, and although all world governments have access to this information no one responds adequately. By the time people start to realize they should take it seriously, it's too late to make use of the simple containment solutions that would have prevented global catastrophe in the first place. This book shows the consequences of the wait-and-see model of governance when applied to a disaster on a scale we haven't yet experienced -- but we might, soon, if we can't get population growth and global warming under control.
The personal histories are narrated by speakers from all over the world and from all walks of life: soldiers, doctors, mercenaries, salesmen, children, suburban moms, politicians, a gamer nerd, etc. The wide range of speakers is essential for effectively communicating the global reach of the disaster. No one is spared. Ignoring what happens to "them" has profound effects on what happens to "us". Other than the war, there's nothing that connects the speakers -- they don't know each other or even cross paths. However, an event described in detail by one speaker may be mentioned in passing by other speakers; or it might not. Many events mentioned in passing are never described in detail. It's not a comprehensive history, and we don't get a comprehensive picture of what the post-zombie-war-world looks like. We have only snippets and snapshots.
It's an effective choice, though, on the author's part, because it means we don't just hear about abstract consequences of the current geopolitical model with charts of numbers and statistics: instead, we experience the human cost; we also experience human ingenuity and bravery. Disaster and war aren't just abstract horrors that affect governmental stability. They are personal.
It's an interesting choice as well because it forces us to think about history as a formal study. People have hidden motives. People omit. People embellish. People lie. People forget: memory is fallible. How accurate are the accounts presented here? Should we accept them as true? Should recalled narratives be admissible as historical data at all, or should we restrict ourselves to the narratives produced during the period in question? Are snippets and snapshots enough to draw conclusions about the Big Picture?
So, why not 5 stars? It's thought-provoking and engaging and I want to tell everyone I know to go find a copy. But for 5 stars, it should never waver; it should be consistently excellent. And frankly there are a few accounts that drag. Only a few; for the most part, it was compulsively readable (listenable?). And I want better character differentiation.
One last thought, re. book vs. movie: the movie is very different. It's much narrower in scope, focusing on one person, and gives a lot of focus to a semi-magical Solution To Save Us All. Whereas the book is much more realistic, giving a global perspective and emphasizing that in the end, when faced with a disaster of this magnitude, all we're left with is brute force.
This book was surprising and I really enjoyed it. It's not your typical zombie action horror thriller fest. It's deliberate, thoughtful and engaging. It feels very real and is an intriguing thought experiment.
I listened to the audiobook and really liked the performances of all of the voice actors. I'm not sure I would have liked the book as much if I'd read it, but having it 'acted' out made it very enjoyable.
I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book. It was recommended to me so I thought I'd give it a go, I had already seen the movie but very little in the movie is in the book.
This book is just a collection of interviews of people who survived the War, sounds pretty dull but it makes for a brilliantly gripping book.
Best book I've read in 2013.
This book was recommended to me by no one, and yet somehow it's the 3rd post-apocalypse story I've read in a row.
I thought it was terrific; the narrative conceit is basically a semi-official recounting of the zombie war through interviews. Each interview is brief, telling stories of death and survival from a completely different point of view, gradually revealing the bigger picture.
The end result is a high quality set of parables that will stick with me for a long time. I haven't seen the film, but now I intend to, I can't imagine how they accomplish telling this story.
Zombies vs. the living. The living win. Pretty straightforward. Mildly curious to see how they turned it into a movie, since it's really just a bunch of mostly disjointed interviews.
I was surprised by this one. A zombie book but it was actually pretty well written, captured reasonably well a large variety of voices, and lent an interesting point of perspective on a zombie apocalypse. Instead of being a frantic narrative account of growing danger and frantic action, the narrative reflections created a distance from the events and allowed the characters to recreate their feelings about living through the events. Strangely, some of the most important points of the book, such as the most important policy in combating the zombies involved saving some of the population while leaving the rest behind as bait, were almost throwaway comments in some of the narratives.
I did 'read' this one through the audio version (an all star cast and one of the best done audio books I've read). Brooks did a reasonably well job of creating a wide variety of characters from many …
I was surprised by this one. A zombie book but it was actually pretty well written, captured reasonably well a large variety of voices, and lent an interesting point of perspective on a zombie apocalypse. Instead of being a frantic narrative account of growing danger and frantic action, the narrative reflections created a distance from the events and allowed the characters to recreate their feelings about living through the events. Strangely, some of the most important points of the book, such as the most important policy in combating the zombies involved saving some of the population while leaving the rest behind as bait, were almost throwaway comments in some of the narratives.
I did 'read' this one through the audio version (an all star cast and one of the best done audio books I've read). Brooks did a reasonably well job of creating a wide variety of characters from many different countries and cultures, but I'm not sure that that wasn't a result of the excellent performances on the audio book rather than skilful writing.
I'm also not entirely comfortable with the politics embedded in the narrative or sure what that is supposed to say or comment about present day politics. Whether that is Chinese democracy, Cuban triumphs, the failures/successes of various militaries, the successes/failures of various armed/unarmed populations, and the prepreparedness to tackle a zombie invasion.
But an entertaining read and surprisingly well done one for a zombie novel.
I can think of nothing wrong with this book, and it surprised me with its ability to evoke emotions beyond just your regular garden-variety dread and fear from zombies.
Et donc, en plein visionnage de la saison 2 de The Walking Dead, me voilà prise d’une envie de zombie. Dans World War Z, l’action se situe plusieurs années après la fin de la guerre contre les zombies, le narrateur parcourt le monde et rencontre des individus ayant vécu la guerre en tant qu’acteur ou spectateur. Au fil des nombreux témoignages recueillis, on en apprend beaucoup sur le début de l’épidémie, son expansion, et les premiers affrontements. Les différents récits et points de vue donne un éclairage à plusieurs niveaux, géopolitique, économique et financier, humain et social et psychologique. Les réactions face à la crise (ici, l’invasion de zombies, mais cela pourrait être n’importe quelle catastrophe réelle), de la part des individus ou des gouvernements, sont rarement à la hauteur. Ces derniers sont tous plus ou moins incapables de faire face à ce qu’ils ne comprennent pas, leur gestion du …
Et donc, en plein visionnage de la saison 2 de The Walking Dead, me voilà prise d’une envie de zombie. Dans World War Z, l’action se situe plusieurs années après la fin de la guerre contre les zombies, le narrateur parcourt le monde et rencontre des individus ayant vécu la guerre en tant qu’acteur ou spectateur. Au fil des nombreux témoignages recueillis, on en apprend beaucoup sur le début de l’épidémie, son expansion, et les premiers affrontements. Les différents récits et points de vue donne un éclairage à plusieurs niveaux, géopolitique, économique et financier, humain et social et psychologique. Les réactions face à la crise (ici, l’invasion de zombies, mais cela pourrait être n’importe quelle catastrophe réelle), de la part des individus ou des gouvernements, sont rarement à la hauteur. Ces derniers sont tous plus ou moins incapables de faire face à ce qu’ils ne comprennent pas, leur gestion du fléau laissant longtemps à désirer, avant de pouvoir réagir efficacement.
Malgré un démarrage efficace et accrocheur, le principe du recueil de témoignages n’a pas répondu à mes espérances. L’auteur nous propose une accumulation de points de vue certes très pertinents, le principe et la forme du roman sont vraiment brillants, le propos de fond est assez poussé, et malgré tout, malgré quelques épisodes assez prenants mais trop rares, l’ensemble m’a profondément ennuyée. De nombreux témoignages sont d’une froideur quasi-militaire, et les récits concernant les tactiques de combats sont carrément soporifiques. Dans le genre froid, impersonnel, j’ai nettement préféré La submersion du Japon, beaucoup plus captivante malgré ses allures de rapport scientifique. Ma curiosité déclare forfait à tout de même 70% du livre.
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A great book, maybe with some clichés. You will have some new points of view that you normally don't have in zombie movies, games or whatever.
As the book is about several testimonies of different people, you will get the view from unexpected people, people you normally don't think about in a Zombie War.
Too much history book and not enough novel.
An interesting and fun take on the zombie apocalypse. It was an easy read and I was able to experience the terror and chaos of the war through the character narratives. Some character narratives were easier to get into than others, but they all shared a common theme of how they dealt with the war. Focusing on characters at specific events of the war gave the story a very human aspect, and this book could have easily been people describing another outbreak or catastrophic event.
The zombie war was a terrible event and they proved to be a challenging foe, but what I enjoyed about the story was how people bonded over this world altering event. The world stood together and worked towards defeating something as a team. This isn't a theme I thought I would find in a book like this but I was pleasantly surprised by the human …
An interesting and fun take on the zombie apocalypse. It was an easy read and I was able to experience the terror and chaos of the war through the character narratives. Some character narratives were easier to get into than others, but they all shared a common theme of how they dealt with the war. Focusing on characters at specific events of the war gave the story a very human aspect, and this book could have easily been people describing another outbreak or catastrophic event.
The zombie war was a terrible event and they proved to be a challenging foe, but what I enjoyed about the story was how people bonded over this world altering event. The world stood together and worked towards defeating something as a team. This isn't a theme I thought I would find in a book like this but I was pleasantly surprised by the human aspect of the book more so than how the zombies attacked.
