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#5 Platform - World War Z
Jul. 19th, 2007 06:24 pmNot the likeliest choice for best book of the year thus far, but...
Book #30: World War Z
Author: Max Brooks
Provenance: Borrowed from Coby
The reaction I had when I was first shown this book by Coby was about the same as the reaction of most of the people who've asked to see what I'm reading over the past few days: incredulity and some amount of amusement. As in, "you're reading that... and you think it's good? Um... you lose your taste?"
Maybe it's natural; you hear about a book that's a fictional history of an all out war with zombies, in which human civilization is pushed to the brink and returns, and you think it's got to be a trashy horror story, or such. But Brooks has a very deft touch, really, and he obviously gave the matter a lot of thought. So yes, you do have some personal stories of individual people or groups get overrun, with some very classic horror movie sorts of descriptions. Scary, yes, but they have their touching moments, too; since the whole tale is told by survivors, if it's their own story, at least they themselves escaped, and there's a lot to getting away.
The book is much more than that, though. It's got a realistic feel to it, from the initial spread (in China, which tries to suppress the news, but can't keep down the refugees), to initial governmental response, to a huge worldwide panic, to survival strategies, to fighting back in the end. You get looks at many different places around the world, to see the reactions in different areas. You get disinformation, nuclear warfare, people obeying orders and not, establishment of survival zones... the amount of detail that's gained from having lots of interviews gives it a very full feel.
Brooks also has a good hand on the characterization, with different speakers really coming across as different people with different viewpoints. The history and timing of events is well thought out, and there are references to events before and behind in the timeline of what events are being told. That all makes sense when you remember that everything is being told after the fact. Some of the characters are even pretty clearly drawn from the non-fiction realm; you can make out Howard Dean, for example, or Ruben Studdard. They're not named, but they're around, and that probably helps.
Anyway. Not that this is necessarily the best piece of "literature" literature I read this year (probably Master and Margarita, for that), I think this is the book I'd feel the best about recommending. Particularly to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
grysar, but to others as well.
Next up: Exit Strategy. Oh, Kelley Armstrong... my love for you is continuedly abiding.
Book #30: World War Z
Author: Max Brooks
Provenance: Borrowed from Coby
The reaction I had when I was first shown this book by Coby was about the same as the reaction of most of the people who've asked to see what I'm reading over the past few days: incredulity and some amount of amusement. As in, "you're reading that... and you think it's good? Um... you lose your taste?"
Maybe it's natural; you hear about a book that's a fictional history of an all out war with zombies, in which human civilization is pushed to the brink and returns, and you think it's got to be a trashy horror story, or such. But Brooks has a very deft touch, really, and he obviously gave the matter a lot of thought. So yes, you do have some personal stories of individual people or groups get overrun, with some very classic horror movie sorts of descriptions. Scary, yes, but they have their touching moments, too; since the whole tale is told by survivors, if it's their own story, at least they themselves escaped, and there's a lot to getting away.
The book is much more than that, though. It's got a realistic feel to it, from the initial spread (in China, which tries to suppress the news, but can't keep down the refugees), to initial governmental response, to a huge worldwide panic, to survival strategies, to fighting back in the end. You get looks at many different places around the world, to see the reactions in different areas. You get disinformation, nuclear warfare, people obeying orders and not, establishment of survival zones... the amount of detail that's gained from having lots of interviews gives it a very full feel.
Brooks also has a good hand on the characterization, with different speakers really coming across as different people with different viewpoints. The history and timing of events is well thought out, and there are references to events before and behind in the timeline of what events are being told. That all makes sense when you remember that everything is being told after the fact. Some of the characters are even pretty clearly drawn from the non-fiction realm; you can make out Howard Dean, for example, or Ruben Studdard. They're not named, but they're around, and that probably helps.
Anyway. Not that this is necessarily the best piece of "literature" literature I read this year (probably Master and Margarita, for that), I think this is the book I'd feel the best about recommending. Particularly to
grysar, but to others as well.Next up: Exit Strategy. Oh, Kelley Armstrong... my love for you is continuedly abiding.
