World War Z (edit title)

• Rated 5 stars

“Could not put the book down!! Scary tales, exciting battles, gruesome realities, and timely topics bring this account to life. Interesting to see in hindsight the mistakes made early by mankind as the plague advances. An intelligent read.”

• Rated 4 stars

“this book was pretty coll if you like books were there is always alot of chaos”

• Rated 2 stars

“a summertime light and fun read”

• Rated 4 stars

“A very good fictional account of a worldwide zombie outbreak.”

• Rated 4 stars

“**spoiler alert** World War Z is a novel which works on many levels. It fulfills the basic tenants of any zombie story, creating an aura of ubiquitous creepiness which taps into the primal fears many of us have about being confronted by enemies without reason or emotion, whose only want is to destroy human life. Max Brooks' wisely doesn't try to impart this particular enemy with any other motivation -- to do so would almost seem to ruin the effectiveness of the zombie conceit.

But, thankfully, Brooks also understands that this primal fear is not enough to make a good story. Admittedly, I haven't seen or read many other zombie stories, but I think it's fair to say that more than a few center around underdeveloped characters who are one-by-one slaughtered by the zombie menace. This might provide a good scare once, but it doesn't impart the story with any other deeper meaning which makes it worth rereading or rewatching.

Brooks, on the other hand, has constructed a novel which derives lasting power from presenting a cast of nuanced characters dealing, on an emotional level with an enemy without any remnants of reason or a conscience, while having to face their own moral dilemmas in confronting that threat. Like in any war, characters make decisions in order to preserve themselves or their society which are morally repugnant. It is to Brooks' credit that he neither simplifies these decisions nor skims over their horrific nature, though it would be easy to do so in a novel with such a wide scope.

Brooks' use of the post-war interviewer as a narrative frame is ingenious, because it allows him to present the far-reaching global impact the war has while while still remaining focused on the psychological toll it takes on individual people. The international breadth and cultural detail Brooks provides, coupled with the human reactions to the fantastic situation, gives the novel a sense of authenticity something which made it easier for this reader to accept the fundamental unreality of the premise.

By examining different aspects of the war from numerous cultural perspectives, Brooks is able to examine the anarchistic mess society can dissolve into during a crisis and criticize government ineffectiveness and consumerism in a compelling fashion without seeming overly preachy. His characters, though they are usually only given a few pages each, seem developed enough than when one of them does express a strong philosophical or political opinion it does not read as Brooks lecturing the reader, but the characters articulating conclusions which seem to come naturally out of their experiences. There are a few exceptions -- the rantings of the idiotic former secretary of state read more as Brooks critique of the Bush administration more than anything one would actually say in an interview -- but for the most part the characters' experiences and opinions are varied enough that the themes come out of the story organically.

Ultimately, the thematic note on which Brooks chooses to end the book-- the ability of the human race to survive disaster and return to everyday life wiser -- is one which most readers can probably embrace. But regardless whether one agrees or disagrees with some of Brooks' political or philosophical musings, World War Z is worth reading for its bald portrayal of the human struggle to survive and to find some sanity and hope in chaos.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Just finished the book, I did enjoy it but it not for everyone. If you like a historical (fiction) written story written from first-hand experiences of the zombie war, with a lot of detail than this book is for you. There are some point in the book where there is so much detail that it becomes overwhelming.
I would recommend this to people that like to read books that are about zombies or fictional history. The book was well written, a lot of research went into it and makes you believe that these stories are true first hand accounts of the war against zombies. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“Gorgeous narrative threads come together in this enthralling speculative fiction by Brooks. For anyone who has even a nominal interest in zombies and anyone who loves history, real or not.”

• Rated 0 stars

“pretty interesting read. I liked that story telling aspect of it. The focus wasn't in the zombies but more in the people that survivined the zombie war. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“Awesome ”

• Rated 4 stars

“its a book about zombie war aagainest”