I never thought I would read a zombie book. Never, never,
never. My fascination has always been
with vampires. I think I spent my college years reading Anne Rice in between William
Shakespeare. Strike “in between”.
Correction – “rather than”. My cousin made me sit through a few Night of the Living Dead “films”. Not
even memorable, merely torturous. I watched Shaun
of the Dead and Zombieland, both
zombie comedies, and really enjoyed them. I picked them out. I’m not proud of
it, but we laughed until we cried which made it worth it.
I finally gave in to the zombie genre when WWZ made the Abraham Lincoln Nominee list last year. And I
appreciated it.
It was not an easy read and not because of the subject matter. At
times it was laborious because of the technical content. I am certain that
people with a military background or enthusiasm could digest the surplus of
information more fluidly than I did. World travelers might also have greater
luck in following the rhythm of the book that’s scope is international. I was
saved by the brevity of the “chapters”.
The “chapters” are personal interviews with people who have
survived the Great Panic and the ten reconstruction years following. The
interviews are grouped into chronological sections. The sections are arranged
in such a way as to tell the story of the Zombie War.
The people interviewed for this fictional book come from all walks
of life. There are army grunts and naval admirals. There are vice-presidents
and feral children grown-up. There are civilians who distinguished themselves
as heroes and outcast techno geeks who were cowardly enough to survive. There
are the people who developed the plan for cross-country survival, the people
who put the strategy into action and the people who carried out the orders.
The amazing part of this book is that these same people represent
multiple countries. Patient Zero was discovered in China, the same country that
continued to feed misinformation to its people. Israel was the first country to
quarantine its borders. South Africa was the first country to find a solution.
Russia discovered religion while fighting the war. The United States was the first country to
reclaim its countryside from the zombies. Iceland was obliterated and Cuba came
out victorious. And that is just a glimpse. It is really that comprehensive.
There are two reasons why I will recommend this book. Number one –
it is not a dystopian culture that is presented here. This is the actual annihilation
of a world population. This is the war to end all wars. This is the war that
knocks us to our feet. It is the war from which we might not recover. I love
that! So many dystopian novels assume that something traumatic has happened,
but the book is about the society that was created afterwards. The novel might
allude to a plague or a bomb or a meteor, but that isn’t what the book is
about. This book is about the catastrophic event!
And, number two; it is in no way whatsoever a comedy. In fact, the
term zombie is rarely utilized. Part of the reason that it took so long to
accept the “zombie” plague as reality is that it seemed so very unbelievable.
There was much cover up and propaganda. There were people that took advantage
of the lack of information available and other people who suffered from that ignorance.
The book is terrifying because it is written and presented so well. I certainly
didn’t recall images of b-rated black and white films. I am impressed. And that
is a rare compliment.
I recommend this book to young adults, primarily the males. I can
see military-minded men enjoying this. Very thought-provoking as well. It would
be intriguing to spend more time on it. I’d like to diagram the characters and
countries and plots and how they are connected.. I think a military course
would benefit from it – worse-case scenario!
Don’t worry if you don’t have time to read it. The movie is set to
be released June 2013 and stars Brad Pitt. I think that will sell it! Don’t
you?
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