World War Z by Max Brooks

 

Zombies seem to be the 'in thing' right now. With the ever popular cult TV series 'The Walking Dead' now in it's 3rd season and countless 'Resident Evil' films and games being churned out every other year, it's pretty safe to say that the zombie genre has life in it yet. Even classic literature has jumped on the bandwagon, with Seth Graham-Smith's reimagining of classic Jane Austin with  'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'. And now 'World War Z' is being given the Hollywood treatment. I picked up a copy of the book to find out what got Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in a bidding war for the rights.

 

Max's Brooks is no stranger to zombies, having written 'The Zombie Survival Guide' and in 'World War Z' his extensive fictional knowledge of the living dead is put on full display, creating a worldwide epidemic that has such real detail and characters that you're left fully submerged. The book is essentially a collection of short stories, which is great if you're busy and you only have a spare few minutes to read here or there. Each one is told from a unique viewpoint, covering every part of the zombie war, from first infection to the beginning of the end. It's structured around a journalist who sets out to interview a load of people to document their own experience of the events. This is what makes this book stand out, the diverse cast of characters whose own personal accounts are told in a short no-nonsense style that means you get right into the good stuff.

 

 

Run, you fools!

 

Now I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who sits down and discusses at length what to do in the event of the zombie apocalypse, which is going to happen one day by the way - I have a plan along with close friends and family to get our hands on some serious firearms and get to a safe and secure location that provides both adequate space as well as running water and a good food source... and I'm not the only one who thinks about these things. Max Brooks has thought of everything, every angle, every scenario is covered in this book, people, places and ideas you would never think of are addressed here, with some of my favourite being the very creepy disappearance of the 24 million people living in North Korea, to the people struggling to survive in the dark and dank catacombs under Paris. Not to mention the problems that came with the zombies; the starvation, the bitter cold and the length some people go to, just to live.

 

 

The book explores a lot of issues that are relevant to the world today, like how humanity reacts in a crisis. It's nice to see that people can still be honest and heroic and the worlds government don't all crumble at the first sign of the living dead. That's whats makes this book great; it's believable... well as believable as a zombie apocalypse can be. People will carry on, they will fight for their right to live, for their families to live, for their country  and even for the human race. It's all a little bit touching really.

 

'World War Z' is a bloody good book, read it! Or if you can't be arsed go see it when it comes out next year. You can see the trailer if you click here. 

 

So, have you read it? Let me know what you think.