World War Z
Background
Published in 2006 “World War Z” by Max Brooks is a fictional oral history that recounts a global zombie pandemic through a series of interviews conducted by the narrator, a United Nations Postwar Commission agent. The book chronicles the outbreak, from its origins in China to the collapse of societies and the eventual fight for survival. Each account offers unique perspectives, including military personnel, scientists, and civilians, highlighting humanity’s resilience and ingenuity. The narrative explores themes of geopolitics, survival, and human behavior in the face of catastrophe. Brooks creates a detailed and chillingly realistic portrayal of a worldwide crisis, presenting the events through a wide lens that captures the complexities of a global response to an unprecedented disaster.
My Thoughts
First off, as I mentioned in my recent review of “Elantris” zombies are likely the lamest of all monsters. (Pun intended.) They don’t make any sense at all to me. I will concede there have been different versions of zombies over the years and many of them are different. Regardless, every version of the zombie (e.g. fast, shambling, radioactive, voodoo, alien, and even Rob Zombie) are beyond my understanding of why they have any appeal at all.
That said, I enjoyed the fractured perspective of the book. All of it was in the form of post-encounter first hand reports from various sources from all over the globe. This gave Brooks the ability to briefly introduce each character and look at what was unfolding from their particular point of view. The reader quickly gets use to the slang terms of “Zack” or “G” for the undead along with inferring the heroes and events that had become common knowledge in this post-apocalyptic world.
I remember the discussion when the CDC interviewed Max Brooks about the book. There was a bit of interest in it as I was involved in military training and we were writing instruction manuals about CBRN Recon and the like. I remember starting the book but I don’t know if I completed it. Honestly, there isn’t too much of an ending beyond thinking they got most of them and some speculation about how their children might live in the world after. Perhaps it just wasn’t that memorable.
One thought that’s caused me some self reflection is how people were rated as near useless because they didn’t have any tangible skills. The white collar workers in the story weren’t very much help when everyone was needed to farm, mine, or fix things. The book uses the example of a “creative executive” as a particular someone who was of no use. I enjoy working with my hands but I wonder if I have the stamina to make a living at it. I’m glad I don’t have to find out in the near future.
Recommendation
Zombies are dumb, but it wasn’t a bad read.
