Zombie books are usually campy, dumb affair; not taken seriously in literary circles, and for good reason. They are horrible books that cover cheesiness with page after page of gore and swearing, simply appeasing our id's desire for violence and foulness. Well, the book "World War Z", written by Max Brooks, decided to show the world differently. Gore? Plenty. Swearing? Frequent. What it does differently is that it has a heart, and logic. See, this book is not really just about the zombie apocalypse; it's about society and politics. The book really touches on some incredibly complex ideas, that are delivered with care and never given an easy answer.
The book is presented as an 'Oral History" of the zombie apocalypse. The setting is many years after the initial outbreak, and consist of chapters that are structured like interviews. The unidentified reporter is trying to gather as much information as he can. The book is in a chronological order, with different interviews grouped into different times of the apocalypse, from outbreak to building a world again. The sheer brilliance of this set-up is it makes everything more believable. Of course, zombies are incredibly unrealistic, but like Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast, the ludicrous is presented as palpable. Many of the people interviewed are more fully realized and fleshed out than protagonists of entire novels. Brooks makes us care for everybody interviewed, and understand how they were able to make the hard decisions that some of them had to make.
Stories of these survivors do remain fairly consistent, but as per-usual with multiple stories, there are those that really stick out. The most beloved is the survivor of Yonkers without a doubt. Describing a harrowing last stand at Yonkers, the tale is grisly and shocking in its explicit violence, but pervaded with a sadness that reminded me of actual war survivors. Some stories present views on the zombie apocalypse that have never been explored. For example: one story comes from somebody who was stranded on the I.S.S. with no way to get back down to Earth for eight years. This astronaut had video screens of earth from other satellites and did what he could to send messages to governments and military groups to help plan. He was their eye-in-the-sky (or space, if you will). Another is a man who made war propaganda films that showed armies decimating the zombies. What Brooks presents us is a world set in the apocalypse that feels real.
Many political and societal issues are brought up in context of the zombie infection. The actions countries take reflects their current stances and ideals. America thinks it is invincible, and ends up suffering almost the worst out of any country; Russia enacts a brutal martial law, executing soldiers for the slightest hesitation in orders; the North Koreans simply disappear; African dictators and republics look to one leader to guide them; Cuba's already efficient Communist society helps it avoid much infection, and their prosperity is a by-product as they become a superpower; Israel immediately builds a massive wall to isolate itself; Pakistan and Iran destroy each other with nuclear war; the list goes on and on. What it presents though, is how our world would react to disaster. The geo-political undertones of the book is what gives it its lasting power.
Max Brooks presents us with a world in which hell has broken loose. We see how the world is so fragile, and an event so large could re-establish everything we know. Stories each contain different things, a few of them being: grisly horror, sharp criticism, pitch black humor, spiritual lessons, physical hardships, savage violence, mystery, and love. Some are scary, some are funny; some are gory, and some profane. Some are brutal, and some are bizarre. No matter what they are, each story tells us a piece of the whole war. It's a war against the zombies, but really, it is a war against human nature. It is no coincidence that Z and 3 rhyme. Brooks writes about the human condition, and our world as it is and could be today. With its glory, with its pathetic squabbles, and with its everlasting power. This is a story of humanities last stand, and the perseverance at the heart of every man, woman, and child on this Earth.
Contains extreme gory violence and strong language
No comments:
Post a Comment