New book:
World War Z by Max Brooks
Synopsis:
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.
I'll give some of you a second to get the eye-rolling out of your system.
Done? Feel better? This book is really good. I promise. It's about the emotion, and survival instinct that this kind of event would have, not just the horror, and scare factor of traditional zombie fare.
Plus, Halloween is coming up. Zombies are fitting.
This may be another couple's read for over here: Dan's brothers both read this a couple of years ago and loved it.
ReplyDeleteBut... they're both obsessed with zombie movies, so I don't know if that's an endorsement or not?
it's great both from the viewpoint of those who love zombies... and from those who love good books.
ReplyDeleteThis book was left in my classroom two summers ago. I brought it home and it has sat on my shelf ever since. Caitlin started it but never finished it (this is typical book behavior for her - drives me insane!), so now I have a perfect opportunity (and reason) to read it!
ReplyDeleteIs this your pick, Brandon?
I just reserved this at the li-barry, so I should have it in a few days. Though I would probably never even pick this book up off the shelf, after reading a few reviews I am actually pretty excited about this one!
ReplyDeleteAnybody read it yet? Thoughts? Discussions? Brainnnnssss?
ReplyDeleteI am almost finished with it and I LOVE it. I have never been afraid of zombies until now. I love how it seems so real. And my students are begging for me to assign it to them for class. haha Unfortunately, my smarty pants advanced placement seniors went on to tell me about how zombies could be real one day, that there is some sort of fungus that will take over the muscles and brains of fish and bugs. It makes them overly aggressive and supposedly has actually reanimated a dead fish before. I don't know about that for sure, but the fungus that takes over the bug is for real. I will have to find the name of it - basically it makes the bug climb to the highest point on a plant and then the fungus punches through it's brain and then stays there to tempt a passing bird to eat it.
ReplyDeleteSo. . .thanks, Brandon! Good choice as a book, but you have given me a new fear. You've also given me a new obsession right now - it's all I think about. Some of my students and I are actually going to write a zombie version of Macbeth. We're going to call it Macdeath! haha And one of my students has already drawn up three possible covers for our book. You've sparked something interesting in my classroom!