World War Z by Max Brooks
World War Z (WWZ) is a zombie apocalypse novel with a twist. Written in a journalistic style, the author has put together an eclectic bunch of interviews from survivors of a zombie invasion that wipes out quite a huge chunk of the world population. This is a particularly well written book and you get a good sense of what the many and varied characters are like and their experiences. Survivor stories run the full range of society, from a blind man in Japan to a European religious figure to high ranking military officials.
WARNING: The following will contain spoilers!
My boss liked this book and gave it a rave review. My wife loved it and waxed lyrical on its many virtues. I saw the movie quite some time ago and thought it wasn’t too bad… and so armed with this I felt somewhat obliged to dive head first into WWZ.
Now I am a big horror fan and there is nothing I love more than a good zombie flick! But the disturbing lack of actual zombies featuring in the story left me feeling a little blah (flat). There is no gore, no beheadings, no guts, but plenty of glory. It took me quite a while to get into the book and resign myself to the fact that no walking dead would be present. Not all interviews are created equal with some more interesting than others and while I felt in no way obliged to read the less interesting ones, I did anyhow.
Don’t be dissuaded by my review though, this is a very well written and thought out book! It’s just not what I expected.
Happy reading!
David Hall (Team leader Bexley North Library)
