World War Z
An Oral History of the Zombie War
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4.3 • 338 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies.”—Entertainment Weekly
We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic.
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, 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.
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
“Will spook you for real.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Possesses more creativity and zip than entire crates of other new fiction titles. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone. . . . It’s Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style. Creepy but fascinating.”—USA Today
“Will grab you as tightly as a dead man’s fist. A.”—Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick
“Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds radio broadcast . . . This is action-packed social-political satire with a global view.”—Dallas Morning News
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
What would the world be like 20 years into a zombie apocalypse? World War Z is narrated by an investigator for the United Nations Postwar Commission. His name is Max Brooks (just like the author himself) and he travels the world interviewing survivors of the global plague that wiped out huge swaths of humanity starting two decades earlier. The novel’s inventive structure alternates the survivors’ intensely personal stories with a more matter-of-fact account of the apocalypse and the response—or lack thereof—of various nations. (In case you’re wondering: The book is way different from the Brad Pitt action movie adapted from it.) Brooks’ driving prose propels his stoic narrator through a terrifyingly plausible time line, but his curiosity and humanity give World War Z a heartfelt quality that makes it far more than just a scary zombie story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus.
Customer Reviews
Unique and compelling
The way this was written was very unique. A post-war play by play, done interview style, with almost 50 different characters providing perspectives in a five -ten page snapshot. No central character to root for, or one individual to follow a developmental arc, yet somehow the narrative woven by all these different chronological perspectives around the world was utterly compelling. Made "humanity" seem like the character, you were engrossed in how mankind could actually survive. Really good.
One of the best I've ever read
From its unique writing style to its analysis of almost every major political conflict in the 20th century, brooks binds together a multitude of themes, voices, histories, and philosophy's orchestrating it by wielding a popular geeky genre that feels as if its reborn.
Don't hesitate on buying this one, even of you're not zombie crazy, won't regret you did.
You thought you were prepared for a zombie apocalypse….
Max Brooks take the zombie apocalypse to a whole different level with this book. He examines what would happen to us if the apocalypse actually occurred and how it would spread globally from a political, economic, social and cultural perspective. He uses an unnamed figure to Interview and record first person accounts of what happened to them from the start of outbreaks to create new government and attempting rebuilding society and methodically kill the zombies across their territory. It’s so captivating because it makes the scenarios that much more realistic. You only briefly get to know the characters and never know what happens to them, and it gives us the ability to see how globalization and capitalism play major roles in the spread of the virus. It’s so well written.