The zombie apocalypse is a pervasive element in our modern culture thanks to a few luminaries and extremely popular shows (both George A. Romero and The Walking Dead respectively). However, many interpretations of the zombie plague have come and gone, but some have stayed more relevant and engaging. In this post, we examine World War Z by Max Brooks and look at how the world changes through the zombie apocalypse.
Summary
World War Z is a horror novel written by Max Brooks. It tells the tale of an outbreak that spreads from China and goes worldwide into a full pandemic. The government fails to contain the virus. Thus, through various narratives, the reader learns how the zombie apocalypse started and ended. It also discussed what strategies were put into place to tackle the outbreak.
Book Blurb
From Amazon: 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 30 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.
Reviews
On Goodreads, the novel has 529,542 ratings and 29,901 reviews. There are 204,516 five-star reviews and 11,827 one-star reviews.
Five-star reviews highlight the originality the novel brings to the table through its use of interviews and “quasi-historical” accounts. Moreover, the “quality” of the book was noted as was “the “amazing amount of detail.”
One-star reviews address the narrator as an “idiot journalist.” Additionally, reviewers highlight that the writing is just “ok” and that it lacks a “protagonist or a central story.”
Conclusion
Max Brooke’s World War Z is a fantastic novel that catalogues the days of zombie infancy until its full zenith. It is a harrowing story in modern times. It is also a reminder that pandemics and disease can get out of hand quickly and cause a great deal of damager. Tread lightly with this one, but expect a great story and horror-filled adventure.
