“Zombie” remains a loaded word. Said to be coined in the early 20th century, it has described a number of creatures. Those corpses who rose from the grave by mystical means through spirits, witchcraft, or the devil used to be synonymous with vampires –the undead creature that consumed the flesh and blood of the living and rested back in its grave during the day. Nowadays there are just as many variations of zombies as there are vampires.
George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) largely introduced the same concept of the dead being reanimated but in mass through non-mystical means implying a radioactive contamination from a space probe returning from Venus as the cause. It broke new ground in the new genre and established the way to kill the living dead being to destroy the brain –borrowed from ancient religions which state that decapitation is the only way to kill the undead. As writers continued to explore the genre, the cause and result of zombification became disease related, coming from strains of rabies. Whether zombies were turned living humans, such as in “I am Legend” (1954) and “Zombieland” (2009) or reanimated dead as in growingly popular “The Walking Dead” (2003) comic series varies based off choice of the writer. Max Brooks’ “World War Z” (2006) is the later of the two.
The full title “An Oral History of the Zombie War” describes Brooks’ novel accurately. The book is a collection of interviews done 12 years after the end of the fictional “Zombie War” detailing the events of the war that almost led to mankind’s extinction. The interviewees’ experiences are varied as they are geographically apart, ranging from China to Palestine to Africa to the USA and more. This is a major departure from other zombie fiction because it consorts government and a living society as opposed to a group of survivors after the pandemic has largely exterminated humanity and obliterated society. It does not follow a specific story line, though there is a sensible progression from first sightings of the outbreak from a doctor in China, to the “Great Panic” domestically and internationally, and later on to organized warfare against the hoards of the undead.
In the audiobook, author Max Brooks plays himself as the interviewer and has a dynamic full cast to round out the varied characters. One thing that all characters have in common is their down to earth attitudes telling it the way it was, though their personalities and zombie war actions are quite different. Listening to the audiobook enhances the experience tremendously, as every voice-actor’s performance is as remarkable as the last, including the legendary Mark Hamill (Joker). Accents are on the mark, and delivery puts humanity and expression in the forefront of the book.
The content of the book is packed with facts and a realistic world at every opportunity except for the existence of the walking dead. The heavy research Max Brooks had done for this novel shines through as one of the many things that raise this book above other apocalyptic fiction. The detail in military experience, terms, and attitudes to foreign cultures and politics as well as its social commentary makes “World War Z” recognizable as a novel to be taken seriously. Most importantly, it highlights what Brooks repeatedly calls “the human element.” Each interview is a character piece with interesting people struggling to make peace with their chaotic world. With the jumping between interviewees after 10 or so minutes, it is difficult to get attached or develop sympathy with most of the characters, though it sometimes happens. The style of book is both its strength and weakness in many ways, and for what it is, it makes few, if any, mistakes.
As well as being a character piece, the “Oral History of the Zombie War” is also a period piece. Being so grounded in reality, it takes place in factual 2006 with extreme rigidity. While the political tensions addressed in the book are much the same as in 2012 and likely the near future, it may change and leave the book in the past. That may not be such a bad thing with period fiction pieces like “Watchmen” (1985) proving their relevance today. The sociopolitical theme of the book is timeless and will make people in the distant future wonder if there really was a zombie outbreak in 2006.
In the growingly popular zombie genre, “World War Z” trounces all others before and after with its fleshed out Earth in which the zombie war has occurred. Little is more terrifying than a mindless, irreproachable undead enemy that can infect more to its flesh-eating cause. Perhaps scarier still is the panic and survivalism in the human creature and the undo waste it will lay unto the world. What would happen if there was an incurable virus outbreak that reanimated the dead into mindless monsters? World War Z is the answer.
VERDICT: 4.5/5
Leather Wing Media
World War Z: Audiobook Review
George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) largely introduced the same concept of the dead being reanimated but in mass through non-mystical means implying a radioactive contamination from a space probe returning from Venus as the cause. It broke new ground in the new genre and established the way to kill the living dead being to destroy the brain –borrowed from ancient religions which state that decapitation is the only way to kill the undead. As writers continued to explore the genre, the cause and result of zombification became disease related, coming from strains of rabies. Whether zombies were turned living humans, such as in “I am Legend” (1954) and “Zombieland” (2009) or reanimated dead as in growingly popular “The Walking Dead” (2003) comic series varies based off choice of the writer. Max Brooks’ “World War Z” (2006) is the later of the two.
The full title “An Oral History of the Zombie War” describes Brooks’ novel accurately. The book is a collection of interviews done 12 years after the end of the fictional “Zombie War” detailing the events of the war that almost led to mankind’s extinction. The interviewees’ experiences are varied as they are geographically apart, ranging from China to Palestine to Africa to the USA and more. This is a major departure from other zombie fiction because it consorts government and a living society as opposed to a group of survivors after the pandemic has largely exterminated humanity and obliterated society. It does not follow a specific story line, though there is a sensible progression from first sightings of the outbreak from a doctor in China, to the “Great Panic” domestically and internationally, and later on to organized warfare against the hoards of the undead.
In the audiobook, author Max Brooks plays himself as the interviewer and has a dynamic full cast to round out the varied characters. One thing that all characters have in common is their down to earth attitudes telling it the way it was, though their personalities and zombie war actions are quite different. Listening to the audiobook enhances the experience tremendously, as every voice-actor’s performance is as remarkable as the last, including the legendary Mark Hamill (Joker). Accents are on the mark, and delivery puts humanity and expression in the forefront of the book.
The content of the book is packed with facts and a realistic world at every opportunity except for the existence of the walking dead. The heavy research Max Brooks had done for this novel shines through as one of the many things that raise this book above other apocalyptic fiction. The detail in military experience, terms, and attitudes to foreign cultures and politics as well as its social commentary makes “World War Z” recognizable as a novel to be taken seriously. Most importantly, it highlights what Brooks repeatedly calls “the human element.” Each interview is a character piece with interesting people struggling to make peace with their chaotic world. With the jumping between interviewees after 10 or so minutes, it is difficult to get attached or develop sympathy with most of the characters, though it sometimes happens. The style of book is both its strength and weakness in many ways, and for what it is, it makes few, if any, mistakes.
As well as being a character piece, the “Oral History of the Zombie War” is also a period piece. Being so grounded in reality, it takes place in factual 2006 with extreme rigidity. While the political tensions addressed in the book are much the same as in 2012 and likely the near future, it may change and leave the book in the past. That may not be such a bad thing with period fiction pieces like “Watchmen” (1985) proving their relevance today. The sociopolitical theme of the book is timeless and will make people in the distant future wonder if there really was a zombie outbreak in 2006.
In the growingly popular zombie genre, “World War Z” trounces all others before and after with its fleshed out Earth in which the zombie war has occurred. Little is more terrifying than a mindless, irreproachable undead enemy that can infect more to its flesh-eating cause. Perhaps scarier still is the panic and survivalism in the human creature and the undo waste it will lay unto the world. What would happen if there was an incurable virus outbreak that reanimated the dead into mindless monsters? World War Z is the answer.
VERDICT: 4.5/5
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Tagged as An Oral History of the Zombie War, apocalyptic, audio book, audiobook, George Romero, halloween, I am Legend, Living Dead, Mark Hamill, Max Brooks, monster, Night, post-apocalyptic, social commentary, sociopolitical, survivalism, undead, vampires, Walking Dead, World War Z, Z War I, Zombie, Zombie land, Zombie War, Zombieland