Beautiful weekend, kids.
Book Worm Week is drawing to a close tomorrow, so let's get right to it by switching gears yet again. Today's book is the one and only World War Z by Max Brooks.
Serving as a conceptual sequel and an extrapolation of the concept presented in Brooks' premier effort, The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z is a sprawling account of the global catastrophe that occurs when an outbreak of the living dead goes out of control. But before we get ahead of ourselves here, a word of explanation - the Survival Guide was written as just that, a guide or instruction manual on how to survive and what to do when plagued by the undead. World War Z is a book that plays off of the rules established in the guide - that the zombies are in the Romero line of work, i.e. no running, no thinking, just relentless shuffling following by flesh-eating and you getting your day wrecked. While Brooks could have simply b.s.'ed a couple of short stories about outbreaks similar to the coda of the survival guide, he instead went for broke, creating a fictitious series of accounts of a global outbreak and the near-extinction of all humanity.
It's crazy stuff.
Broken up into sections for every stage of the pseudo-apocalypse, World War Z breaks down the events into digestible (forgive the word choice) bits of story. What starts as a virus reanimating the deceased in rural China spreads via the black-market organ transplant business, exploding into an epidemic after a series of riots and out breaks in South Africa. Soon after, the world begins crumbling - in the most affecting passages, Brooks creates detailed anecdotes about humanity collapsing in the face of death. We are clearly a society that struggles to work together and this occasion is no different - riots, looting and a failure in military strategy on the national level. Abroad, things get just as bad - Russia clamps down in abhorrent military tactics while Pakistan and India fires nukes, obliterating each other. Ecosystems are destroyed, cities are overrun. It looks like time is up for mankind.
But not all is lost.
Soon a plan is hatched to regroup and refocus military efforts, at the cost of large segments of the population. As unthinkable as it may be, letting huge sections of the world go in order to save the rest is the only workable option. Soldiers are re-trained to make slow, deliberate head shots and are re-equipped with the proper equipment. When the tides turn, the soul crushing tale starts to become a thing of remarkable optimism and cheer. It's actually a remarkable twist of narrative.
The sheer scope of what Brooks has done in World War Z is amazing. The manner in which he breaks down a global catastrophe into comprehensible segments is not unlike some of the History Channel's longer exercises on tragedies like Katrina or the September 11th attacks - events that were so massive in size that you have to approach them on a smaller, human level to begin to understand them. A zombie apocalypse would be similarly unwieldy - to huge to wrap one's head around and too many unforeseeable results. Yet somehow, through an overwhelming amount of research and homework, Brooks has lain out an impressively detailed and well-crafted series of events. The scope is staggering.
If by any means you have an interest in Zombies or horror, you have to read this book. In fact you may well have already. But that should not limit it's appeal in any way - there are fascinating insights into politics, economics and sociology as well, not just from a fictional stand point. Countless times I found myself marveling at the plausible consequences presented by Brooks. Slated to start production as a major Hollywood movie soon, you'll be hearing more about this astounding book in the future. Just be ready and do your homework. Tomorrow, we wrap up Book Worm Week! See you then!
Book Worm Week is drawing to a close tomorrow, so let's get right to it by switching gears yet again. Today's book is the one and only World War Z by Max Brooks.
It's crazy stuff.
Broken up into sections for every stage of the pseudo-apocalypse, World War Z breaks down the events into digestible (forgive the word choice) bits of story. What starts as a virus reanimating the deceased in rural China spreads via the black-market organ transplant business, exploding into an epidemic after a series of riots and out breaks in South Africa. Soon after, the world begins crumbling - in the most affecting passages, Brooks creates detailed anecdotes about humanity collapsing in the face of death. We are clearly a society that struggles to work together and this occasion is no different - riots, looting and a failure in military strategy on the national level. Abroad, things get just as bad - Russia clamps down in abhorrent military tactics while Pakistan and India fires nukes, obliterating each other. Ecosystems are destroyed, cities are overrun. It looks like time is up for mankind.
But not all is lost.
Soon a plan is hatched to regroup and refocus military efforts, at the cost of large segments of the population. As unthinkable as it may be, letting huge sections of the world go in order to save the rest is the only workable option. Soldiers are re-trained to make slow, deliberate head shots and are re-equipped with the proper equipment. When the tides turn, the soul crushing tale starts to become a thing of remarkable optimism and cheer. It's actually a remarkable twist of narrative.
